What issues arise when VLAN trunks carry hundreds of tags on shared uplinks?

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What issues arise when VLAN trunks carry hundreds of tags on shared uplinks?

Asked on Nov 03, 2025

Answer

When VLAN trunks carry hundreds of tags on shared uplinks, several issues can arise, including increased complexity in managing VLAN configurations, potential for broadcast storms, and congestion on the trunk link. These issues can affect network performance and stability, making it crucial to implement proper VLAN management and monitoring practices.

Example Concept: VLAN trunks carrying numerous tags can lead to increased broadcast domain sizes, which may cause broadcast storms if not properly managed. Additionally, the trunk link may become a bottleneck if it lacks sufficient bandwidth to handle the aggregated traffic from multiple VLANs. Proper VLAN pruning and the use of VLAN Spanning Tree Protocol (VSTP) can help mitigate these issues by limiting unnecessary traffic and preventing loops.

Additional Comment:

Ensure that VLAN pruning is enabled to restrict unnecessary VLAN traffic on trunk links.
Monitor trunk link utilization to prevent congestion and ensure sufficient bandwidth.
Implement Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) to prevent loops and broadcast storms.
Regularly review and update VLAN configurations to align with network requirements.

✅ Answered with Networking best practices.

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