ZyXEL Communications GS-4012F, User Manual

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GS-4012F User’s Guide
36 Chapter 1 Getting to Know Your Switch
Figure 2 Bridging Application
1.4.3 High Performance Switching Example
The switch is ideal for connecting two networks that need high bandwidth. In the following
example, use trunking to connect these two networks.
Switching to higher-speed LANs such as ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode) is not
feasible for most people due to the expense of replacing all existing Ethernet cables and
adapter cards, restructuring your network and complex maintenance. The switch can provide
the same bandwidth as ATM at much lower cost while still being able to use existing adapters
and switches. Moreover, the current LAN structure can be retained as all ports can freely
communicate with each other.
Figure 3 High Performance Switched Workgroup Application
1.4.4 IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Application Examples
A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) allows a physical network to be partitioned into
multiple logical networks. Stations on a logical network belong to one group. A station can
belong to more than one group. With VLAN, a station cannot directly talk to or hear from
stations that are not in the same group(s) unless such traffic first goes through a router.
For more information on VLANs, refer to Chapter 8, “VLAN,” on page 81 .