Nortel Networks 70 Series manual Types of Ethernet Switches

Installation and Reference for the BayStack 70 Series 10/100 Ethernet Switches

Types of Ethernet Switches

Ethernet switches can be classified as desktop switches or as segment switches. A desktop switch is designed to support one or a few PCs per port. It is generally used when individuals need the full 10 Mb/s network throughput to support their applications. Often, these switches support only a single MAC (media access control) address per port, have high-speed 100 Mb/s ports to connect to high-power servers, and are relatively inexpensive compared to a segment switch. A segment switch, in contrast, is designed to support an entire workgroup on each port, with each port having significant memory buffering and supporting thousands of MAC addresses.

Switches can also be classified by speed. As the name suggests, 10 Mb/s switches support only 10 Mb/s connections. Similarly, 100 Mb/s switches support only 100 Mb/s connections. Some types of 10+100 Mb/s switches have primarily 10 Mb/s ports with one or a few 100 Mb/s ports. Autosensing 10/100 Mb/s switches such as the BayStack 70 Series 10/100 Ethernet Switch support 10 Mb/s or 100 Mb/s connections on each port, and offer great versatility and adaptability.

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