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What is Switch?

Switches are similar to hubs. They are used to exchange data within a local area network. Unlike hubs, they are intelligent and smarter networking devices. A switch operates at the data link layer(Layer 2) of the OSI model.

Switches connect devices together within one local area network (LAN) and learn physical addresses(mac addresses) of the devices that are connected to it and store these physical addresses in its table. It does not read IP addresses.

When a data packet is sent to a switch it is only directed to the intended destination port.

Some switches can also process data at the network layer(Layer 3) by additionally incorporating routing functionality.

Advantages of Switch over Hubs:-


  • Reduce unnecessary traffic
  • It is a multi-port bridge that has 24/48 ports
  • It detects specific devices that are connected to it as it keeps a record of the Mac addresses of those devices

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