Easiest way to "sell" a client on a switch vs a hub is to draw the
comparison between a party-line phone system and a modern, "private line"
system like we have today.
In the hub, the ethernet cards listen to ALL the traffic present on the hub,
even if it is not intended for that card. It ignores all traffic not for it,
but it is still consumed with the task of listening (and possible collisions
on transmit).
In a switch, the switch creates a virtual private path between two ethernet
cards, eliminating the traffic jams and MANY of the collisions. A dual speed
switch will also act as a buffer, allowing two machines with different speed
cards (10 MBit or 100MBit) to talk to each other.
A good switch will allow (# of ports)/2 PRIVATE conversations
simultaneously. This is an important consideration in databases that must do
many searches from various tables, or in instances where large (over 1
Megabyte) files must be moved from machine to machine.
jim
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On
Behalf Of Scott Salisbury
Sent: Tuesday, September 18, 2001 3:44 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Switch vs. Hub
Manuel de Aguiar wrote:
> Do you mind expanding a bit on the difference between a "switch" and a
"hub".
Manuel,
As far as I know, a hub allows you 1/8th
of the channel (if it's an 8 port hub -- 1/16th
for a 16 port hub). A switch allows you as
much of the channel as it can give you.
Somebody please correct me if this is an
oversimplification or if I'm just dead wrong.
Scott
====
Scott J. Salisbury
Matrix Data Systems / The R:Street Journal
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