What Is a Network Switch? Meaning, Working, Types, and Uses

Network switches are multiport networking devices that receive data and relay it via MAC addresses. Here’s a detailed description of how it works, the various types of enterprise network switches to choose from, and the top five uses of a network switch. A network switch is defined as a hardware component responsible for relaying data from a computer network to the destination endpoint through packet switching, MAC address identification, and a multiport bridge system. This article explains how a enterprise network switches work, its types, and its use.

What Is a Network Switch?
A network switch is a hardware component responsible for relaying data from networks to the destination endpoint through packet switching, MAC address identification, and a multiport bridge system. A network switch connects and transmits data packets to and from devices on a local area network (LAN). Far from a router, a enterprise switch only distributes information to the one device for which it was designed, including some other switch, a router, or a user’s computer, rather than to several devices in a network.

Nowadays, networks are critical for supporting companies, offering connected services, and enabling collaboration, among other things. As they link devices that share resources, network switches are a vital component of all networks. A network switch works at the data link Layer 2 of the architecture of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI). It accepts packets from access points linked to physical ports and then sends them only via the ports going to a destination device. These could also function where routing occurs at the network Layer 3. Switches are standard components in ethernet, fiber channels, InfiniBand, and asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) networks, to name a few. The majority of switches nowadays, however, utilize ethernet.

A network switch connects network devices (printers, computers, and wireless devices/access points, and enables users to exchange data packets. Enterprise network switches may be both hardware and software-based virtual devices that govern physical systems. In today’s network systems, switches make up the vast bulk of network equipment. They connect desktop PCs, industrial machinery, wireless access points, and specific internet of things (IoT) devices, including card entry systems for the internet. They connect the machines in data centers that operate virtual machines (VMs) and most of the servers and storage devices. In telecommunications provider networks, they transport massive volumes of data.