We can limit the amount of broadcast traffic on a switched network by dividing the computers into logical network segments called VLANs.
A virtual local area network (VLAN) is a logical group of computers that appear to be on the same LAN even if they are on separate IP subnets. These logical subnets are configured in the network switches. Each VLAN is a broadcast domain meaning that only computers within the same VLAN will receive broadcast traffic.
To allow different segments (VLAN) to communicate with each other, a router is required to establish a connection between the systems. We can use a network router to route between the VLANs or we can use a `Layer 3' switch. Unlike layer 2 switches that can only read the contents of the data-link layer protocol header in the packets they process, layer 3 switches can read the (IP) addresses in the network layer protocol header as well.