What are Layer 2 switches and Layer 3 switches? How to use these two switch lines? Why is it called cisco layer 2 or cisco layer 3. This article Ciscodata.com will guide, analyze and learn about these two product lines to help you choose Switch Layer 2 or Layer 3 suitable for the system. your network.
Introduction to Switch layer 2 and Switch layer 3
Cisco Layer2 Switch 2960
Switch layer 2 can be understood as based on the address access in the MAC table contained in the Frame. This means that Ethernet devices do not need to be directly connected to communicate, but can communicate in many different ways.
The outstanding advantage of this switch is that the host can operate in full duplex mode which also means it can read - write, listen - speak at the same time. In particular, no need to share bandwidth, switches can still transmit data quickly and can also limit traffic to a certain threshold.
One plus point for these Cisco networking devices reduces the error rate in the frame because they are checked for errors and good packets when received are stored before being sent.
You will probably need: Best router for multiple devices
Cisco Layer3 Switch 3750X
Cisco Layer3 3750X switch back panel
Switch Layer 3 is called Switch with 24, 48… Ethernet ports, it adds a smart IP routing table inside and forms Broadcast Domains. In other words, Switch Layer 3 is a high-speed router without a WAN port.
Although there are no WAN ports, a router function like a router is needed to be able to communicate with subnets or VLANs on a LAN Campus or small LANs in a large LAN. This type of industrial network switch works very quickly from inside switch to switch.
Difference between Switch layer 2 and Switch layer 3
Surely for those who have not had experience in buying a network switch, you will be very confused when you do not know how to choose 2 Switch with the same 24 ports 1G, but their price is quite different. Why is that? What is the difference between Switch layer 2 and layer 3? Below we will answer your above questions.
This is because Switch Layer 3 provides more features than Switch Layer 2, some of which make layer 3 switches work better than Layer 2 switches such as: CAM table, FIB table, address Next hop's IP, MAC address, ...
Moreover, the layer 3 switch activity not only possesses the features of Layer 2 Switch, but also participates in some activities based on layer 3 and 4 layer information.
According to the ability to keep information
Unlike Switch layer 2, a Layer 3 switch stores 2 information: the CAM Table and the FIB Table. CAM panel on layer 3 switch acts like touch panel on layer 2 switch. So when receiving a packet, the switch will take information of destination MAC address in the incoming packet and refer to CAM table to know. destination port. It then forwards the packet to the destination port.
The CAM table usually contains 3 information: MAC address, egress port and VLAN.The FIB table on the layer 3 switch (English name is Forwarding Information Base) acts like a packet forwarding table and contains information including: IP address, IP next hop address, MAC address next hop and destination port (egress port).
The characteristics assess the differences between the two types of Switch
According to lookup utility application
Switch Layer 2 switches, CAM boards are means used to look up, for layer 3, this means is the FIB table. In addition, the FIB table also contains changed MAC address information (MAC rewrite).
Therefore, layer 3 switch also provides support information for ACL (Access Control List) and QoS (Quality of Service) like layer 2 switch. For example, layer 2 switch can only apply limit of frames. layer 2) based on MAC address (source and destination). Meanwhile, layer 3 switches can support frame limits based on both IP address and MAC address.
So, the CAM table is used to distinguish hub and switch, FIB table is used to distinguish layer 2 switch and layer 3 switch.
Cisco Catalyst Switch
Functions of layer 2 switches, layer 3 switches in the network infrastructure
View layer 2 switch products
Cisco Catalyst 2960X Switch
Layer 3 switch products
Cisco Catalyst 3650 Switch
Cisco Catalyst 3750 Switch
Cisco Catalyst 3850 Switch
Where to buy switches best today?
In the current excitement of the switching market, finding a place to buy Cisco layer 2 switches and layer 3 core switches is not difficult. But to own genuine, quality, reputable, and affordable Cisco networking equipment, think Ciscodata.com. With a long standing brand in the field of telecommunications technology, we firmly believe that you will not be dissatisfied with the quality of our services and products.
By Tran Cong
Switch Cisco layer 2 and Switch layer 3 learn and choose
