SWITCH

 

A network switch is a computer networking device that connects devices together on a computer network, this uses packet switching to receive, process and forward data from device to device. Packet switching is a digital networking communication method that groups all transmitted data into blocks, called packets. A network switch is similar to a multi port network bridge, it uses hardware addresses to process and forward data at the data link layer, layer 2 in the OSI model. Switches can also process data at the network layer, layer 3 by incorporating routing functionality that uses IP addresses to perform packet forwarding.

The main advantage of a Switch over its similar counter-parts, is that it is intelligent and will only send data to the devices that it was intended, as well as preventing data collisions.

Similarly to a Ethernet Hub a switch is placed in the centre of the network, connecting to all network devices such as workstations and printers. This allows for the devices to share and communicate data over the network, although is often limited by its expense in larger networks, mainly due to the large amount of wiring required because every network device must be connected to the switch.

Switches at this current point in time, are fairly efficient at the tasks they are required to do. So it is very unlikely they will become redundant any time soon, unless there is a large evolution in network technology.