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Networking Intermediate

What is VLAN (Virtual LAN)?

A logical grouping of network devices that creates separate broadcast domains on the same physical network infrastructure.

VLANs segment a physical network into multiple logical networks. Devices in the same VLAN can communicate directly, while VLAN-to-VLAN traffic requires routing. This improves security, reduces broadcast traffic, and simplifies network management.

VLANs use 802.1Q tagging to identify which VLAN a frame belongs to. Common uses include separating departments (HR, Engineering), isolating guest Wi-Fi, and segmenting IoT devices from main networks.

Related Terms

Network Monitoring
The practice of continuously observing network infrastructure to detect failures, performance degradation, and security threats.
Anycast
A network routing technique where the same IP address is announced from multiple locations, directing users to the nearest server.
HTTP Keep-Alive
An HTTP mechanism that reuses a single TCP connection for multiple requests, reducing the overhead of establishing new connections.
SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
A protocol for monitoring and managing network devices like routers, switches, servers, and printers remotely.
SDN (Software-Defined Networking)
An approach that separates the network control plane from the data plane, enabling centralized, programmable network management.
Content Delivery Network (CDN)
A geographically distributed network of servers that caches and delivers web content from locations closest to users for faster load times.
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