Depending on what the goal is, managed switches can be relatively cheap, or quite expensive. At some level, the line between switch and router becomes a bit fuzzy.
Typically, (not low-end) managed switches provide: vlan capability (802.1q) link aggregation (802.3ad) spanning tree loop detection (802.1d, w, s) individual port controls (duplex, speed, on/off, mac filtering) access control lists (or firewall capability) that can apply to layer2, 3, 4 interface counters (bits in/out, errors in/out, packets in/out, port up/down) quality of service/traffic shaping port mirroring (can be useful for IDS ingestion) SNMP (v1, 2c, 3) export 802.1x endpoint access control scriptable interface, or integrated automation hooks for tools such as puppet many now support virtualization with the ability to define virtual routers, and software defined networks It might be more helpful to think of a managed switch as a computer with a lot of ports. And, just like a computer, there can be lots of flexibility in what you can see and do on the network. > On Nov 16, 2015, at 9:49 AM, Don Buchholz <[email protected]> wrote: > > They track more than traffic. They also track errors, types of errors, and > traffic statistics are often broken down into different packet sizes. > > VLANs are another reason to need a managed switch. > > On November 16, 2015 9:20:28 AM PST, wes <[email protected]> wrote: >>> >>> >>> >>> One member of the family that owns the plant also owns some sort of a >>> business computing consulting or services company. He wishes that I >> had >>> used a managed switch so he could know how busy my network was and I >>> don't know what else a managed switch would tell him. >>> >>> >> A managed switch offers tracking of the traffic on each port, >> accessible >> via SNMP so you can easily create graphs and such. >> >> -wes >> _______________________________________________ >> PLUG mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug > > -- > Sent from my Android device with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. > _______________________________________________ > PLUG mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.pdxlinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug -- Louis Kowolowski [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> Cryptomonkeys: http://www.cryptomonkeys.com/ <http://www.cryptomonkeys.com/> Making life more interesting for people since 1977
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