VTP

This past week I’ve been learning more about networks in an enterprise setting. I learned more about VLAN Trunking Protocol, a Cisco proprietary protocol that propagates the definition of Virtual Local Area Networks on the whole local area network. VLAN Trunking Protocol ensures that VLAN data across an organization is accurate at all times allowing a larger scale VLAN enabled network scheme. There are 3 modes a cisco device can be set in when working with VLAN Trunking Protocol: server, client, and transparent. Each mode has its own purpose and privileges. The server mode enables the switch to advertise a VLAN Trunking Protocol domain and then release updates through Summary, Request, and Subset advertisements. The client mode doesn’t have the privilege to create, change, or delete VLANs; but can update information by communicating with a VLAN Trunking Protocol server. The transparent mode does not directly participate in VLAN Trunking Protocol, but helps by forwarding advertisements. Advertisements are sent out by servers every 5 minutes or whenever there is an update. These automatic updates allow multiple devices to work without having to constantly manually update and reconfigure. The main advantage of the VLAN Trunking Protocol protocol is that it helps organizations scale their VLANs easily, efficiently, and quickly.