Computer Networks, 5th Edition

3.1. Switching and Bridging

In the simplest terms, a switch is a mechanism that allows us to interconnect links to form a larger network. A switch is a multi-input, multi-output device that transfers packets from an input to one or more outputs. Thus, a switch adds the star topology (see Figure 3.1 ) to the point-to-point link, bus (Ethernet), and ring topologies established in the last chapter. A star topology has several attractive properties:

■ Even though a switch has a fixed number of inputs and outputs, which limits the number of hosts that can be connected to a single switch, large networks can be built by interconnecting a number of ...