Lesson 11 - Switches

Introduction

Switches are Data Link Layer (Layer 2) devices used to increase performance in LANs. In many networks,
switches have replaced hubs and bridges to increase end-user performance. This lesson introduces the
operation of switches and explains how they are implemented in networks.

Objectives

At the end of this lesson you should be able to:

1. Describe how a switch works
2. Explain the difference between a switch and a bridge
3. Explain how a switch effectively increases network bandwidth

Key Point
A switch uses frame addresses to make switching decisions, and provides faster
performance than standard hubs.

Switch Functionality

A switch is a device that consists of many high-speed ports connecting either LAN segments (segment
switching) or individual devices on a port-by-port basis (port switching). Many types of switches exist,
each supporting different speeds and LAN types, such as Ethernet, Token Ring, and Fiber Distributed
Data Interface (FDDI).
Like a bridge, a switch isolates traffic and creates separate collision domains by forwarding, filtering, and
learning. It works by evaluating the destination Medium Access Control (MAC) address (NIC address) in
each frame, and switching individual frames to the correct port. The forwarding decision does not
consider other information encapsulated in the frame. Like a bridge, a switch also transmits broadcast
frames (frames with a broadcast address) to all ports.
When a switch first turns on, it broadcasts individual frames just like a standard passive hub does. Over
time, the switch builds a table that associates frame addresses with port numbers by watching incoming
frames for new source addresses and adding those addresses to the switch memory table, as shown on
the Switch Memory Diagram.

Unlike a bridge, a switch does more of its job in

high-speed hardware, providing performance closer
to single-LAN performance than bridged-LAN
performance.
Also unlike a bridge, which shares the LAN
bandwidth among all of its ports, a switch dedicates
the entire LAN media bandwidth, such as 10-Mbps
Ethernet, to each port-to-port frame transmission. In
this way, a switch multiplies the amount of effective
network bandwidth. This is illustrated on the
Switch Memory Ethernet Switch Diagram.
When a switch connects several LAN segments, as shown on the Ethernet Switch Diagram, it is
considered a segment-switching device. A switch port may also be connected to an individual device. In
that case, we say that the switch is performing device switching or port switching. Technically, we can
say a switch is always performing port switching, because its job is to forward frames from one port to
another. However, the term "port
switching" is widely used in the
industry to describe the practice of
connecting a single node to a
switch port.
When a frame is sent by Node A
destined for Node E, the switch
routes the frame between Port 1
and Port 3. In this case, Port 2 and
Port 4 are also free to
simultaneously send frames at a full
10-Mbps rate. If Node A sends a
frame to Node B, the switch will Ethernet Switch
contain the frame to the individual
segment, which contains both Node
A and Node B. Switches, therefore,
maximize overall network
bandwidth by creating temporary logical connections between nodes, or virtual circuits, on a per-frame
basis.
If a frame enters the switch with a destination address of the NIC in Node A, the switch will route this
frame to Port 1. If a frame enters the switch with a destination address of the NIC in Node E, the switch
will route the frame to Port 3.
Switches may switch frames between multiple segments simultaneously. For example, if the switch on
the Frame Switching Diagram receives a frame from Node E destined for Node G, and simultaneously
receives a frame from Node A destined for Node D, it could switch these two frames simultaneously. In
this case, the normal LAN bandwidth is doubled.
Whenever a switch receives a
frame destined for a device with a
destination address that is not
resident in the switch's memory,
the switch will send the frame out
to all ports just as a hub would do.
If the switch receives a frame with
a broadcast (or multicast) address,
it will also send the frame out to all
ports (or to all ports belonging to
the multicast group).
Some switches operate on both
Frame Switching
frames and packets, and are called
"Layer 3 (or Level 3) switches."
These devices are essentially high-
speed routers (described in the
next lesson). However, the majority
of switches found in networks are
Layer 2 switches that operate on frames.

Traffic Isolation with Switches

Because a switch filters traffic according to frame addresses, it can isolate network traffic within separate
segments or collision domains. However, a switch can also improve overall network performance,
because it allocates the entire network bandwidth to each temporary port-to-port connection. In contrast,
a bridge shares the network bandwidth among all of its connections.
The Ethernet Switch Diagram illustrates a common Ethernet configuration, in which an Ethernet-switched
LAN is connected to a hub-centered LAN by means of a pair of half bridges. Note the difference in the
bandwidth available from the 10BaseT hub versus the potential bandwidth of the three devices connected
to the Ethernet switch. The hub
shares 10 Mbps among all of its
devices, while the switch allocates
10 Mbps to each of its devices.
Thus, the effective bandwidth of
the switch is 30 Mbps.

Multiplying Bandwidth
and an Ethernet Switch

Name: ______________________________ Day/Time _________________ Score: ______

Activities

1) A switch normally operates at the ___________ Layer of the OSI model.

2) Briefly describe the difference between port switching and segment switching. Draw a
diagram illustrating a five-port hub. Number the Ports 1 through 5, and show a connection to Nodes A
through E (A is on Port 1, E is on Port 5)
3) If Node A is transmitting to Node E, list all port numbers where Node A’s data will appear.
Draw the same diagram as above, substituting a five-port switch for the hub.
4) If Node A is transmitting to Node E, list all port numbers where Node A’s data will appear.
What will a switch do with a frame destined for a node that does not have its address in the
memory table?
5) What will a switch do with a frame that has a broadcast address for its destination?

Assignment:

1) Go to a Web site such as www.3Com.com and research information on switches. Classify the
switch information found (e.g., small office/home office, and enterprise). Present your findings.

2) Use a Web search engine and find information on Layer 3 switching. What is it? What
benefits does this technology offer? Is the technology proprietary?
See the Activities and Assignment section in Module 7 Lesson 1 in your Manual Introduction to
Networking to test what you have learned so far.