ZyXEL Communications Plumbing Product metrogigabit switch User Manual

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 Chapter 1 Getting to Know Your Switch
MGS3700-12C User’s Guide
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1.1.3  High Performance Switching Example
The Switch is ideal for connecting two networks that need high bandwidth. In the 
following example, use trunking to connect these two networks.
Switching to higher-speed LANs such as ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode) 
is not feasible for most people due to the expense of replacing all existing 
Ethernet cables and adapter cards, restructuring your network and complex 
maintenance. The Switch can provide the same bandwidth as ATM at much lower 
cost while still being able to use existing adapters and switches. Moreover, the 
current LAN structure can be retained as all ports can freely communicate with 
each other. 
Figure 3   High Performance Switched Workgroup Application 
1.1.4  IEEE 802.1Q VLAN Application Examples
A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) allows a physical network to be partitioned 
into multiple logical networks. Stations on a logical network belong to one group. 
A station can belong to more than one group. With VLAN, a station cannot directly 
talk to or hear from stations that are not in the same group(s) unless such traffic 
first goes through a router.
For more information on VLANs, refer to 
1.1.4.1  Tag-based VLAN Example
Ports in the same VLAN group share the same frame broadcast domain thus 
increase network performance through reduced broadcast traffic. VLAN groups 
can be modified at any time by adding, moving or changing ports without any re-
cabling.