Different Types of Switches - Network Switches

Posted January 22, 2015 at 8:30 am

A network switch is a small hardware device that links multiple computers together within one local area network, wide area network and different network topology. Network switches work at Data Link Layer of the OSI model.

LAN Switch or Active Hub

Local area network or known as LAN switches andothers called it active hubs are devices used to connect points on a company’s internal LAN. It is also known as a data switch or an Ethernet switch. It blocks the overlap of data packets running through a network by the economical allocation of bandwidth. Bandwidth refers to the amount of data to be carried from one point to another given a period of time.The active hubdelivers the transmitted data packet before directing it to its planned receiver. A LAN switch or an active hub reduces network congestion or bottlenecks by distributing a package of data only to its intended recipient. An active hub gives priority to the package of data and sends data of the highest priority before it sends low-priority packets.

LAN Switch

Unmanaged Network Switches

Unmanaged network switches are frequently used in home networks and small companies and businesses. It permits devices on the network to connect with each other, such as computer to computer or printer to computer in one location. An unmanaged switch does not necessarily need to be configured or watched. They are simple and easy to set up and needs only small cable connections. The switch’s aids over a hub are full bandwidth to eachport, rather than destroying all the data over all the ports like a hub, and dealing with collisions and network traffics.

Unmanaged Network Switches

Managed Switches

Managed switches can be customized to enhance the functionality of a certain network. They are achieved by setting a simple network management protocol or SNMP. Two types of managed switches include smart switches and enterprise managed switches. Smart switches have a limited set of management features which provide a web interface and accept configuration of basic settings, such as virtual LAN or VLANs, port-bandwidth and duplex.Smart switches are ideally used in fast and constant LANs, which support gigabit data transfer and allocations.

Managed Switches

Enterprise managed switches are also known as fully managed switches. They have a wide ranging of management features which includes a web interface SNMP agent and command-line interface. Also, its features include the capability to fix, copy, transform and display different network configurations. They are found in large companies which contained of a large number of connections and nodes, switches and ports. Enterprise managed switches have more features that can be modified or enhanced, and are usually more expensive than traditional smart switches.

Router

An electronic device that sends data packets along networks.It is connected to at least two usually two local area network (LANs) or wide area network (WANs). Routers are located at gateways wherein the places where two or more networks are connected.

Router