Network SwitchingAung Thu Rha Hein (g5536871)

2nd March 2014

What is network switching?➔ A network device to connect segments within a network➔ receive messages and send only to the targeted devices➔ Type of Switch:

◆ Layer 1 Switch or Hub◆ Layer 2 Switch ◆ Layer 3 Switch◆ Layer 4-7 Switch (MultiLayer Switch)

Network Devices & OSI Layer Association

OSI Layer Layer Name Devices

4-7 Transport, Session, Presentation,Application

Multi-Layer Swtich

3 Network Routers, Layer 3 Switch

2 Data Link Switches, Bridges, NIC’s

1 Physical Hub or Layer 1 switch

Layer 1 SwitchHub

➔ port mirroring◆ send network packages from one switch port to another port

➔ can’t filter messages. propagate to all connected devices

➔ not intelligence to find out best path

for data packets.

Layer 2 switch➔ perform bridging (Bridge with multiple ports )➔ Store & Forward Switch

◆ perform error-checking before sending network frames◆ highly reliable & slow

➔ Cut Through Switch◆ No error checking◆ look up destination and forward it◆ performance penalty

Layer 2 switch➔ Fragment Free Cut Through Switch

◆ forward all frames initially◆ if particular ports get many error frames, switch to store & forward

mode

➔ Unmanaged/Intelligence Switch◆ tracks & reports performance statistics◆ have DB ASIC

Layer 3 switch➔ layer 2 switch- filter & forward frames➔ layer 3 switch- routing capability

◆ each ports is separate LAN port◆ difference with router: physical implementation

Layer 4 SwitchSession,Content switch

➔ responsible for the analysis and control of network traffic at transport layer

➔ vendor dependent➔ can include firewall,IP security Gateway,Policy based

routing & ACLs➔ E.g. Cisco 3560 L4 Switch

◆ L2 switching, L3 routing & L4 content regarding

forwarding, dropping, prioritizing, packets carrying

Layer 7 SwitchApplication,Content switch

ConclusionHubBridgeL2 SwitchRouter & L3 SwitchL4 SwitchL7 Switch

Complexity and

Functionality(Ascending

Order)

Thanks & Questions