You can assign any port on the switch to any of up to 32 Virtual LAN groups. In conventional networks with routers, broadcast traffic is split up into separate domains. Switches do not inherently support broadcast domains. This can lead to broadcast storms in large networks that handle traffic such as IPX or NetBeui. By using IEEE 802.1Q-compliant VLANs, you can organize any group of network nodes into separate broadcast domains, thus confining broadcast traffic to the originating group. This also provides a more secure and cleaner network environment.
The following sections describe how to use VLANs: