Virtual Lan Overview - Dell PowerConnect 5548P System User's Manual

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Virtual LAN Overview

A VLAN is a switched network that is logically segmented on an
organizational basis, by functions, project teams, or applications rather than
on a physical or geographical basis. For example, all workstations and servers
used by a particular workgroup team can be connected to the same VLAN,
regardless of their physical connections to the network, or the fact that they
might be intermingled with other teams. Reconfiguration of the network can
be done through software rather than by physically unplugging and moving
devices or wires.
A VLAN can be thought of as a Broadcast domain that exists within a defined
set of switches. A VLAN consists of a number of end systems, either hosts or
network equipment (such as bridges and routers), connected by a single
bridging domain. The bridging domain is supported on various pieces of
network equipment; for example, LAN switches that operate bridging
protocols between them with a separate bridge group for each VLAN.
VLANs are created to provide the segmentation services traditionally
provided by routers in LAN configurations. VLANs address scalability,
security, and network management. Routers in VLAN topologies provide
broadcast filtering, security, address summarization, and traffic flow
management.
None of the switches, within a defined group, will bridge any frames, not even
broadcast frames, between two VLANs.
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