Filter
Top Products
Asanté FriendlyNET GX5-424W/448W/2400W User’s Manual
41
The switch acts as a high-speed selective bridge between the individual segments. The switch,
without interfering with any other segments, automatically forwards traffic that needs to go from
one segment to another. By doing this, the total network capacity is multiplied, while still
maintaining the same network cabling and adapter cards.
Switching LAN technology is a marked improvement over the previous generation of network
bridges, which were characterized by higher latencies. Routers have also been used to segment
local area networks, but the cost of a router, setup and required maintenance make routers
relatively impractical. Today switches are an ideal solution to most kinds of local area network
congestion problems.
Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN)
A VLAN is a group of end-stations that is not constrained by physical location and can
communicate as if in a common broadcast domain. The primary utility of using VLAN is to reduce
latency and need for routers, using faster switching instead. Other VLAN utilities include:
• Security: Security is increased with the reduction of opportunity in eavesdropping on a
broadcast network because data will be switched to only those confidential users within the
VLAN.
• Cost Reduction: VLANs can be used to create multiple broadcast domains—thus
eliminating the need for expensive routers.
Port-based (or port-group) VLAN is the common method of implementing a VLAN, and is the one
supplied in the GX5-W switch.