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A network switch (also called switching hub, bridging hub, Ethernet switch, and, by the IEEE, MAC bridge [1]) is networking hardware that connects devices on a computer network by using packet switching to receive and forward data to the destination device.
This means that a fully switched network is a collision-free environment. The core function of a switch is to allow each workstation to communicate only with the switch instead of with each other. This in turn means that data can be sent from workstation to switch and from switch to workstation simultaneously.
Switches normally have numerous ports, facilitating a star topology for devices, and for cascading additional switches. Bridges and switches operate at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model and bridge traffic between two or more network segments to form a single local network.
CompuServe developed its own packet switching network, implemented on DEC PDP-11 minicomputers acting as network nodes that were installed throughout the US (and later, in other countries) and interconnected. Over time, the CompuServe network evolved into a complicated multi-tiered network incorporating ATM, Frame Relay, IP and X.25 technologies.
Switched fabric or switching fabric is a network topology in which network nodes interconnect via one or more network switches [1] (particularly crossbar switches).Because a switched fabric network spreads network traffic across multiple physical links, it yields higher total throughput than broadcast networks, such as the early 10BASE5 version of Ethernet and most wireless networks such as Wi-Fi.
A flat network is a computer network design approach that aims to reduce cost, maintenance and administration. Flat networks are designed to reduce the number of routers and switches on a computer network by connecting the devices to a single switch instead of separate switches.
Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) is a routing technique in telecommunications networks that directs data from one node to the next based on labels rather than network addresses. [1] Whereas network addresses identify endpoints, the labels identify established paths between endpoints.
Wireless ATM, [25] or mobile ATM, consists of an ATM core network with a wireless access network. ATM cells are transmitted from base stations to mobile terminals. Mobility functions are performed at an ATM switch in the core network, known as a crossover switch, [26] which is similar to the mobile switching center of GSM networks.