SMC Networks 8728L2 FICHE, Installation Manual

Page: 36 / 88

N
ETWORK
P
LANNING
2-6
Making VLAN Connections
This switch supports VLANs which can be used to organize any group of
network nodes into separate broadcast domains. VLANs confine broadcast
traffic to the originating group, and can eliminate broadcast storms in large
networks. This provides a more secure and cleaner network environment.
VLANs can be based on untagged port groups, or traffic can be explicitly
tagged to identify the VLAN group to which it belongs. Untagged VLANs
can be used for small networks attached to a single switch. However, tagged
VLANs should be used for larger networks, and all the VLANs assigned to
the inter-switch links.
The switch also support multiple spanning trees which allow VLANs groups
to maintain a more stable path between all VLAN members. This can reduce
the overall amount of protocol traffic crossing the network, and provide a
shorter reconfiguration time if any link in the spanning tree fails.
Figure 2-5 Making VLAN Connections
Note:
When connecting to a switch that does not support IEEE 802.1Q VLAN
tags, use untagged ports.