VLANS Routing

23/1/2023
Inter-VLAN Routing
Inter-VLAN Routing Operation

What is Inter-VLAN Routing?
VLANs are used to segment switched Layer 2 networks for a variety of reasons. Regardless of the reason, hosts
in one VLAN cannot communicate with hosts in another VLAN unless there is a router or a Layer 3 switch to
provide routing services.
Inter-VLAN routing is the process of forwarding network traffic from one VLAN to another VLAN.
There are three inter-VLAN routing options:

• Legacy Inter-VLAN routing - This is a legacy solution. It does not scale well.
• Router-on-a-Stick - This is an acceptable solution for a small to medium-sized network.
• Layer 3 switch using switched virtual interfaces (SVIs) - This is the most scalable solution for medium to
large organizations.
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Legacy Inter-VLAN Routing
• The first inter-VLAN routing solution relied on using a router with multiple Ethernet interfaces. Each router
interface was connected to a switch port in different VLANs. The router interfaces served as the default
gateways to the local hosts on the VLAN subnet.
• Legacy inter-VLAN routing using physical interfaces works, but it has a significant limitation. It is not
reasonably scalable because routers have a limited number of physical interfaces. Requiring one physical
router interface per VLAN quickly exhausts the physical interface capacity of a router.
• Note: This method of inter-VLAN routing is no longer implemented in switched networks and is included
for explanation purposes only.

Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing
The ‘router-on-a-stick’ inter-VLAN routing method overcomes the limitation of the legacy inter-VLAN routing
method. It only requires one physical Ethernet interface to route traffic between multiple VLANs on a network.
• A Cisco IOS router Ethernet interface is configured as an 802.1Q trunk and connected to a trunk port on a Layer 2
switch. Specifically, the router interface is configured using subinterfaces to identify routable VLANs.
• The configured subinterfaces are software-based virtual interfaces. Each is associated with a single physical
Ethernet interface. Subinterfaces are configured in software on a router. Each subinterface is independently
configured with an IP address and VLAN assignment. Subinterfaces are configured for different subnets that
correspond to their VLAN assignment. This facilitates logical routing.
• When VLAN-tagged traffic enters the router interface, it is forwarded to the VLAN subinterface. After a routing
decision is made based on the destination IP network address, the router determines the exit interface for the
traffic. If the exit interface is configured as an 802.1q subinterface, the data frames are VLAN-tagged with the
new VLAN and sent back out the physical interface
Note: The router-on-a-stick method of inter-VLAN routing does not scale beyond 50 VLANs.
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Inter-VLAN Routing on a Layer 3 Switch
The modern method of performing inter-VLAN routing is to use Layer 3 switches and switched virtual interfaces
(SVI). An SVI is a virtual interface that is configured on a Layer 3 switch, as shown in the figure.
Note: A Layer 3 switch is also called a multilayer switch as it operates at Layer 2 and Layer 3. However, in this
course we use the term Layer 3 switch.

Inter-VLAN Routing on a Layer 3 Switch (Cont.)
Inter-VLAN SVIs are created the same way that the management VLAN interface is configured. The SVI is created
for a VLAN that exists on the switch. Although virtual, the SVI performs the same functions for the VLAN as a
router interface would. Specifically, it provides Layer 3 processing for packets that are sent to or from all switch
ports associated with that VLAN.
The following are advantages of using Layer 3 switches for inter-VLAN routing:
• They are much faster than router-on-a-stick because everything is hardware switched and routed.
• There is no need for external links from the switch to the router for routing.
• They are not limited to one link because Layer 2 EtherChannels can be used as trunk links between the
switches to increase bandwidth.
• Latency is much lower because data does not need to leave the switch in order to be routed to a different
network.
• They more commonly deployed in a campus LAN than routers.

• The only disadvantage is that Layer 3 switches are more expensive.
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Router-on-a-stick

Router-on-a-Stick Scenario
VLAN 10: 192.168.10.0/24

VLAN 20: 192.168.10.0/24
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G0/0/1.10 G/0/1.20
Subinterface VLAN IP Address
G0/0/1.10 10 192.168.10.1/24
G0/0/1.20 20 192.168.20.1/24

G0/0/1.10: 192.168.10.1/24 G0/0/1.20: 192.168.20.1/24
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Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3 Switches
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Layer 3 Switch Inter-VLAN Routing
Inter-VLAN routing using the router-on-a-stick method is simple to implement for a small to medium-
sized organization. However, a large enterprise requires a faster, much more scalable method to provide
inter-VLAN routing.
Enterprise campus LANs use Layer 3 switches to provide inter-VLAN routing. Layer 3 switches use
hardware-based switching to achieve higher-packet processing rates than routers. Layer 3 switches are
also commonly implemented in enterprise distribution layer wiring closets.
Capabilities of a Layer 3 switch include the ability to do the following:

• Route from one VLAN to another using multiple switched virtual interfaces (SVIs).
• Convert a Layer 2 switchport to a Layer 3 interface (i.e., a routed port). A routed port is
similar to a physical interface on a Cisco IOS router.
• To provide inter-VLAN routing, Layer 3 switches use SVIs. SVIs are configured using the
same interface vlan vlan-id command used to create the management SVI on a Layer 2
switch. A Layer 3 SVI must be created for each of the routable VLANs.
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Layer 3 Switch Scenario
In the figure, the Layer 3 switch,

D1, is connected to two hosts
on different VLANs. PC1 is in
VLAN 10 and PC2 is in VLAN 20,
as shown. The Layer 3 switch
will provide inter-VLAN routing
services to the two hosts.
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Layer 3 Switch Configuration
Complete the following steps to configure S1 with VLANs and
trunking:
• Step 1. Create the VLANs. In the example, VLANs 10 and 20
are used.
• Step 2. Create the SVI VLAN interfaces. The IP address
configured will serve as the default gateway for hosts in the
respective VLAN.
• Step 3. Configure access ports. Assign the appropriate port to
the required VLAN.
• Step 4. Enable IP routing. Issue the ip routing global
configuration command to allow traffic to be exchanged
between VLANs 10 and 20. This command must be configured
to enable inter-VAN routing on a Layer 3 switch for IPv4.
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23/1/2023

Inter-VLAN Routing Operation

There are three inter-VLAN routing options:

• Router-on-a-Stick - This is an acceptable solution for a small to medium-sized network.

Inter-VLAN Routing Operation

Inter-VLAN Routing Operation

Inter-VLAN Routing Operation

Inter-VLAN Routing Operation

• They more commonly deployed in a campus LAN than routers.

Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing

VLAN 10: 192.168.10.0/24

Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing

Subinterface VLAN IP Address

Router-on-a-Stick Inter-VLAN Routing

G0/0/1.10: 192.168.10.1/24 G0/0/1.20: 192.168.20.1/24

Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3 Switches

Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3 Switches

Capabilities of a Layer 3 switch include the ability to do the following:

Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3 Switches

In the figure, the Layer 3 switch,

Inter-VLAN Routing using Layer 3 Switches

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