Advantages and Disadvantages of VLANs
Advantages of VLANs
- VLANs are more cost effective, VLANs offer more flexibility in network design. Device grouping can be done virtually within the same switch without the need to physically differentiate. So the need for the number of switches in a network will be less and will save infrastructure costs.
You don’t need any additional hardware and cables, which helps you save costs. - Easier network management, VLANs make it easier for network administrators to monitor, reconfigure networks, restrict access, move devices, and so on.
You can logically group networks by department, project team, or function.
These factors reduce the time and energy that administrators have to devote to configuration and security measures. - Network efficiency, network traffic is more directed, which will reduce unnecessary traffic and will lower the network load.
VLANs have higher performance and lower latency than LANs.
Disadvantages of VLANs
- Requires a switch that has management capabilities.
- Requires a router for large networks.
When to use VLAN
When you manage a local area network that has a few devices or a small network, using a VLAN will not give you much benefit. The difference in network performance will not make much difference between using a VLAN or not.
On a network consisting of only a few devices, using a VLAN will increase the cost of the network infrastructure. What you need to know, not all switches support the use of VLANs. In low-end switches, the VLAN management function is not available.
Using VLANs will be very useful when you manage a network with several devices reaching hundreds or maybe thousands. With a large number of devices, start thinking about efficiency in management to achieve maximum network performance.
On a large network, you will have difficulty if you are still using a traditional LAN. A large network will have large traffic as well, if you do not do the right configuration will impact poor network performance. In addition, the high mobility of the device will make it very difficult for you to manage the network.
By using a VLAN, you can solve problems like that easily.