QUESTION: Router Vs. Switch?

[Bralynn]

In a few sentences or less could someone please explain the main differences
in these two in real life situations?

Thanks!

-Bralynn

[Majed Al-Asker]

Router Connect to Different Lan and in that Case we call it Wan
Switch Can be consider as a Smart Hub .. i hope i have answered u r q
Thx
Majed

"Bralynn" <bra...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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[Someone]

A switch works at layer 2 of the OSI model.
A router works at layer 3.

Bralynn <bra...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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[Winmauwarrior1]

Switches send packets based on MAC or physical addresses, and routers send
packets based on IP or logical addresses.

[Jason Baker]

also router has higher latency than switch as router is software based
whereas switch is hardware based.

Switches are usually cheaper and routers dearer.

switches without vlans are on one network whereas routers can connect up
many networks.

--
Regards,

Jason

"Winmauwarrior1" <winmauw...@aol.com> wrote in message
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[Hansang Bae]

In article <3b0f1fbb$1...@news01.one.net.au>, bake...@one.net.au says...

> also router has higher latency than switch as router is software based
> whereas switch is hardware based.

Optimum switching? Silicon Switching? Fast Switching? This was true a
few years back, but more and more, routers are becoming like switches
<sic> and switches more like routers.

> Switches are usually cheaper and routers dearer.

Have you priced out a 6509 lately?? <G>

> switches without vlans are on one network whereas routers can connect up
> many networks.

If I were to pick nits, "switches without vlans are on one catanet where
as routers connect up many networks."

--
"Somehow I imagined this experience would be more rewarding" Calvin
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[John Smith]

testing 1 2 3

"Bralynn" <bra...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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[John Smith]

At one time, local area networks were highly proprietary and would not
interoperate. For example, an Ethernet-based network, a Token Ring network,
and even a serial asynchronous network may have each existed along side each
other in a single building or facility, but were not connected to each
other. These networks all ran on separate wires, supported separate systems
or technologies, and were designed by competing manufactures such as IBM,
Xerox, and Novell. Let's think of these networks as different modes of
transportation as in cars, trains, and airplanes. They move stuff but they
are not interoperable (you really shouldn't drive a car on railroad tracks).

The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) never likes to depend on any single
proprietary technology. Not wanting to put all of their eggs in one basket,
the DOD desperately needed these incompatible networks to interoperate or
interconnect as one large seamless network. So they came up with the idea
of the Internet, a virtual network that rides on top of theses dissimilar
modes of transportation. The Internet is kind of like the U.S. Postal
Service; it only carries one kind of stuff (mail) but relies on various
modes of transportation (cars, trains, and airplanes) to move the stuff.

Every time you hear someone attempt to explain the difference between a
switch and a router, you hear about concepts like layer 2 and layer 3. In
my analogy, layer 2 represents the type of network (Ethernet, Token Ring,
asynchronous, cars, trains, planes) and layer 3 represents the internetwork;
IP protocol or mail envelopes that depend on these networks for
transportation. Just for the record, layer 1 is the physical layer itself,
such as cables and connectors (roads, tracks, air); things that are tangible
in the networking world.

A switch operates at layer 2. For example, an Ethernet switch only knows
how to direct Ethernet traffic (automobile traffic) and would only be found
in an Ethernet network. You would only find a Token Ring switch in a Token
Ring network. You wouldn't find air traffic controllers directing
automobile traffic. A router connects networks together, be they similar or
dissimilar networks. A router operates a layer 3 and is kind of like a
postal worker sorting mail at a post office; he really only cares about
which direction a piece of mail is going, not about what kind of vehicle
will get it there.

Switches are specific to the type of network: Ethernet switch, Token Ring
switch, FDDI switch, etc (traffic cop, air traffic controller). Routers can
connect to any of these types of networks. Routers not only route but they
also "pack mail envelopes inside of other envelopes or boxes" that are
suitable for the intended mode of transportation; they encapsulate IP
packets inside frames that are specific to a network type.

I hope that this analogy helps you understand the difference between
switches and routers.

Regards,

JS

"Bralynn" <bra...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
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[John Smith]

Regards,

JS

[Bralynn]

Wow, that explanation was awesome. Thanks alot!

"John Smith" <som...@somewhere.com> wrote in message
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[mf]

Hmm.. I didn't get to read the original, but I have to agree. I'm a big fan
of good analogies, and this is one of the best explanations I have seen.
Well done, John.

Bralynn <bra...@hotmail.com> wrote in message

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