4 vlan, 1 vlan overview, 2 ieee 802.1q vlan – PLANET WGSW-5242 User Manual

Page 55

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User’s Manual of WGSW-5242

55

4.4 VLAN

4.4.1 VLAN Overview

A Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)

is a network topology configured according to a logical scheme rather than the physical

layout. VLAN can be used to combine any collection of LAN segments into an autonomous user group that appears as a single

LAN. VLAN also logically segment the network into different broadcast domains so that packets are forwarded only between

ports within the VLAN. Typically, a VLAN corresponds to a particular subnet, although not necessarily.

VLAN can enhance performance by conserving bandwidth, and improve security by limiting traffic to specific domains.

A VLAN is a collection of end nodes grouped by logic instead of physical location. End nodes that frequently communicate with

each other are assigned to the same VLAN, regardless of where they are physically on the network. Logically, a VLAN can be

equated to a broadcast domain, because broadcast packets are forwarded to only members of the VLAN on which the

broadcast was initiated.

1.

No matter what basis is used to uniquely identify end nodes and assign these nodes VLAN

membership, packets cannot cross VLAN without a network device performing a routing

function between the VLAN.

2.

The Managed Switch supports IEEE 802.1Q VLAN. The port untagging function can be used

to remove the 802.1 tag from packet headers to maintain compatibility with devices that are

tag-unaware.

3.

The Managed Switch's default is to assign all ports to a single 802.1Q VLAN named

DEFAULT_VLAN. As new VLAN is created, the member ports assigned to the new VLAN will

be removed from the DEFAULT_ VLAN port member list. The DEFAULT_VLAN has a VID = 1.

This section has the following items:

IEEE 802.1Q VLAN

Enable IEEE 802.1Q Tag based VLAN group

4.4.2 IEEE 802.1Q VLAN

In large networks, routers are used to isolate broadcast traffic for each subnet into separate domains. This Managed Switch

provides a similar service at Layer 2 by using VLANs to organize any group of network nodes into separate broadcast domains.

VLANs confine broadcast traffic to the originating group, and can eliminate broadcast storms in large networks. This also

provides a more secure and cleaner network environment.

An IEEE 802.1Q VLAN is a group of ports that can be located anywhere in the network, but communicate as though they belong

to the same physical segment.

VLANs help to simplify network management by allowing you to move devices to a new VLAN without having to change any

physical connections. VLANs can be easily organized to reflect departmental groups (such as Marketing or R&D), usage groups

(such as e-mail), or multicast groups (used for multimedia applications such as videoconferencing).

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