What are VLANs?

VLANs, or Virtual Local Area Networks, are a networking technology that allows you to segment a physical network into multiple logical networks. This segmentation enhances security, improves network performance, and simplifies management by grouping devices that communicate frequently together, even if they are not physically connected to the same switches. VLANs are commonly used in organizations to separate departments, manage broadcast traffic, and enforce security policies. They are configured on network switches and use tagging protocols like IEEE 802.1Q to identify and manage traffic.