That means, a Layer 3 switch has both MAC address table and IP routing table, and handles intra-VLAN communication and packets routing between different VLANs. Layer 3 switch, or multilayer switch, can do all the job of a layer 2 switch and additional static routing and dynamic routing as well. A Layer 2 switch works with MAC addresses only and does not care about IP address or any items of higher layers. The layer 2 and Layer 3 differs mainly in the routing function. The OSI model has seven layers: application layer, presentation layer, session layer, transport layer, network layer, data link layer and physical layer, among which layer 2 and layer 3 refer to the data link layer and network layer respectively, and the switches working in these layers are called layer 2 switch and layer 3 switch.įigure 1: Layer 2 & Layer 3 in OSI model. Layers 2 switch and layer 3 switch are adopted in the Open System Interconnect (OSI) model, which is a reference model for describing and explaining network communications. Layer 2 Switch and Layer 3 Switch: What Are They? There comes the question: layer 2 vs layer 3 switch, which is the network switch of choice? But for now, layer 3 switch is thriving in data centers, complicated enterprise networks and commercial applications with the growing diversity of network applications and the converged network implementations. Generally, a Layer 2 switch is one of the basic equipment used to connect all network and client devices.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |