Managed switch - learning by messing around?

Question

I have just got a really cheap managed switch from eBay. It's a D-Link DES-3550.

It has a console port for managing it, but I was wondering if it's possible to access the management features via one of the LAN ports? Non of them are labelled for anything other than the port number.

I have never used a managed switch before and would like to have a play around and see if I can learn the basics. If anyone knows of any good resources for this kind of thing it would be appreciated.

So, my questions are:

1. Can you access the management functions of the switch via RJ45?
2. Are there any beginner resources for managing switches?

Answer 1

if its a web managed port then yes, check the make and model and get the manual from the maker, it will generally advise you the default settings, virtually all web managed switches i know of simply give the switch an IP on the network and you can manage it from anywhere on the network as long as the switch is connected to it

managed switches are good for port trunking and QoS (eg making SIP traffic take priority etc) the best place is the manual for the switch and working out what traffic your location uses most and how critical they are to perform the relevant functions, that generally shapes the amount of traffic shaping you do/vlans etc, my general philosophy (which may be flawed) is that less is more so by implementing the minimum stuff you need to get the job done properly is better in the long run and tends to keep your system more simple (great if the system size is not due to grow rapidly in the short to medium term)

things to readup and others will provide better answers and resources are QoS and VLans, however you may not even need this functionality