
Switching 3-11
Software Release 2.6.4
C613-03081-00 REV A
Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs)
A Virtual LAN (VLAN) is a logical, software-defined subnetwork. It allows
similar devices on the network to be grouped together into one broadcast
domain, irrespective of their physical position in the network. Multiple VLANs
can be used to group workstations, servers, stacks, and other network
equipment connected to the switch, according to similar data and security
requirements.
Decoupling logical broadcast domains from the physical wiring topology
offers several advantages, including the ability to:
■ Move devices and people with minimal, or no, reconfiguration
■ Change a device’s broadcast domain and access to resources without
physically moving the device, by software reconfiguration or by moving its
cable from one switch port to another
■ Isolate parts of the network from other parts by placing them in different
VLANs
■ Share servers and other network resources without losing data isolation or
security
■ Direct broadcast traffic to only those devices that need to receive it thereby
reducing traffic across the network
■ Connect 802.1q-compatible switches together through one port on each
switch
Devices that are members of the same VLAN exchange data with each other
through the switch’s switching capabilities. To exchange data between devices
in separate VLANs, the switch’s routing capabilities are used. The switch
passes VLAN status information, indicating whether a VLAN is up or down, to
the Internet Protocol (IP) module. IP uses this information to determine route
availability.
The switch has a maximum of 255 VLANs, ranging from a VLAN identifier
(VID) of 1 to 4094.
When the switch is first powered up, a “default” VLAN is created and all ports
are added to it. In this initial unconfigured state, the switch broadcasts all the
packets it receives to the default VLAN. This VLAN has a VID of 1 and an
interface name of vlan1. It cannot be deleted, and ports can be removed from it
only when they also belong to at least one other VLAN. When all devices on
the physical LAN belong to the same logical LAN (same broadcast domain),
the default settings are acceptable and no additional VLAN configuration is
necessary.
VLAN Tagging
An Ethernet packet can contain a VLAN tag with fields that specify VLAN
membership and user priority. The VLAN tag is described in IEEE Standard
802.3ac, and is four octets that can be inserted between the Source Address and
the Type/Length fields in the Ethernet packet (Figure 3-1 on page 3-12). To
accommodate the tag, IEEE 802.3ac also increased the maximum allowable
length for an Ethernet frame to 1522 octets (the minimum size is 64 octets).
IEEE 802.1q specifies how the data in the VLAN tag switches frames.
VLAN-aware devices are able to add the VLAN tag to the packet header.
VLAN-unaware devices cannot set or read the VLAN tag.
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