Computer networks for routing and switching
How do switches and routers work in a network?
Just as a switch connects multiple devices to create a network, a router connects multiple switches, and their respective networks, to form an even larger network.
These networks may be in a single location or across multiple locations..
How does switching networks work?
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..
What is the purpose of routing and switching in a computer network?
Whereas switching creates a single network made up of individual computers, routing connects entire networks to each other.
Routers perform a role similar to that of switches, but on a much larger scale.
Thus, a router essentially acts as a dispatcher of data through the most efficient channels between networks..
Which computer network uses routers?
A LAN usually requires a single router.
A WAN, by contrast, is a large network spread out over a vast geographic area.
Large organizations and companies that operate in multiple locations across the country, for instance, will need separate LANs for each location, which then connect to the other LANs to form a WAN..
Why do we need routing in computer networks?
Routing helps minimize network failure by managing data traffic so that a network can use as much of its capacity as possible without creating congestion..
Why is a router and switch important on the network?
Just as a switch connects multiple devices to create a network, a router connects multiple switches, and their respective networks, to form an even larger network..
Benefits of Switching and Routing
Equal access to applications. Quick access to information. Enhanced customer service. Reduced operating costs. Improved security. Enables remote connections.- A network switch connects devices in a network to each other, enabling them to talk by exchanging data packets.
Switches can be hardware devices that manage physical networks or software-based virtual devices.
A network switch operates on the data-link layer, or Layer 2, of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.
Switching and routing are essential elements of computer networks that facilitate the seamless transfer of data packets across devices and networks. Switches enable efficient communication within LANs, while routers connect different networks together.
In a packet switched network, burst switching is a capability in which each network switch extracts routing instructions from an incoming packet header to establish and maintain the appropriate switch connection for the duration of the packet, following which the connection is automatically released.
Routing strategy for networks to reduce buffering requirements
Deflection routing is a routing strategy for networks based on packet switching which can reduce the need of buffering packets.
Every packet has preferred outputs along which it wants to leave the router, and when possible, a packet is sent along one of these outputs.
However, two or more packets may want to leave along the same output, and then only one of the packets may be sent along the link, while the others are sent along available outputs, even though the other links are not preferred by the packets.
In telecommunications, message switching involves messages routed in their entirety, one hop at a time.
It evolved from circuit switching and was the precursor of packet switching.
Layer 2 network routing loop
A switching loop or bridge loop occurs in computer networks when there is more than one layer 2 path between two endpoints.
The loop creates broadcast storms as broadcasts and multicasts are forwarded by switches out every port, the switch or switches will repeatedly rebroadcast the broadcast messages flooding the network.
Since the layer-2 header does not include a time to live (TTL) field, if a frame is sent into a looped topology, it can loop forever.
In IP-based computer networks, virtual routing and forwarding (VRF) is a technology that allows multiple instances of a routing table to co-exist within the same router at the same time.
One or more logical or physical interfaces may have a VRF and these VRFs do not share routes.
Therefore, the packets are only forwarded between interfaces on the same VRF.
VRFs are the TCP/IP layer 3 equivalent of a VLAN.
Because the routing instances are independent, the same or overlapping IP addresses can be used without conflicting with each other.
Network functionality is improved because network paths can be segmented without requiring multiple routers.
Data flow control switching method
Wormhole flow control, also called wormhole switching or wormhole routing, is a system of simple flow control in computer networking based on known fixed links.
It is a subset of flow control methods called Flit-Buffer Flow Control.
