VLANliittymiä

VLANliittymiä refers to the interfaces on network devices that are configured to participate in Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs). These interfaces, often called VLAN ports or trunk ports, are crucial for segmenting a physical network into multiple logical broadcast domains.

When a network interface is configured as a VLANliittymä, it can carry traffic for one or more VLANs. This allows network administrators to isolate different groups of users or devices, enhancing security and network performance. For example, a company might use VLANs to separate their guest Wi-Fi traffic from their internal corporate network.

There are two primary types of VLANliittymiä: access ports and trunk ports. An access port is typically assigned to a single VLAN and carries untagged traffic. Devices connected to an access port, such as a desktop computer or printer, belong exclusively to that VLAN.

A trunk port, on the other hand, can carry traffic for multiple VLANs simultaneously. To distinguish between different VLANs on a trunk port, a tag is added to each data frame. This tagging process, often using the IEEE 802.1Q standard, allows a single physical link to support several logical networks. Switches use these VLANliittymiä to forward traffic only to ports that belong to the same VLAN, thereby reducing unnecessary broadcast traffic and improving network efficiency.