Types of switches
Switches facilitate the sharing of resources by connecting together all the devices, including computers, printers, and servers, in a small business network.
Thanks to the switch, these connected devices can share information and talk to each other, regardless of where they are in a building or on campus.
Building a small business network is not possible without switches to tie devices together.
A network switch connects devices (such as computers, printers, wireless access points) in a network to each other, and allows them to ‘talk’ by exchanging data packets.
Switches can be hardware devices that manage physical networks, as well as software-based virtual devices.
Switches are more advanced than hubs and less capable than routers. Unlike hubs, switches can limit the traffic to and from each port so that each device connected to the switch has a sufficient amount of bandwidth.
For this reason, you can think of a switch as a "smart hub." However, switches don't provide the firewall and logging capabilities that routers do.
Routers can often be configured by software (typically via a Web interface), while switches only work the way the hardware was designed.
Unlike a hub, a switch forwards a message to a specific host. When any host on the network or a switch sends a message to another host on the same network or same switch, the switch receives and decodes the frames to read the physical (MAC) address portion of the message.
An Ethernet switch creates a separate collision domain for each switch port. Each device connected to a switch port can transfer data to any of the other ones at a time, and the transmissions will not interfere, with a caveat that in half-duplex mode, each switch port can only either receive from or transmit to its connected device at a certain time.
The function of the Switch process faster than Routers, instead use the hardware address defined at the Data Link (MAC) layer to decide whether to forward or discard the frame, unlike Router which works on Layer 3 and uses the destination IP address for forwarding packets.
How a network switch works
A network switch can be deployed in the following ways:
Edge, or access switches: These switches manage traffic either coming into or exiting the network. Devices like computers and access points connect to edge switches.
Aggregation, or distribution switches: These switches are placed within an optional middle layer. Edge switches connect to these and they can send traffic from switch to switch or send it up to core switches.
Core switches: These network switches form the backbone of the network. Core switches connect either aggregation or edge switches, user or device edge networks to data center networks, and enterprise LANs to routers.
Types of switches in Computer Network
Unmanaged Switch
An unmanaged switch is designed so that you can simply plug them in and they work, no configuration required. Unmanaged switches are typically for basic connectivity. You'll often see them used in home networks or wherever a few more ports are needed, such as at your desk, in a lab, or in a conference room.
These switches are most commonly used in home networks and small businesses. So, if you have a large organization this won’t be the option for you. These switches can’t be modified or managed.
While some unmanaged switches may be accessed remotely, most will require the admin to physically make broad changes when setting up the switch. If you want a switch that will perform the basic functions of network efficiency without the need for customization, unmanaged may be the best type of network switch for you.
Managed Switch
A managed switch is exactly what it sounds like—a switch that requires some oversight by a network administrator. This type of switch gives you total control over the traffic accessing your network while allowing you to custom-configure each Ethernet port so you get maximum efficiency over data transfers on the network. Administrators can tweak these devices for optimal data rate as new devices and users are added to the network through commands such as bandwidth rate limiting and port mirroring. Managed switches are also typically the best network switches to support the Gigabit standard of Ethernet rather than traditional Fast Ethernet.
These types of switches have many features like the highest levels of security, precision control, and full management of the network. These are used in organizations containing a large network and can be customized to enhance the functionality of a certain network. These are the most costly option but their scalability makes them an ideal option for a network that is growing. They are achieved by setting a simple network management protocol(SNMP).
They are of two types:
(I) Smart switches:
These switches offer basic management features with the ability to create some levels of security but have a simpler management interface than the other managed switches. Thus they are often called partially managed switches. These are mostly used in fast and constant LANs which support gigabit data transfer and allocations. It can accept the configuration of VLANs (Virtual LAN).
This category of switches is evolving. The general rule here is that these switches offer some management, QoS, and security, but they are “lighter” in capabilities and less scalable than managed switches. They can be a cost-effective alternative to managed switches. They can be deployed at the edge of a large network (with managed switches being used in the core), as the infrastructure for smaller networks, or for low complexity needs.
(II) Enterprise managed switches:
They have features like the ability to fix, copy, transform, and display different network configurations along with a web interface SNMP agent and command-line interface. These are also known as fully managed switches and are more expensive than the smart switches as they have more features that can be enhanced. These are used in organizations that contain a large number of ports, switches, and nodes.
This category of switches is evolving. The general rule here is that these switches offer some management, QoS, and security, but they are “lighter” in capabilities and less scalable than managed switches. They can be a cost-effective alternative to managed switches. They can be deployed at the edge of a large network (with managed switches being used in the core), as the infrastructure for smaller networks, or for low complexity needs.
Ethernet Switches
These are also known as Ethernet switches or data switches and are used to reduce network congestion or bottleneck by distributing a package of data only to its intended recipient. These are used to connect points on a LAN.
PoE switches –
PoE switches are used in PoE technology which stands for power over Ethernet that is a technology that integrates data and power on the same cable allowing power devices to receive data in parallel to power. Thus these switches provide greater flexibility by simplifying the cabling process.
Modular Switches
If you’re looking for expansion capabilities, modular is where it’s at. Modular switches make it possible for you to add expansion modules as needed into the switches. These types of switches provide the best flexibility but come with a price because they are more complex than their fixed switch cousins. While you may have more limited flexibility, if you’re looking for a lower entry cost, fixed switches may be a better place to start.
Fixed Switches
As their name implies, these switches typically aren’t expandable and they have a fixed number of ports. This category can be broken down even further into unmanaged, lightly managed, and fully managed. When it comes to network switches, the details matter.
Think of the Ninja Turtles’ Battle Shell—if Donatello hadn’t paid attention to what the turtles needed to upgrade their ride, they’d still be stuck with their sad Turtle Van. In the same way, you don’t want to end up with the wrong switch and delay taking your network to the next level.
Other considerations
In addition to the differences between switch categories, there are other options to consider, including: network switch speeds, number of ports, Power over Ethernet, and stacking capabilities.
Budget:-
Managed switches can be more expensive than smart or unmanaged switches.Customization. Do you need to perform extensive customizations? If so, a managed switch may be necessary. If you only need to perform some basic customizations, a smart switch can be a good choice. If you don’t require any customizations at all, choose an unmanaged switch.
Network switch speeds:-
Network switch speeds vary. You can find fixed configuration switches in Fast Ethernet (10/100 Mbps), Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps), Ten Gigabit (10/100/1000/10000 Mbps) and even 40/100 Gbps speeds. Multigigabit technology is also available on some switches to delivers speeds beyond 1 Gigabit on existing Category 5e/6 cables. Switches have a number of uplink ports and a number of downlink ports. Downlinks connect to end users; uplinks connect to other switches or to the network infrastructure.
Number of ports:-
Network switch sizes vary. Fixed configuration switches typically come in 5, 8, 10, 16, 24, 28, 48, and 52-port configurations. These ports may be a combination of SFP/SFP+ slots for fiber connectivity, but more commonly they are copper ports with RJ-45 connectors on the front, allowing for distances up to 100 meters. With Fiber SFP modules, you can go distances up to 40 kilometers.
Power:-
If you want to power your devices with your switch, be sure to select a PoE device. As mentioned above, these devices provide network functionality and power.
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