What is the purpose of a VLAN in Ethernet networking?

A VLAN, or Virtual Local Area Network, is primarily designed to segment networks effectively for improved traffic management. By creating separate virtual networks within the same physical network infrastructure, VLANs allow for better organization of the traffic according to department, function, or application, thereby reducing broadcast domains. This segmentation helps to minimize network congestion, enhance security by isolating sensitive traffic, and improve overall performance by ensuring that broadcast and multicast traffic is limited to specific VLANs rather than being sent to all devices on the network.

In this context, VLANs can effectively support different user groups or services within the same physical space while maintaining network efficiency. The focused grouping of devices that can communicate as if they are on the same local network helps manage resources better and can simplify network administration and troubleshooting.