Applications and products
We will try to outline the points on which the virtual network can benefit existing networks:
1. Mobility: As we have seen, the crux of the virtual network is to allow the mobility of users within the working groups.
2. Logical Domains: The working groups can be defined by one or more physical segments, in other words, the working groups are independent of their physical connections, as they are constituted as logical domains.
3. Control and maintenance of bandwidth: The virtual network may restrict the broadcast to the logical domain where they were generated. Also, add users to a specific domain or workgroup does not reduce the bandwidth available to him or to others.
4. Connectivity: Models with routing features allow us to interconnect various switches and virtual networks expand through them, even if they are located in different geographical locations.
5. Security: Access to and from the logical domain can be restricted, depending on the specific needs of each network, providing a high degree of safety.
6. Investment Protection: VLAN capabilities are usually included in the price of switches that offer, and their use does not require changes in the structure of the network or cable, but rather avoid facilitating the reconfiguration of the network without additional costs.
The first supplier of switches with VLAN support was ALANTEC (family hubs / switches PowerHub smart media), but many manufacturers are now offering equipment solutions VLAN: Bytex (7700 intelligent hub), Cabletron (ESX-MIM), Chipcom ( OnLine) Lannet (MultiNet Hub), Synoptics (Lattis System 5000), UB (Hub Access / One) and 3Com (LinkBuilder).