Concepts / Switches and VLANs

Switches and VLANs

Broadcast domain

Also called broadcast, layer 2 network, LAN

The set of devices a broadcast reaches: one network at the link layer.

ARP requests and DHCP discovers are broadcasts (to ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff), heard by every device in the domain. Routers do not forward broadcasts, so each network behind a router is its own domain. VLANs split one switch into several.

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