Virtual LAN NEtwork
Virtual LAN NEtwork
Virtual LAN NEtwork
IP Addressing
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IT312- Networking 2
Chapter 2- Virtual Local Area Network
VLAN introduction
A group of ports or users in the same broadcast domain can be based on port ID, MAC
address, protocol or application.
LAN switches and network management software provide a mechanism to create VLANs
VLANs function by logically segmenting the network into different broadcast domains so that
packets are only switched between ports that are designated for the same VLAN.
Routers in VLAN topologies provide broadcast filtering, security, and traffic flow management.
Switches may not bridge any traffic between VLANs, as this would violate the integrity of the
VLAN broadcast domain.
A broadcast domain is a collection of network devices that receive broadcast traffic from each
other. For example, here’s our network with three switches again
Layer 3 routing allows the router to send packets to the three different broadcast domains.
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IT312- Networking 2
Chapter 2- Virtual Local Area Network
VLAN operation
Each switch port could be assigned to a different VLAN.
Ports assigned to the same VLAN share broadcasts.
Ports that do not belong to that VLAN do not share these broadcasts.
Users attached to the same shared segment, share the bandwidth of that segment.
Each additional user attached to the shared medium means less bandwidth and deterioration of
network performance.
VLANs offer more bandwidth to users than a shared network.
The default VLAN for every port in the switch is the management VLAN.
The management VLAN is always VLAN 1 and may not be deleted. All other ports on the switch
may be reassigned to alternate VLANs.
Dynamic VLANs allow for membership based on the MAC address of the device connected to
the switch port.
As a device enters the network, it queries a database within the switch for a VLAN membership.
All users of the same port must be in the same VLAN.
Network administrators are responsible for configuring VLANs both manually and statically.
VLAN Configuration
Statically – Network administrators configure port-by-port
- Each port is associated with a specific VLAN
- The Network Administrator is responsible for keying in the mappings between the ports and
VLANs.
Dynamically. – The ports are able to dynamically work out their VLAN configuration
- It uses a software database of MAC Address to VLAN Mappings
Benefits of VLANs
- It permits the network administrator to organize the LAN logically instead of physically.
VLAN types
- Port-based VLANs
- MAC address based
- Protocol based VLANs
• The frame headers are encapsulated or modified to reflect a VLAN ID before the frame is sent
over the link between switches.
• Before forwarding to the destination device, the frame header is changed back to the original
format.
Membership by Port
- Users assigned by port association
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Chapter 2- Virtual Local Area Network
- An important consideration in defining the size of the switch and the number of VLANs is
the IP addressing scheme
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