Okuzeka
Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

VLAN

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

/ˈviː læn/abbreviationCore term

In software engineering, VLAN means: Short for virtual LAN: a separate logical network created on a switch, so that devices plugged into the same hardware, for example staff PCs, guests and cameras, can be kept apart.

In Turkish: sanal yerel ağ, VLAN

How it is used

Said 'vee-lan'. Engineers create VLANs, assign ports to a VLAN, tag VLANs on trunk links and route between VLANs. VLANs are identified by numbers (1 to 4094 in the 802.1Q standard): 'Put this port in VLAN 20.'

Example sentences

  1. Cameras are in VLAN 50, so they can't talk to staff laptops directly.

  2. Can you move port 14 to the voice VLAN? A new IP phone is going there.

Common collocations

  • create a VLAN
  • voice VLAN
  • VLAN ID
  • assign a port to a VLAN
  • inter-VLAN routing
  • switchA device with many ports that connects computers, phones, printers and other equipment inside the same local network and forwards each frame only to the port where its destination is.
  • trunk portA switch port that carries traffic for several VLANs over one link, adding a tag to each frame so the device at the other end knows which VLAN it belongs to.
  • subnetA smaller range of IP addresses inside a larger network such as a VPC, used to group resources and control which of them can reach the internet.
  • LANShort for local area network: a network that connects devices in a limited area such as a home, an office floor or a single building.
  • spanning tree protocolA protocol that stops switches from forming loops by blocking extra paths between them, and opens a blocked path again if an active link fails.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

Practise with graded reading

Reading at the right level is the fastest way to make new words stick. Pick free English books by level: