AirLive Ether-GSH24TW - Manual (Page 9)

9
Switching Technology
Another key development pushing the limits of Ethernet technology is in
the field of switching technology. A switch bridges Ethernet packets at
the MAC address level of the Ethernet protocol transmitting among
connected Ethernet or fast Ethernet LAN segments.
Switching is a cost-effective way of increasing the total network
capacity available to users on a local area network. A switch increases
capacity and decreases network loading by making it possible for a
local area network to be divided into different segments which don’t
compete with each other for network transmission capacity, giving a
decreased load on each.
The switch acts as a high-speed selective bridge between the individual
segments. Traffic that needs to go from one segment to another is
automatically forwarded by the switch, without interfering with any other
segments. This allows the total network capacity to be multiplied, while
still maintaining the same network cabling and adapter cards.
Switching LAN technology is a marked improvement over the
previous generation of network bridges, which were
characterized by higher latencies. Routers have also been
used to segment local area networks, but the cost of a router,
the setup and maintenance required make routers relatively
impractical. Today switches are an ideal solution to most kinds
of local area network congestion problems.