Virtual Local Area Networks (VLANs) allow you to segment the network logically without requiring separate physical hardware. By assigning each group (Product and IT) to its own VLAN, you can effectively isolate their traffic from the main corporate network and from each other if needed.
Isolation from the Main Network: VLANs can be configured to prevent traffic from the Product and IT VLANs from accessing the main corporate network. This ensures that sensitive data and operations within Product and IT remain secure and separate.
Inter-Group Communication: Even though Product and IT are on separate VLANs, you can still allow controlled communication between them using routing policies or Access Control Lists (ACLs). This ensures that the two departments can collaborate and share necessary information without compromising the isolation from the main network.
B) Establishing fully separate physical network segments: While this provides strong isolation, it is often costlier and less flexible compared to VLANs. Managing separate physical infrastructure can be cumbersome in a large enterprise environment.
C) Applying an Access Control List (ACL): ACLs are useful for controlling traffic between existing network segments but do not provide the initial segmentation. They are typically used in conjunction with VLANs or other segmentation methods.
D) Employing Network Address Translation (NAT): NAT is primarily used for translating private IP addresses to public ones, especially for internet access. It does not inherently provide network isolation within internal segments.