managed network services

Switches are essentially smart boxes that connect a number of other devices together on a Local Area Network (LAN) and utilize what is called packet switching to forward data to and from said connections. The easiest way to think about a switch is to look at a LAN event where gaming PCs or consoles are hooked up to switches and hubs to connect with one another.

In this case, PCs are connected via ethernet cabling. The actual size of a switch can range from just a handful of ports all the way up to 48 (or more). Switches themselves can be used in the home, a small office or at a location where multiple machines need to be hooked up. There are two basic kinds of switches, managed and unmanaged, and which is best for you depends on your requirements.


Managed Ethernet switches have more capability than unmanaged switches, but they also require a skilled administrator or engineer to make the most of them. A managed switch enables you to have better control of your network and all the data frames moving through it. Unmanaged switches, on the other hand, enable connected devices to communicate with one another in their most basic form.

Below, we compare the differences between managed and unmanaged switches.

Unmanaged Ethernet switches
Unmanaged switches use autonegotiated ports to determine parameters such as the data rate and whether to use half-duplex or full-duplex mode. Additionally, unmanaged switches have no concept of virtual LANs (VLANs). Thus, all devices belong to the same broadcast domain.

Unmanaged switches do maintain a media access control (MAC) address table, however. This table keeps track of dynamically learned MAC addresses and the corresponding switch port on which the MAC address was learned. The inclusion of a MAC address table means unmanaged switches do offer a separate, per-port collision domain. This is a key differentiator between an unmanaged Ethernet switch and an Ethernet hub.

Managed Ethernet switches
A major difference between managed and unmanaged switches is control. A managed switch lets you adjust each port on the switch to any setting you desire, enabling you to monitor and configure your network in many ways. It also provides greater control over how data travels over the network and who has access to it. Managed switches generally offer Simple Network Management Protocol, which enables you to monitor the status of the switch and individual switch ports and gives you statistics like traffic throughput, network errors and port status.
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managed network services

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