Virtual LANs (VLANs) allow you to split your physical LAN into logical parts, to create logical segmentation of workgroups, and to enforce security policies for each logical segment. Each defined VLAN behaves as its own separate network with its traffic and broadcasts isolated from the others, increasing bandwidth efficiency within each logical group. Up to 64 VLANs (63 tagged and 1 untagged) can be defined for each Broadcom adapter on your server, depending on the amount of memory available in your system.
VLANs can be added to a team to allow multiple VLANs with different VLAN IDs. A virtual adapter is created for each VLAN added.
Although VLANs are commonly used to create individual broadcast domains and/or separate IP subnets, it is sometimes useful for a server to have a presence on more than one VLAN simultaneously. Broadcom adapters support multiple VLANs on a per-port or per-team basis, allowing very flexible network configurations.
Figure 1 shows an example network that uses VLANs. In this example network, the physical LAN consists of a switch, two servers, and five clients. The LAN is logically organized into three different VLANs, each representing a different IP subnet. The features of this network are described in Table 1.
NOTE: VLAN tagging is only required to be enabled on switch ports that create trunk links to other switches, or on ports connected to tag-capable end-stations, such as servers or workstations with Broadcom adapters.
Each team supports up to 64 VLANs (63 tagged and 1 untagged). Note that only Broadcom adapters and Alteon® AceNIC adapters can be part of a team with VLANs. With multiple VLANs on an adapter, a server with a single adapter can have a logical presence on multiple IP subnets. With multiple VLANs in a team, a server can have a logical presence on multiple IP subnets and benefit from load balancing and failover. For instructions on adding a VLAN to a team, see Adding a VLAN for Windows operating systems.
NOTE: Adapters that are members of a failover team can also be configured to support VLANs. Because VLANs are not supported for an Intel LOM, if an Intel LOM is a member of a failover team, VLANs cannot be configured for that team.