1. There isn't a hard-and-fast distinction between a layer 2 switch and a
bridge. In general, a layer 2 switch has microsegmentation
and may have VLAN support and, in general, more intelligence.
2. Speaking as someone that actually works in layer 3 relay design, there
is no true technical difference between a layer 3
switch and a router. Just saying ASIC vs. "software" is bogus; it's
not a black and white distinction. Some ASICs are
programmable. There's a spectrum of processing chips anyway, from ASIC
to FPGA to RISC to CISC processor. In many
cases, the bottleneck isn't the forwarder anyway--it's memory or
fabric.
3. When line rates are being thrown around, simple numbers aren't enough.
See RFC2544 for a vendor-independent
measurement methodology.
4. The industry uses "switch" a great deal because marketdroids have
convinced the executive masses that
routers are slow and switches are fast. I believe I paraphrase
Oscar Wilde when I say that if, while seated in
the smallest room of my house, I had a paper with such a definition in
front of me, it soon would be behind me.
Message Posted at:
http://www.groupstudy.com/form/read.php?f=7&i=7544&t=7544
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