This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
I would like to know which sentence of the paragraph "Function" describes the function of a switch. Further reading of the article reveals that "switch" is a "marketing term". My provider put one in my home, so it must be more than a "marketing term" or he would not have bothered to send over a technician to install one.
Let me point out that the author claims that "router" is a "marketing term" for a layer 3 switch. So, what *are* the technical terms? Vandersluism ( talk) 23:47, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Routers and switches are not the same. A router is a communications device designed to distribute incoming data based on its destination OSI layer 3 address. A bridge or a switch provides the same service based on the destination's layer 2 address. There are devices that provide both of these services (and more) in the same physical container. In this case some people refer to the device as a layer 3 switch. Layer 3 switches still make forwarding decisions based on layer 2 addresses for destinations that appear in its layer 2 forwarding table (the layer 3 component must use proxy ARP to participate in forwarding. Even if the layer 3 switch is constructed with more than a single layer 2 device, each of the layer 2 devices is still required to use the layer 3 capability to forward traffic between them. Docdave ( talk) 23:24, 30 September 2011 (UTC)
Sorry, but all I've really understood from the entire article is that the thing is a computer gadget. But in plain English:
How does one remove the vandalism here, since it doesn't appear in the edit text? 207.99.73.226 19:10, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
This page lacks any useful information or detail. I'm going to make it a bit arch-specific, because the ethernet switch article simply redirects here. If this is a problem, someone can turn it into a disambiguation page if nessicary later. -- Gamera2 02:27, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)
In the realm of very high-speed network switches, what is the limitation to higher bandwidth? I've seen Infiniband running at 10Gbps, why not 100Gbps? What's the limitation? -WikiNewbie —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.160.157.239 ( talk • contribs) .
thats actually a limitation on standards and medium
Ethernet has yet to use Fiber nor Copper Cabling to reach such high speeds.
a Switch cannot support something until it exists\
The limitations are capacitance, silicone device current ratings, inductance and crosstalk. I'm not sure if you're any the wiser though - if you don't understand electronics, a few sentences wont explain it. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
86.4.152.167 (
talk)
09:45, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
Managed switches, Unmanaged switches, "Smart" switches. How do they differ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.31.32.206 ( talk • contribs) .
Is the description of "Fragment Free" correct? I'm now aware of it checking the outgoing media. Fragment Free checks the first 64 bytes of a frame to ensure the frame is not a runt - a frame that collided with another frame and so transmission was stopped and the entire frame will be resent. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 138.162.128.42 ( talk • contribs) .
== Need Architecture Discuss
This
topic discusses the basic operation of a switch, but it does not provide a "frame" flow diagram. I came to this topic looking for a basic flow and to learn what the base module and child module is really called. —The preceding [[Wikipedia:Sign
your posts on talk pages|unsigned]] comment was added by Rbmcnutt ( talk • contribs) .
Why not add the names of some companies that produce switches. Linksys, Cisco, Netgear, and the dozen or so others. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.128.46.234 ( talk • contribs) .
Is it relevant to have a picture of a monster rack of switches, rather than a simple 8 or 16-port switch? Compare Ethernet hub. aditsu 22:06, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
D-link switch is very simple and you should mention this photo for easy understanding by every normal persons and now I am using in my office of 5 port switch and it is very easy to intall and very very easy.
