Computer Network Switches
By Stephen Bucaro
A bridge or router may be referred to as a "switch" because it uses information in the
data packet to choose a path from one network segment to another. A bridge may be referred to
as a "layer 2 switch" because it uses information from layer 2, the Data Link layer of
the OSI model. A router may be referred to as a "layer 3 switch" because it uses information
from layer 3, the Network layer of the OSI model. A network device that uses a higher layer of
the OSI model may be referred to as a "layer 4 switch", and so on.
More Networking Protocols and Standards:
• Internet Security and VPN Network Design
• IGRP (Interior Gateway Routing Protocol)
• Looking at the OSI 7 Layer Reference Model
• Shortest Path Bridging (SPB) Protocol
• RIP (Routing Information Protocol)
• What Is Fabric Networking?
• What Are Private IP Addresses?
• IP Addressing
• Comparing IPv4 and IPv6 at a Glance
• A Simple Description of the IPv6 Header and Datagram
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