 It is well known that the open standard multi-layer TCP/IP networking structure governs network traffic on the Internet and millions of LANs and subnets around the world. TCP/IP is often described in terms of the five layers. The topic of this paper is what is referred to in the market as a "layer 3 switch".
Over the past decade or so, products that direct networking traffic have evolved into a fairly stable hierarchy. Generally speaking, layer 2 switches (which
for obvious reasons reside in the switching layer) connect network hosts together to form a subnet, layer 3 switches connect two or more subnets to form a LAN, and routers connect LANs to each other or connect LANs to the Internet.
The following topics are covered in this white paper:
- Introduction
- What is a Layer 2 Switch? What is a Router? What is a Layer 3 Switch?
- Side-by-side COmparision of Layer 3 Switches and Routers
- Simple Network Topology that Uses a Layer 3 Switch
- Why Industry is Adopting Layer 3 Switches
- Summary
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