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What is a Switch?
A switch (also known as a distributor in Turkish) is a network device that allows computers and other network elements to connect to each other. It operates in the second layer of the OSI seven-layer model, and modern switches can also perform IP routing, functioning in the third layer as well.
Each port of a switch can engage in independent data exchange with others. When a data packet (data frame) reaches a port, the switch records the sender's MAC address and the destination port in an address table. By examining the existing entries in the MAC address table, the switch tries to determine the port to which the target MAC address belongs. If no record is found, the data packet is sent to all ports except the incoming one. If the MAC address is known, then the data packet is forwarded only to the target port. If the sender's and receiver's MAC addresses are the same, the packet is discarded.
Due to its operational similarity to network bridges and hubs, switches are also sometimes referred to as transparent bridges, multi-port bridges, or smart hubs. Transparency arises from the fact that the switch's operation is imperceptible to the user, meaning that it is not apparent that the packets are passing through the switch. This opacity presents challenges for managing switches. To address this difficulty, the port mirroring method was developed to reflect data traffic passing through a specific port to an external destination. The communication protocols for SMON are defined and standardized in RFC 2613.
A switch (also known as a distributor in Turkish) is a network device that allows computers and other network elements to connect to each other. It operates in the second layer of the OSI seven-layer model, and modern switches can also perform IP routing, functioning in the third layer as well.
Each port of a switch can engage in independent data exchange with others. When a data packet (data frame) reaches a port, the switch records the sender's MAC address and the destination port in an address table. By examining the existing entries in the MAC address table, the switch tries to determine the port to which the target MAC address belongs. If no record is found, the data packet is sent to all ports except the incoming one. If the MAC address is known, then the data packet is forwarded only to the target port. If the sender's and receiver's MAC addresses are the same, the packet is discarded.
Due to its operational similarity to network bridges and hubs, switches are also sometimes referred to as transparent bridges, multi-port bridges, or smart hubs. Transparency arises from the fact that the switch's operation is imperceptible to the user, meaning that it is not apparent that the packets are passing through the switch. This opacity presents challenges for managing switches. To address this difficulty, the port mirroring method was developed to reflect data traffic passing through a specific port to an external destination. The communication protocols for SMON are defined and standardized in RFC 2613.