Maybe the article could highlight the differences between "Switch" and "Bridge"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.63.10.249 ( talk • contribs)
At least one of the problems with this article is that the evolution of the local area network is assumed rather than explained. I suggest something along these lines: Ethernet was designed as a mechanism to allow two or more computers connected to specially constructed cable to exchange data. Ethernet was a specific implementation of Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD). Multiple Access indicates that all of the LAN connected computers are connected to the same physical communications path. Carrier Sense indicates that a computer with data to transmit first listened to see if the communications path was already being used by another computer. Collision Detection indicates that computers that are transmitting data also listen to the communications path to determine if another computer had started transmitting at the same time causing a collision. The laws of Physics and the protocol specification put a limit on the maximum length of the communications path, the minimum distance between the physical connections, and the number of computers that could be connected to an Ethernet LAN. One of the first steps in the evolution of the Ethernet LAN was the creation of a mechanism to extend the length of the communications medium. The device was call an Ethernet Repeater, it connected two physical Ethernet LANs by accepting messages from one, cleaning it up electrically (regenerating something called the preamble) and sending it into the second connected LAN. Repeaters did not differentiate between traffic that needed to appear on the other LAN and traffic that was between two computers that were on the same LAN and that had no need to be repeated. The next step in the evolution of the Ethernet LAN was a variation on the repeater that could determine if traffic needed to be repeated and only passed that traffic to the second LAN segment. These devices were known as Bridges and came in several flavors. Early repeaters and bridges were fairly large and expensive but they made LAN technology practical. As time went by, both bridges and repeaters became smaller and less expensive. This allowed the creation of hubs, a collection of repeaters connected to a common interconnection mechanism. It also enabled the creation of multiport bridges with a set of bridges connected to a common interconnection mechanism. Unfortunately multiport bridges had a well-deserved reputation for being unreliable and hard to manage. About this time routers made their appearance and they allowed networks (local area and others) to interconnect. Back on the farm, bridge technology continued to advance but the old bad press made them hard to sell. Enter the Mickey Marketers and enter the Ethernet switch AKA the micro segmentation bridge.
With this as background we can go on the discuss things like collision domains, QOS, VLANs, and the rest of the ideas good and bad. Docdave ( talk) 02:07, 30 September 2011 (UTC)
The article currently claims that a switch can switch between token ring, FDDI and Ethernet. Those 3 nets have different MTUs, for one thing. Is anyone really doing this in practice, or do they all use routers? -- Alvestrand 18:02, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
Created redirect from Switch (Network) to here. I would think this would solve the issue. -- akc9000 ( talk • contribs • count) 02:45, 30 June 2007 (UTC)
Well so far we have 2 supports, 2 oppose and 2 abstain (who do feel that the issue should be looked into). I'm quite busy next week, but as soon as I get some spare time on my hands I'm going to start looking into the situation and try and figure out what can be done. -- Bruce 07:23, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
How to calculate the width of the memory data bus, how to calculate the minimum clock frequency in turn. what is the input queue architecture, how it affect the performance of switch?
"Performance specs? - Switch Fabric (definition needed) - MAC table size - RAM buffer size - Network Protocol and Standards - optional ports (fiber, SFP Expansion Slots, etc) - auto port speed detection, configuration" - that part looks funny... not really in a good way though ;) -- bb 22:00, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
The term "repeater" is linked--however, to something else, from electronics. It seems like it should be linked to the article called "Multiport repeater", by all logic. Also, the article "Multiport repeater" should be added to the disambuguation page for "Repeater". --Sukkoth 10:50, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
this part
A multiport repeater is the simplest multi-port device in use. However, its technology has been considered outdated since a hub is a "dumb device", as it resends every datagram it receives to every port except the original incoming. With multiple computers, the speed quickly slows down, and collisions start occurring, making the connection even slower. However, with the advent of the network switch, this problem has been solved.
Because this article is about "network switch" and this is a description of a hub.-- Boscobiscotti 06:58, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
from section on switch monitoring:.
