Moxa Technologies Moxa EtherDevice Switch, EDS-510A Using Virtual LAN, Virtual LAN Vlan Concept

EDS-510A Series User’s Manual Featured Functions

Using Virtual LAN

Setting up Virtual LANs (VLANs) on your EDS-510A increases the efficiency of your network by dividing the LAN into logical segments, as opposed to physical segments. In general, VLANs are easier to manage.

The Virtual LAN (VLAN) Concept

What is a VLAN?

A VLAN is a group of devices that can be located anywhere on a network, but which communicate as if they are on the same physical segment. With VLANs, you can segment your network without being restricted by physical connections—a limitation of traditional network design. As an example, with VLANs you can segment your network according to:

yDepartmental groups—You could have one VLAN for the Marketing department, another for the Finance department, and another for the Development department.

yHierarchical groups—You could have one VLAN for directors, another for managers, and another for general staff.

yUsage groups—You could have one VLAN for e-mail users, and another for multimedia users.

Switch A

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8

	Backbone connects multiple switches
						Switch B
1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8

Department 1	Department 2
VLAN 1	VLAN 2

Department 3 VLAN 3

Benefits of VLANs

The main benefit of VLANs is that they provide a network segmentation system that is far more flexible than traditional networks. Using VLANs also provides you with three other benefits:

yVLANs ease the relocation of devices on networks: With traditional networks, network administrators spend most of their time dealing with moves and changes. If users move to a different subnetwork, the addresses of each host must be updated manually. With a VLAN setup, if a host on VLAN Marketing, for example, is moved to a port in another part of the network, and retains its original subnet membership, you only need to specify that the new port is on VLAN Marketing. You do not need to carry out any re-cabling.

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