Making Vlan Connections - SMC Networks TigerSwitch SMC8612T2 Installation Manual

Making VLAN Connections

VLANs can be based on port groups, or each data frame can be explicitly
tagged to identify the VLAN group it belongs to. When using port-based
VLANs, ports can be assigned to one or more groups. Port-based VLANs
are suitable for small networks. A single switch can be easily configured to
support several VLAN groups for various organizational entities (such as
Finance and Marketing).
When you expand port-based VLANs across several switches, you need to
make a separate connection for each VLAN group. This approach is,
however, inconsistent with the Spanning Tree Protocol, which can easily
segregate ports that belong to the same VLAN. When VLANs cross
separate switches, you need to use VLAN tagging. This allows you to
assign multiple VLAN groups to the "trunk" ports (that is, tagged ports)
connecting different switches.
R&D
VLAN 1
VLAN 2
Testing
Note: When connecting to a switch that does not support IEEE 802.1Q
VLAN tags, use untagged ports.
Tagged
Ports
Untagged Ports
Finance
Marketing
VLAN 3
VLAN 4
Figure 2-4. Making VLAN Connections
Tagged Port
VLAN
unaware
switch
Finance
VLAN 3
A E
PPLICATION
R&D
VLAN 1
VLAN 2
XAMPLES
VLAN
aware
switch
Testing
2-5