Other methods (which could be classified as attacks) have been devised to allow snooping on another computer on the network without the cooperation of the switch:
the two pages are previously mentioned in the article. #1 is not so relevant to switches anyway, #2 is, but has already been mentioned. --
Boscobiscotti
02:03, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
" ...plays an integral part in the vast majority of current home and office Ethernet local area networks" Umm, don't most home Ethernets, thus the majority of all Ethernet LANs, merely consist of a router connected to a CATV or DSL modem and one or a few computers? Without, that is to say, a switch? Jim.henderson 03:22, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
see the linksys "basic networking" page: http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1118334622279&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=2227922279L01 looking at that page, we can see that a number of home networking devices, are now a vpn firewall glued to a router, glued to a switch :)-- Boscobiscotti 04:53, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
has "standard" and POE -I think this is a bit confusing. AFAIK switches typically provide POE to low-power devices, like APs and IP phones. - but its rare for a switch to use POE. so maybe this heading should be changed - I would call this a switch feature. comments?-- Boscobiscotti 05:21, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
This article needs help from an expert. I am spread a little thin so I am tagging this article. Please do not remove the tag unless an expert re-vamps this article. This article should have data in it so a general reading can understand what a network switch is. It should talk about or at least show little consumer based switches (not hubs) before addressing the monsters. -- akc9000 ( talk • contribs • count) 04:47, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
I wonder if rewriting/editing is the best solution.
"Network switch" is a marketing term. It has no precise meaning. Over time, it has been used for LAN bridges. It also has been used for routers ("Layer 3 switch", sic). It has had adjectives attached to it to create distinctions (real, spurious, whatever) from "other" switches/bridges/routers -- like "smart".
Maybe we should just have a disambiguation page, or something like it with a just a bit more text in it. Something like:
Paul Koning 14:50, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
Can we just replace the the hub with switch from a working network without changing the network configuration?
I happened to run across this page from a google search. I read a few paragraphs and thought the sentences sounded stilted, sort of like you might write if it was an ad.
So I googled a couple of the sentences. You might find it instructive to do so yourselves. Ilbob 11:46, 19 August 2007 (UTC)
This page is an archive of past discussions. Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page. |
I would like to know which sentence of the paragraph "Function" describes the function of a switch. Further reading of the article reveals that "switch" is a "marketing term". My provider put one in my home, so it must be more than a "marketing term" or he would not have bothered to send over a technician to install one.
Let me point out that the author claims that "router" is a "marketing term" for a layer 3 switch. So, what *are* the technical terms? Vandersluism ( talk) 23:47, 28 July 2008 (UTC)
Routers and switches are not the same. A router is a communications device designed to distribute incoming data based on its destination OSI layer 3 address. A bridge or a switch provides the same service based on the destination's layer 2 address. There are devices that provide both of these services (and more) in the same physical container. In this case some people refer to the device as a layer 3 switch. Layer 3 switches still make forwarding decisions based on layer 2 addresses for destinations that appear in its layer 2 forwarding table (the layer 3 component must use proxy ARP to participate in forwarding. Even if the layer 3 switch is constructed with more than a single layer 2 device, each of the layer 2 devices is still required to use the layer 3 capability to forward traffic between them. Docdave ( talk) 23:24, 30 September 2011 (UTC)
Sorry, but all I've really understood from the entire article is that the thing is a computer gadget. But in plain English:
How does one remove the vandalism here, since it doesn't appear in the edit text? 207.99.73.226 19:10, 12 October 2006 (UTC)
This page lacks any useful information or detail. I'm going to make it a bit arch-specific, because the ethernet switch article simply redirects here. If this is a problem, someone can turn it into a disambiguation page if nessicary later. -- Gamera2 02:27, 27 Aug 2004 (UTC)
In the realm of very high-speed network switches, what is the limitation to higher bandwidth? I've seen Infiniband running at 10Gbps, why not 100Gbps? What's the limitation? -WikiNewbie —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 67.160.157.239 ( talk • contribs) .
thats actually a limitation on standards and medium
Ethernet has yet to use Fiber nor Copper Cabling to reach such high speeds.
a Switch cannot support something until it exists\
The limitations are capacitance, silicone device current ratings, inductance and crosstalk. I'm not sure if you're any the wiser though - if you don't understand electronics, a few sentences wont explain it. —Preceding
unsigned comment added by
86.4.152.167 (
talk)
09:45, 19 October 2008 (UTC)
Managed switches, Unmanaged switches, "Smart" switches. How do they differ? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 61.31.32.206 ( talk • contribs) .
