In the ever-evolving landscape of network security and management, organizations are increasingly turning to Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) to implement network segmentation and device isolation. This document explores the benefits and strategies for utilizing VLANs to enhance security, improve performance, and simplify network administration as well as provide guidelines on configuring network segmentation in Exium's SASE platform.
Networks are susceptible to security threats, performance bottlenecks, and management complexity when they lack segmentation. Traditional flat networks may expose sensitive data and critical systems to unnecessary risks, leading to potential security breaches and operational inefficiencies.
Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) offer an effective solution to address these challenges. VLANs enable organizations to logically segment a physical network into multiple isolated virtual networks, each with its own addressing, security policies, and broadcast domains.
Key benefits include:
Enhanced Security: VLANs isolate network traffic, limiting the scope of security threats. This isolation prevents lateral movement by attackers and safeguards sensitive data.
Improved Performance: Segmenting the network isolates broadcast domains, reducing broadcast traffic and enhancing overall network performance. Bandwidth is allocated more effectively.
Simplified Network Management: VLANs facilitate network administration by enabling the assignment of devices to specific logical networks. This streamlines the management of devices, users, and services.
Compliance and Data Privacy: VLANs help organizations meet compliance requirements by separating sensitive data from other network traffic, ensuring data privacy and regulatory adherence.
Scalability: As organizations grow, VLANs can accommodate new devices and users while maintaining isolation and security.
Key Features of VLAN-Based Segmentation and Device Isolation inlcude:
Implementing network segmentation and device isolation with VLANs is a strategic move for organizations seeking to enhance security, performance, and network management. This approach allows organizations to fortify their network against security threats, optimize resource allocation, and streamline administrative tasks. By using VLANs effectively, organizations can achieve a more resilient and efficient network infrastructure.
Exium's Cyber gateway offers Zero-Trust network segmentation capabilities that you can easily configure and manage via Exium's centralized admin console.
To configure VLANs and deliver Zero-Trust network segmentation and device isolation, follow the steps below.
We recommend testing with a switch that supports IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tags. However, some initial testing can also be done using, for example, a windows machine with direct Ethernet cable plugged between the machine and the LAN interface of the cyber gateway as shown in the figure below.
To learn how to configure VLANs for Hyper-V on a Windows machine, click here for details.
Multiple VMs on a single machine or multiple machines can be used for VLAN testing via a Switch supporting IEEE 802.1Q VLAN tags as shown in the Figure below.