Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) and VLAN Tagging let you sub-divide or isolate your physical network into smaller Virtual Networks to provide better functionality, services, or to isolate or restrict traffic between networks.
For example, an organization may want to isolate Voice-Over-IP (VOIP) related traffic from users workstation data due to the different quality of service requirements for each.
VLAN Tagging is a feature of a network device to insert VLAN IDs, or VLAN tags, onto data packets to distinguish traffic from different VLANs.
VLAN Tagging is necessary when your multi-VLAN traffic spans across trunks between switches that support IEEE 802.1q. As a packet goes through a switch supporting IEEE 802.1q and enters a trunk channel towards the next network device, the switch inserts a VLAN ID, or VLAN tag, onto a data packet in order to identify the VLAN to which the packet belongs.
BlueCat DNS/DHCP Servers can be configured with multiple VLANs (each represented as a sub-interface). In this way, the DNS/DHCP Server can identify which packets belong to which VLAN and respond appropriately. To support VLAN tagging, you configure a sub-interface on top of parent physical interface (either eth0 or bond0) on the DNS/DHCP Serverand assign that sub-interface with certain VLAN ID. Any response on such a sub-interface will be broadcast to hosts and network devices in the corresponding VLAN.
- VLAN Tagging is supported on managed DNS/DHCP Server appliance or virtual machines using software version 9.2.x or greater only
- VLAN Tagging can be configured on standalone DNS/DHCP Server or xHA pairs
- VLAN Tagging can be used with port bonding to provide customers with NIC level redundancy.