Overview

Ethernet is a family of shared-media LAN technologies based on the CSMA/CD mechanism. An Ethernet LAN is both a collision domain and a broadcast domain. Because the medium is shared, collisions and broadcasts are common in an Ethernet LAN. Typically, bridges and Layer 2 switches can reduce collisions in an Ethernet LAN. To confine broadcasts, a Layer 2 switch must use the Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) technology.

VLANs enable a Layer 2 switch to break a LAN down into smaller broadcast domains, as shown in Figure 14.

A VLAN is logically divided on an organizational basis rather than on a physical basis. For example, you can assign all workstations and servers used by a particular workgroup to the same VLAN, regardless of their physical locations. Hosts in the same VLAN can directly communicate with one another. You need a router or a Layer 3 switch for hosts in different VLANs to communicate with one another.

All these VLAN features reduce bandwidth waste, improve LAN security, and enable flexible virtual group creation.