Network Management Strategies for the CIO
By allowing users to be grouped by department, type of user, or virtually any other criteria, VLANs can be a great asset to network administrators and managers. Learn how with this new and improved VLANs crash
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DEFINITION
A virtual (or logical) LAN is a local area network with a definition that maps workstations on some other basis than geographic location (for example, by department, type of user, or primary application). The virtual LAN controller can change or add workstations and manage loadbalancing and bandwidth allocation more easily than with a physical picture of the LAN. Network management software keeps track of relating the virtual picture of the local area network with the actual physical picture.
Read the full definition here, courtesy of Whatis.com.
TIPS
Virtual LAN
basics
Expert Chris Partsenidis runs down the basics of virtual LANs.
Popular
VLAN attacks and how to avoid them
Learn how to secure a VLAN from popular attacks such as the VLAN hopping attack.
The
Lippis Report Volume 44: Secure domains and VLANs
Segmenting networks into security domains will become increasingly important as networks move
toward a trusted model.
Read more VLAN-related tips here.
ASK THE EXPERTS
Will
a VLAN help secure my small network?
Expert response: Setting up a VLAN for such a small home office network would be very expensive in
terms of hardware and setup required...
What
kind of security is available for VLANs?
Expert response: High-security users can be grouped into a VLAN, possibly on the same physical
segment, and no users outside of that VLAN can communicate with them...
How
do I enable VLAN grouping?
Expert response: When a port is configured to "trunk" mode, it will carry information belonging to
all VLANs. These ports are then called "trunk ports" and...
Ask one of our experts your VLAN-related questions.
WEBCASTS & WHITE PAPERS
VLAN
best practices
This whitepaper discusses VLAN challenges, best practices, tagging and tagging technologies,
maintaining VLANs and how good documentation practices will help troubleshoot problems and optimize
VLAN performance.
Virtual
LAN security best practices
The purpose of this paper is to present in a comprehensive way all of the recommendations that
Cisco engineers have accumulated to aid with the proper configuration of VLANs on Cisco
switches.
Cisco
field manual: Catalyst switch configuration -- VLANs and trunking
This excerpt from the book "Cisco Field Manual: Catalyst Switch Configuration," by David Hucaby and
Steve McQuerry, focuses on virtual local area networks (VLANs). Learn about VLAN configuration,
port membership, trunking methods and protocols.
View more VLAN-related webcasts and white papers.
This was first published in August 2005
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