Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Practice Exam

Which two benefits are provided by creating VLANs?

1. Increased size of broadcast domains, separates users by geography

2. Added security and provides segmentation

3. Dedicated bandwidth and eliminates redundancy

4. Enhanced speed and reduces operational complexity

The correct answer is: Added security and provides segmentation

Creating VLANs (Virtual Local Area Networks) offers several important benefits, particularly in the areas of security and network segmentation. By grouping devices into VLANs, organizations can isolate sensitive data and resources, ensuring that only authorized users have access to certain parts of the network. This layered approach enhances security significantly compared to a flat network, where all devices can communicate freely. Furthermore, by segmenting the network into VLANs, broadcast domains are reduced, which minimizes unnecessary broadcast traffic. This isolation helps improve overall network performance as it limits the range of broadcast packets to just those devices within the same VLAN. This segmentation is especially useful in large organizations where different departments or user groups may have specific networking needs or security requirements. The other options do not effectively capture the principal benefits provided by VLANs. For instance, increasing the size of broadcast domains contradicts the purpose of VLANs, which is to reduce broadcast traffic. Dedicated bandwidth and elimination of redundancy pertain more to network design principles rather than to the inherent capabilities of VLANs. Enhanced speed and reduced operational complexity may result indirectly from good VLAN design, but they are not primary benefits of VLAN implementation as per the standard understanding in networking practices.