Case Study
Now that Ann has used switches to segment the network using switches, the network performance has noticeably improved. However, some of the servers are having some CPU utilization issues. After some research by the vendor who installed the servers, it has been determined that the problem is the amount of broadcast traffic. It seems that one of the servers runs an application that uses broadcasts to locate and poll all of its clients on the network. These broadcasts are affecting both servers and clients throughout the network, but it is more noticeable on the servers. Because of this, Ann has decided to implement VLANs. Based on the following requirements, what steps should Ann take in creating her VLANs? Figure 3-16 shows the layout of the switched network and location of the servers.
Figure 3-16 International Widgets Ltd. Switched Network Diagram
Ann has five servers. One server for production uses an all network broadcast to communicate with its clients. Those clients are located on both floors of the building, as shown in Figure 3-16. Of the other four servers, all use TCP/IP to communicate with various departments all over the company. It has been decided that for clients not using the production server, PCs and servers will be placed in a VLAN base at the location:
How many VLANs will Ann need and where will they need to be located in relation to the switches?
Do any of the switches have multiple VLANs on them? If so, what will Ann need to configure to ensure that multiple VLANs can pass between the switches?
In the future, Ann might need to create VLANs that will need to be used on some or all of the switches. To ensure that all VLANs exist on all trunked switches, what should Ann do?