Virtual LANs

The term VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) refers to a collection of devices that communicate as if they were on the same physical LAN. Any set of ports (including all ports on the switch) can be considered a VLAN. LAN segments are not restricted by the hardware that physically connects them.

VLANs offer the ability to group computers together into logical workgroups. This can simplify network administration when connecting clients to servers that are geographically dispersed across the building, campus, or enterprise network.

Typically, VLANs consist of co-workers within the same department but in different locations, groups of users running the same network protocol, or a cross-functional team working on a joint project. 

 

By using VLANs on your network, you can:

Other Considerations

CAUTION: When using IEEE 802 VLANs, settings must match between the switch and those adapters using the VLANs.

Microsoft* Load Balancing and Failover (LBFO) teams

Intel ANS VLANs are not compatible with Microsoft's LBFO teams. Intel® PROSet will block a member of an LBFO team from being added to an Intel ANS VLAN. You should not add a port that is already part of an Intel ANS VLAN to an LBFO team, as this may cause system instability.

 

Configuring VLANs in Microsoft* Windows*

In Microsoft* Windows*, you must use Intel® PROSet to set up and configure VLANs. For more information, select Intel PROSet in the Table of Contents (left pane) of this window.

Note: If you change a setting under the Advanced tab for one VLAN, it changes the settings for all VLANS using that port.

In most environments, a maximum of 64 VLANs per network port or team are supported by Intel PROSet.

Configuration notes for Microsoft Hyper-V*

If you want to have VLANs on the parent partition and on any child partitions, each child partition's VLAN must have the same VLAN ID as a VLAN on the parent partition.


Last modified on 6/17/09 9:47p Revision