Is the description of "Fragment Free" correct? I'm now aware of it checking the outgoing media. Fragment Free checks the first 64 bytes of a frame to ensure the frame is not a runt - a frame that collided with another frame and so transmission was stopped and the entire frame will be resent. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 138.162.128.42 ( talk • contribs) .
== Need Architecture Discuss
This
topic discusses the basic operation of a switch, but it does not provide a "frame" flow diagram. I came to this topic looking for a basic flow and to learn what the base module and child module is really called. —The preceding [[Wikipedia:Sign
your posts on talk pages|unsigned]] comment was added by Rbmcnutt ( talk • contribs) .
Why not add the names of some companies that produce switches. Linksys, Cisco, Netgear, and the dozen or so others. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 64.128.46.234 ( talk • contribs) .
Is it relevant to have a picture of a monster rack of switches, rather than a simple 8 or 16-port switch? Compare Ethernet hub. aditsu 22:06, 22 February 2006 (UTC)
D-link switch is very simple and you should mention this photo for easy understanding by every normal persons and now I am using in my office of 5 port switch and it is very easy to intall and very very easy.
Maybe the article could highlight the differences between "Switch" and "Bridge"? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.63.10.249 ( talk • contribs)
At least one of the problems with this article is that the evolution of the local area network is assumed rather than explained. I suggest something along these lines: Ethernet was designed as a mechanism to allow two or more computers connected to specially constructed cable to exchange data. Ethernet was a specific implementation of Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD). Multiple Access indicates that all of the LAN connected computers are connected to the same physical communications path. Carrier Sense indicates that a computer with data to transmit first listened to see if the communications path was already being used by another computer. Collision Detection indicates that computers that are transmitting data also listen to the communications path to determine if another computer had started transmitting at the same time causing a collision. The laws of Physics and the protocol specification put a limit on the maximum length of the communications path, the minimum distance between the physical connections, and the number of computers that could be connected to an Ethernet LAN. One of the first steps in the evolution of the Ethernet LAN was the creation of a mechanism to extend the length of the communications medium. The device was call an Ethernet Repeater, it connected two physical Ethernet LANs by accepting messages from one, cleaning it up electrically (regenerating something called the preamble) and sending it into the second connected LAN. Repeaters did not differentiate between traffic that needed to appear on the other LAN and traffic that was between two computers that were on the same LAN and that had no need to be repeated. The next step in the evolution of the Ethernet LAN was a variation on the repeater that could determine if traffic needed to be repeated and only passed that traffic to the second LAN segment. These devices were known as Bridges and came in several flavors. Early repeaters and bridges were fairly large and expensive but they made LAN technology practical. As time went by, both bridges and repeaters became smaller and less expensive. This allowed the creation of hubs, a collection of repeaters connected to a common interconnection mechanism. It also enabled the creation of multiport bridges with a set of bridges connected to a common interconnection mechanism. Unfortunately multiport bridges had a well-deserved reputation for being unreliable and hard to manage. About this time routers made their appearance and they allowed networks (local area and others) to interconnect. Back on the farm, bridge technology continued to advance but the old bad press made them hard to sell. Enter the Mickey Marketers and enter the Ethernet switch AKA the micro segmentation bridge.
With this as background we can go on the discuss things like collision domains, QOS, VLANs, and the rest of the ideas good and bad. Docdave ( talk) 02:07, 30 September 2011 (UTC)
The article currently claims that a switch can switch between token ring, FDDI and Ethernet. Those 3 nets have different MTUs, for one thing. Is anyone really doing this in practice, or do they all use routers? -- Alvestrand 18:02, 26 May 2006 (UTC)
Created redirect from Switch (Network) to here. I would think this would solve the issue. -- akc9000 ( talk • contribs • count) 02:45, 30 June 2007 (UTC)
Well so far we have 2 supports, 2 oppose and 2 abstain (who do feel that the issue should be looked into). I'm quite busy next week, but as soon as I get some spare time on my hands I'm going to start looking into the situation and try and figure out what can be done. -- Bruce 07:23, 24 June 2006 (UTC)
How to calculate the width of the memory data bus, how to calculate the minimum clock frequency in turn. what is the input queue architecture, how it affect the performance of switch?
