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Difficulty: HardNetwork Hardware Devices

A network technician is expanding a SOHO corporate network to isolate broadcast domains between the Finance and Human Resources departments using VLANs. Both departments must be able to communicate with each other across subnets at line-rate speeds. Budget constraints prevent purchasing a dedicated external router, and the deployment must minimize network latency between subnets. Which network hardware device should the technician install to meet these requirements?

  1. Managed Layer 3 switchAnswer
  2. B
    Unmanaged Layer 2 switch
  3. C
    Dedicated DHCP and DNS appliance
  4. D
    Wireless access point operating in bridge mode

Answer

The technician should install a managed Layer 3 switch because it combines VLAN segmentation capabilities with hardware-based IP routing between subnets without requiring an external router.
A managed Layer 3 switch provides both VLAN tagging features and internal packet-routing capabilities. By handling inter-VLAN traffic in hardware via ASICs, it allows communication between separate IP subnets without needing a dedicated router appliance.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the network requirement for broadcast domain isolation.
Creating separate subnets/VLANs for Finance and Human Resources isolates broadcast domains at Layer 2.
VLAN tagging requires hardware that supports 802.1Q frame tagging.
2
Determine the inter-subnet traffic requirement and hardware constraints.
Traffic between subnets must be routed, but no dedicated external router can be purchased due to budget limitations.
Routing between VLANs normally requires a Layer 3 device (router or Layer 3 switch).
3
Select the appropriate network hardware device.
A managed Layer 3 switch performs packet routing between internal subnets directly in ASIC hardware while managing Layer 2 VLAN configurations.
Layer 3 switches fulfill both inter-VLAN routing and local port switching in a single device.

Key Concept

Layer 3 switches incorporate IP routing functionality into Layer 2 managed switches, enabling inter-VLAN routing at wire speed without requiring an external router.
Estimated Time:2m 0s
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Topics

Network Hardware Devices

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