Another distinction is explicit reference. a switch/repeater/bridge is not
explicitly referenced by the sender, whereas a router is. The sender
directs a packet to a router for forwarding. A switch is transparent to
the sender and receiver.
d/
At 09:23 AM 3/17/2001, Mike O'Dell wrote:
>the term "router" is *usually* applied to a device which is
>examining an L3 token, specifically an IP destination address.
>from that destination address it decides how to forward the
>packet. (note that, for example, Novell has routers too and
>they operate at the equivalent of L3 - the (Network,MAC) tuple)
>
>a switch is usually examining a token other than an IP
>destination address - often an L2 address token such as an
>Ethernet MAC address, MPLS LSP Tag, Frame Relay DLCI,
>or ATM VPI/VCI indicator.
----------
Dave Crocker <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Brandenburg InternetWorking <http://www.brandenburg.com>
tel: +1.408.246.8253; fax: +1.408.273.6464
