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Planning a Switched Network
Virtual Network Segmentation
2-2
The two most common technologies used to microsegment networks are
routing-based microsegmentation and, more recently, switching-based
microsegmentation. Though routers serve an important function in segmenting
networks based on administrative boundaries, switching-based
microsegmentation can offer higher performance at a lower cost and can be
easier to administer.
Frame switching is very easy to implement and manage because it operates like
a single, high-performance network segment. Adding frame switching to an
existing repeater-based network requires no additional network address
administration or configuration, unlike routed networks, which typically
require reassignment of addresses when additions, moves, or changes are made.
In microsegmentation, each end station is usually assigned to a network
segment based on its functional requirements. End stations performing similar
functions are placed on the same segment with common shared resources,
such as file servers and printers. This arrangement minimizes the need for
frames from a source workstation to travel through internetworking devices to
reach the destination workstation.
However, this physical segmentation, achieved through internetworking
devices such as routers and bridges, poses a series of problems that impact the
manageability and performance of a network.
With routing-based microsegmentation, each port on the router connects to a
segment that is both a single collision domain and a single broadcast domain.
With virtual network segmentation (as provided by the BayStack 281xx switch)
each port connects to a segment that is a single collision domain. However,
network management applications are used to group multiple ports into a single
broadcast domain, called a virtual LAN.
Creating virtual LANs to segment your network involves assigning ports
(or, in effect, the end stations attached to these ports) to different broadcast
domains using a network management application and does not involve
physically reconfiguring the network. This virtual networking provides the
benefits of physical segmentation, but with more flexibility for future network
changes and growth.
893-00965-A
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