Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 21:28:03 -0600 (CST) From: "Jasper O'Malley" <jooji@webnology.com> To: Dennis <dennis@etinc.com> Cc: isp@freebsd.org Subject: RE: switch vs bridge Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.4.02.9903242123530.18415-100000@mercury.webnology.com> In-Reply-To: <199903242319.SAA04541@etinc.com>
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On Wed, 24 Mar 1999, Dennis wrote:
> It seems to me that a *switch* (assuming that you are talking about an
> ethernet switch and not the new-fangled IP switches) would have addresses
> hard-coded to specific segments) whereas a bridge generally learns them
> from traffic.
None of the switches I've worked with (BayStack 350T/F, Bay System 5000
Switch Modules, Cisco 2900 series) have required hard-coding addresses.
All in all, I feel completely comfortable characterizing them as
"multiport bridges."
> A switch should be immune to loops...
No more so than a simple bridge, in my experience.
> bridges ARE in fact switches,
Bridges and switches, switches are bridges. It's all semantics. They both
switch traffic between ports based on layer 2 addressing.
Cheers,
Mick
The Reverend Jasper P. O'Malley dotdot:jooji@webnology.com
Systems Administrator ringring:asktheadmiral
Webnology, LLC woowoo:http://www.webnology.com/~jooji
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