The Practice of Network Security: Deployment Strategies for Production Environments

5.1. The Switch on the Network

Switches make up the core of an enterprise network. Depending on the type of switch it can be used to route traffic between internal networks, and out to the Internet.

There are two types of switches that should be used in your network: (1) managed Layer 2 switches and (2) multilayer switches—which will be discussed in greater detail in the next section. Traditional Layer 2 switches, also called workgroup switches, are fairly static and reliable. They are the networking devices closest to workstations and servers, and they simply act as forwarders to send TCP or UDP requests to their ultimate destinations. Depending on how employees are spread throughout the building, a typical 100-user network will have four or ...