A method and
system for an aggregated virtual
local area network (VLAN) architecture in which several VLANs in a network share the same default
router address and subnet
mask, but remain isolated from one another's network traffic. Instead of the traditional method of assigning one subnet to a VLAN, each VLAN is assigned only a portion of a subnet's
IP address space, and is further grouped into a super-VLAN uniquely associated with that subnet. Intra-VLAN traffic is forwarded only to host IP addresses assigned to that same VLAN according to a VLAN identifier carried in the data packet. Inter-VLAN traffic is processed by a
virtual router interface which routes the data packet by applying the routing configuration for the subnet uniquely associated with the super-VLAN, according to a super-VLAN identifier carried in the data packet. The routing configuration used by the
virtual router interface includes routing protocols, static routes, redundant
router protocols and access-lists. Since each VLAN shares the same
virtual router interlace, the traditional address overhead of a subnet is minimized, requiring only one default
router and subnet
mask, as well as only one pair of subnet broadcast addresses for all hosts on the subnet and the subnet itself. The aggregated VLAN architecture provides for the efficient use and management of a network's
IP address space.