Types Of Ethernet Switches - NETGEAR FS518 Installation Manual

Installation Guide for the Model FS518 Fast Ethernet Switch
This improvement is accomplished very easily, with no change to the desktop (the network
interface cards or software and the network wiring). As a result, the performance upgrade and
the applications it enables are obtained very quickly and at a low cost.
When all network ports are operating at 100 Mbps and sending traffic to the server, the server
needs a faster transmission speed to avoid bottlenecks. The 1000 Mbps (Gigabit) ports add the
necessary increase in throughput.

Types of Ethernet Switches

Ethernet switches can be classified in different ways—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 the
individuals need the full 10 Mbps network throughput to support the applications. Often, these
switches support only a single MAC (media access control) address per port, have high-speed
100 Mbps ports to connect to fast 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 Mbps switches support only
10 Mbps connections. Similarly, 100 Mbps switches support only 100 Mbps connections. Usually,
10/100 Mbps switches have primarily 10 Mbps ports with only one or a few 100 Mbps ports.
Autosensing 10/100 Mbps switches support 10 Mbps or 100 Mbps connections on each port and
are the most versatile and adaptive type of switches. Gigabit (1000 Mbps) switch ports are used to
connect to shared network resources and network backbones at higher speed.
1-2 Introduction