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Virtual local area network (VLAN) trunking Protocol or VTP is a proprietary protocol from Cisco that allows networks to send network functionality through all of the switches in a domain. This technique eliminates the need for multiple configurations for VLANs throughout the system.
Techopedia Explains VLAN Trunking Protocol
VTP, which is available with Cisco Catalyst products, provides efficient ways to send a VLAN through every switch. There’s also the option of VLAN pruning which will avoid sending traffic through some switches. Users can make these systems pruning eligible or pruning ineligible.
One concept in VTP is that larger scale networks may need to be limited in terms of which switches will act as the VLAN servers. VTP offers various options for recovery after a crash or for efficiently serving up redundant network traffic.
In general, the idea of VLAN trunking is similar to other kinds of IT trunking. By locating resources in specific arrangements, data has to do less work to get to specific parts of a network system, or administrators need to do less work to accommodate these data transfers. The trunks between switches are part of this efficiency mechanism which allows for faster and more efficient network traffic.
