Describes the main differences between a SWITCH and a router.

The development of SWITCH technology is relatively mature. The SWITCH belongs to the data link layer device and can identify the MAC address information in the data packet and forward it according to the MAC address, record the MAC addresses and corresponding ports in an internal address table.

A switch, formerly known as a bridge. (The Bridge only supports storage and forwarding.) A switch uses hardware to complete filtering, learning, and forwarding processes using software.
The SWITCH has a route table. If you know where the target address is, you can send the data to the specified location. If you do not know the destination address, the data is sent to all ports. This filtering can help reduce the amount of data transmitted throughout the network and improve efficiency.

A port of a SWITCH belongs to a conflict domain. A hub belongs to a conflict domain. It can split the network into network branches, split network data streams, and isolate faults in the branches, in this way, the data traffic of each network branch can be reduced to make each network more effective and improve the overall network efficiency.

The role of a hub, vswitch, or vro is described first. Its function can be simply understood as connecting some machines to form a LAN. The role of a vswitch is basically the same as that of a hub. However, there is a difference between the two in terms of performance: the hub uses the shared bandwidth method, while the switch is the exclusive bandwidth.

In this way, when there are many machines or a large amount of data, the two will be obvious. A vro differs significantly from the preceding two. Its function is to connect different CIDR blocks and find the most suitable path for data transmission in the network. In general, individual users have little need.

A vro is generated after a vswitch, just like a vswitch is generated after a hub. Therefore, the vro and vswitch are also associated, and they are not completely independent of each other. Vro mainly overcomes the problem that vswitches cannot route and forward data packets.

In general, the main difference between a vro and a vswitch lies in the following aspects:

1) different work levels

The original switch was working on the data link layer of the OSI/RM open architecture, that is, the second layer. At the beginning, the router was designed to work on the network layer of the OSI model. Because the switch works at the Layer 2 data link layer of OSI, its working principle is relatively simple, while the router works at the Layer 3 network layer of OSI.) More protocol information can be obtained, vrouters can make intelligent forwarding decisions.

2) data forwarding depends on different objects

A vswitch uses a physical address or a MAC address to determine the destination address for data forwarding. The router uses different network ID numbers (IP addresses) to determine the data forwarding address. IP addresses are implemented in software, and the network where the device is located is described.

• Details about how a vswitch works
• How to select and configure the MAC address of a vswitch
• Details about the association between a layer-3 Switch and a vro
• Introduction to the working process of a layer-3 Switch
• Detailed analysis of L2 Switch Operation Skills

These layer-3 addresses are also called protocol addresses or network addresses. The MAC address is usually provided by the hardware and allocated by the NIC manufacturer, and has been fixed to the NIC. Generally, it cannot be changed. The IP address is usually automatically assigned by the network administrator or the system.

3) Traditional vswitches can only split up conflicting domains, but cannot split up broadcast domains. vrouters can split up broadcast domains.

The CIDR Block connected by the SWITCH still belongs to the same broadcast domain. broadcast packets are transmitted across all CIDR blocks connected by the SWITCH. In some cases, communication congestion and security vulnerabilities may occur. The CIDR blocks connected to the vro are allocated to different broadcast domains, and the broadcast data does not pass through the vro. Although vswitches above Layer 3 Have VLAN functions and can also be divided into broadcast domains, communication between subbroadcast domains is not allowed, and communication between them still requires routers.

4) the router provides firewall services.

A vro only forwards data packets of a specific address. It does not support packet transmission through the routing protocol or unknown destination network, thus preventing broadcast storms. The switch is generally used for the LAN-WAN connection, the switch belongs to the bridge, is the data link layer equipment, some switches can also realize the third layer of the exchange.

A vro is used for WAN-WAN connections. It can resolve forwarding groups between different networks and act on the network layer. They only accept the input group from one line and then forward it to another line. These two lines may belong to different networks.

Different protocols are used. In comparison, vro features more powerful than SWITCH, but the speed is relatively slow and expensive. layer-3 vswitches have both the ability to forward packets at the same speed, it also has good router control functions, so it is widely used.