Question

you run a small network for your business that has a single router connected to the internet and a single switch. you keep sensitive documents on a computer that you would like to keep isolated from other computers on the network.

other hosts on the network should not be able to communicate with this computer through the switch, but you still need to access the network through the computer.

which of the following should you use in this situation?

a port security
b vpn
c vlan
d spanning tree

Explanation:

Analyze the network requirements

The scenario describes a small business network with a single router and a single switch. The goal is to isolate a specific computer containing sensitive documents from other hosts on the same physical switch, while still allowing that computer to access the external network (the Internet) through the router.

Evaluate the options

• Port security is used to restrict input to an interface by limiting and identifying MAC addresses of the stations allowed to access the port. It does not isolate hosts on the same switch from communicating with each other.
• VPN (Virtual Private Network) is used to establish secure, encrypted connections over an untrusted network (like the Internet). It is not designed for local layer 2 isolation on a single physical switch.
• VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) segments a single physical switch into multiple logical broadcast domains. By placing the sensitive computer in its own VLAN and other hosts in a different VLAN, they cannot communicate directly through the switch (at Layer 2). However, both VLANs can still route traffic through the router (Layer 3) to access the Internet or other authorized networks.
• Spanning Tree (STP) is a protocol used to prevent loops in network topologies with redundant paths. It does not provide host isolation.

Select the best solution

Using a VLAN is the standard and most effective method to isolate local hosts on the same physical switch while maintaining routing capabilities to the Internet.

Answer:

• (A) Port security
• (B) VPN
• (C) VLAN (Correct answer)
• (D) Spanning Tree