Allied Telesis AT-S80 - Manual (Page 98)

Chapter 10: Virtual LANs
98 Section I: Using the Menus Interface
VLAN Overview
A VLAN is a group of ports on an Ethernet switch that form a logical
Ethernet segment. The ports of a VLAN form an independent traffic
domain where the traffic generated by the nodes of a VLAN remains within
the VLAN.
With VLANs, you can segment your network through the switch’s AT-S80
management software and so be able to group nodes with related
functions into their own separate, logical LAN segments. These VLAN
groupings can be based on similar data needs or security requirements.
For example, you could create separate VLANs for the different
departments in your company, such as one for Sales and another for
Accounting.
VLANs offer several important benefits:
ˆ Improved network performance
Network performance often suffers as networks grow in size and as
data traffic increases. The more nodes on each LAN segment vying for
bandwidth, the greater the likelihood overall network performance
decreases.
VLANs improve network perform because VLAN traffic stays within the
VLAN. The nodes of a VLAN receive traffic only from nodes of the
same VLAN. This reduces the need for nodes to handle traffic not
destined for them. It also frees up bandwidth within all the logical
workgroups.
In addition, because each VLAN constitutes a separate broadcast
domain, broadcast traffic remains within the VLAN. This too can
improve overall network performance.
ˆ Increased security
Because data traffic generated by a node in a VLAN is restricted only
to the other nodes of the same VLAN, you can use VLANs to control
the flow of packets in your network and prevent packets from flowing to
unauthorized end nodes.
ˆ Simplified network management
In addition, VLANs can simplify network management. Before the
advent of VLANs, physical changes to the network often had to been
made at the switches in the wiring closets. For example, if an
employee changed departments, changing the employee’s LAN
segment assignment might require a change to the wiring at the
switches.