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:
• TCP/IP Utilities
• Representation of IPv6 Addresses
• IPv6 Payload Length Field and Jumbograms
• The OSI Physical Layer
• X.25 and Frame Relay Overview
• Comparing IPv4 and IPv6 at a Glance
• Ports and Sockets
• IPv4 to IPv6 Transition With the Dual-Stack Technique
• IEEE 802.11.x Wireless Standards
• IPv6 Packet Fragmentation
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