When routing a large number of VLANs, what are two disadvantages of using the router-on-a-stick inter-VLAN routing method rather than the multilayer switch inter-VLAN routing method?
The router-on-a-stick inter-VLAN routing method and the multilayer switch inter-VLAN routing method are two approaches used to enable communication between VLANs in a network.
While both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, two disadvantages of using the router-on-a-stick method in the context of routing a large number of VLANs are as follows:
1. Limited bandwidth: In the router-on-a-stick method, a single physical interface of the router is used to carry traffic from multiple VLANs. This means that all the inter-VLAN traffic needs to pass through the same interface, resulting in potential bandwidth constraints. When dealing with a large number of VLANs or high network traffic, the limited bandwidth on the router interface can become a bottleneck, leading to degraded performance or increased latency in the network.
2. Increased latency: Since all the inter-VLAN traffic needs to go through the router-on-a-stick interface, the latency of the network can be higher compared to the multilayer switch method. In this method, each VLAN’s traffic is directly switched within a multilayer switch, allowing for faster communication between VLANs. However, with the router-on-a-stick method, traffic has to be passed through the router, processed, and then forwarded to the intended VLAN. This additional processing time can increase the overall latency of the network, which might be undesirable in certain scenarios, especially for real-time applications or high-performance environments.
In contrast, the multilayer switch inter-VLAN routing method addresses these disadvantages by allowing for faster inter-VLAN communication and providing higher bandwidth capabilities. Multilayer switches have dedicated hardware and switching fabric to efficiently handle inter-VLAN traffic, resulting in improved network performance and reduced latency. However, it is important to note that the choice of inter-VLAN routing method depends on various factors, such as network requirements, scalability needs, hardware availability, and budget considerations.
More Answers:
The Benefits of Dynamic Routing Protocols in Network Performance, Resilience, and ScalabilityThe Impact of Disabling Cisco Express Forwarding (CEF) on Router Performance and Scalability
A Guide to Verifying the Configuration of Address Translation for Network Administrators