A VLAN trunk, or trunk, is a point-to-point link between two network devices that carries more than one VLAN. A VLAN trunk extends VLANs across an entire network. Cisco supports IEEE 802.1Q for coordinating trunks on Fast Ethernet, Gigabit Ethernet, and 10-Gigabit Ethernet interfaces.
VLANs would not be very useful without VLAN trunks. VLAN trunks allow all VLAN traffic to propagate between switches, so that devices which are in the same VLAN, but connected to different switches, can communicate without the intervention of a router.
A VLAN trunk does not belong to a specific VLAN; rather, it is a conduit for multiple VLANs between switches and routers. A trunk could also be used between a network device and server or other device that is equipped with an appropriate 802.1Q-capable NIC. By default, on a Cisco Catalyst switch, all VLANs are supported on a trunk port.
In the figure, the links between switches S1 and S2, and S1 and S3 are configured to transmit traffic coming from VLANs 10, 20, 30, and 99 across the network. This network could not function without VLAN trunks.