Which of the following leverages virtual network topologies to run smaller, and more isolated networks without incurring additional hardware costs?

Microsegmentation leverages software-defined networking to create granular, isolated network segments at the workload or VM level. It operates through virtual overlays and policy engines, meaning no new physical switches or routers are needed. This allows administrators to enforce east-west traffic controls and reduce blast radius without hardware investment.

VLANs are layer 2 segmentation constructs tied to physical switch configurations and do not inherently use virtual network topologies to create full network isolation at scale.

Converged networking refers to combining multiple traffic types (storage, data, voice) over a single network infrastructure, not to creating isolated virtual network topologies.

Virtual Private Networks create encrypted tunnels between endpoints over public networks but do not create smaller isolated internal network segments without hardware.

Virtual Private Cloud is a cloud provider construct that isolates cloud resources, not a general technology for running smaller virtual topologies on-premises without hardware costs.