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the existing investment in hardware, software, and
personnel training.
Switching Technology
Another approach to pushing beyond the limits of Ethernet
technology is the development 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 dividing a local
area network into different segments, which don’t
compete with each other for network transmission
capacity.
The switch acts as a high-speed selective bridge between the
individual segments. The switch, without
interfering with any other segments,
automatically forwards traffic that needs to go
from one segment to another. By doing this the
total network capacity is 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