Allied Telesis AT-8550 - Manual (Page 67)

4-1
Chapter 4
Virtual LANs (VLANs)
Setting up Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) on the switch eases
many time-consuming tasks of network administration while
increasing efficiency in network operations.
This chapter describes the concept of VLANs and explains how to
implement VLANs on the switch.
Overview of Virtual LANs
The term “VLAN” is used to refer to a collection of devices that
communicate as if they were on the same physical LAN. Any set of
ports (including all ports on the switch) is considered a VLAN. LAN
segments are not restricted by the hardware that physically connects
them. The segments are defined by flexible user groups you create
with the command-line interface.
Benefits
Implementing VLANs on your networks has the following
advantages:
❑ VLANs help to control traffic.
With traditional networks, congestion can be caused by
broadcast traffic that is directed to all network devices,
regardless of whether they require it. VLANs increase the
efficiency of your network because each VLAN can be set up to
contain only those devices that must communicate with each
other.