ZyXEL Communications ES-3124 - Manual (Page 25)

Chapter 1 Introducing the Switch
ES-3124 Series User’s Guide
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1.1.3 High-performance Switched Example
The Switch is ideal for connecting two networks that need high bandwidth. Switching to
higher-speed LANs such as ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode) is not feasible for most
people due to the expense of replacing all existing Ethernet cables and adapter cards,
restructuring your network, and complex maintenance. The Switch can provide the same
bandwidth as ATM at much lower cost while still being able to use existing adapters and
switches. Moreover, the current LAN structure can be retained as all ports can freely
communicate with each other.
In the following example, two Switches use trunking to connect two networks.
Figure 3 High-performance Switched Application
1.1.4 IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Application Examples
This section shows a workgroup and a shared server example using 802.1Q tagged VLANs.
A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) allows a physical network to be partitioned into
multiple logical networks. Stations on a logical network belong to one group. A station can
belong to more than one group. With VLAN, a station cannot directly talk to or hear from
stations that are not in the same group(s) unless such traffic first goes through a router.
For more information on VLANs, refer to
Chapter 8 on page 79 .
1.1.4.1 Tag-based VLAN Example
Ports in the same VLAN group share the same frame-broadcast domain and thus increase
network performance through reduced broadcast traffic. VLAN groups can be modified at any
time by adding, moving or changing ports without any re-cabling.