When you are in a place where you want to learn more about your computer network and the equipment that it uses, you will find that one of the pieces of equipment that you will have to look at is your network switch. Many computer networks that use Ethernet will integrate the use of a network switch and there are plenty of different reasons why it would do this. At the most basic level, a switch allows computers to communicate with each other. They may connect two or three computers, or they may connect as many as twenty or thirty. Every computer that is on the network can connect with every other computer.

There are plenty of reasons why you might be interested in using a switch in a business. For instance, if you had work groups whose labour was integral to each other, you would want to give them access to what other users were doing. Rather than needing to send information back and forth via email or in office chat networks, you would instead be able to log into each other's machines and figure out what you are looking at. More than just computers can be networked to a switch as well. With a switch, you can put a printer on a network and allow every computer access to the printer itself.

Another important role that switches have in an Ethernet network is to connect switches to each other. Consider the idea of having five different work groups on five different floors. To keep things simple and straightforward, you would network each work group to each other using a switch and then you would connect the switches to each other. Switches will allow packets to be broadcast so that the switch ports can figure out data and sort it accordingly. Switches are also able to record and store the MAC address of every device that will connect to it.

When you are considering the role of network switches, it is important to consider what level they work on. For instance, they provide a physical connect between machines, as well as a data link, network and transport link. Some switches will operate between these different layers of interface and these are called multilayer switches. Some switches that are used for commercial uses make it possible to connect and switch between different networks; some of these switches can hand change between Ethernet, fibre channel and ATM.

In some environments, switches also play an important security role as they can be connected to WAN routers, where there are going to be analytic modules. Some switches will also provide firewalls that can be installed on the switch as well as intrusion detection.

Take some time to think about the role that switches play in any network that you are a part of. While switches are used a great deal in the business world, there are a lot of people who will use them in their home networking as well. Take some time to really consider what they do and how they do it!