"Performance specs? - Switch Fabric (definition needed) - MAC table size - RAM buffer size - Network Protocol and Standards - optional ports (fiber, SFP Expansion Slots, etc) - auto port speed detection, configuration" - that part looks funny... not really in a good way though ;) -- bb 22:00, 15 December 2006 (UTC)
The term "repeater" is linked--however, to something else, from electronics. It seems like it should be linked to the article called "Multiport repeater", by all logic. Also, the article "Multiport repeater" should be added to the disambuguation page for "Repeater". --Sukkoth 10:50, 26 January 2007 (UTC)
this part
A multiport repeater is the simplest multi-port device in use. However, its technology has been considered outdated since a hub is a "dumb device", as it resends every datagram it receives to every port except the original incoming. With multiple computers, the speed quickly slows down, and collisions start occurring, making the connection even slower. However, with the advent of the network switch, this problem has been solved.
Because this article is about "network switch" and this is a description of a hub.-- Boscobiscotti 06:58, 12 May 2007 (UTC)
from section on switch monitoring:.
Other methods (which could be classified as attacks) have been devised to allow snooping on another computer on the network without the cooperation of the switch:
the two pages are previously mentioned in the article. #1 is not so relevant to switches anyway, #2 is, but has already been mentioned. --
Boscobiscotti
02:03, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
" ...plays an integral part in the vast majority of current home and office Ethernet local area networks" Umm, don't most home Ethernets, thus the majority of all Ethernet LANs, merely consist of a router connected to a CATV or DSL modem and one or a few computers? Without, that is to say, a switch? Jim.henderson 03:22, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
see the linksys "basic networking" page: http://www.linksys.com/servlet/Satellite?c=L_Product_C1&childpagename=US%2FLayout&cid=1118334622279&pagename=Linksys%2FCommon%2FVisitorWrapper&lid=2227922279L01 looking at that page, we can see that a number of home networking devices, are now a vpn firewall glued to a router, glued to a switch :)-- Boscobiscotti 04:53, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
has "standard" and POE -I think this is a bit confusing. AFAIK switches typically provide POE to low-power devices, like APs and IP phones. - but its rare for a switch to use POE. so maybe this heading should be changed - I would call this a switch feature. comments?-- Boscobiscotti 05:21, 22 May 2007 (UTC)
This article needs help from an expert. I am spread a little thin so I am tagging this article. Please do not remove the tag unless an expert re-vamps this article. This article should have data in it so a general reading can understand what a network switch is. It should talk about or at least show little consumer based switches (not hubs) before addressing the monsters. -- akc9000 ( talk • contribs • count) 04:47, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
I wonder if rewriting/editing is the best solution.
"Network switch" is a marketing term. It has no precise meaning. Over time, it has been used for LAN bridges. It also has been used for routers ("Layer 3 switch", sic). It has had adjectives attached to it to create distinctions (real, spurious, whatever) from "other" switches/bridges/routers -- like "smart".
Maybe we should just have a disambiguation page, or something like it with a just a bit more text in it. Something like:
Paul Koning 14:50, 26 June 2007 (UTC)
Can we just replace the the hub with switch from a working network without changing the network configuration?
I happened to run across this page from a google search. I read a few paragraphs and thought the sentences sounded stilted, sort of like you might write if it was an ad.
So I googled a couple of the sentences. You might find it instructive to do so yourselves. Ilbob 11:46, 19 August 2007 (UTC)