Networking Basics: What You Need To Know

When looking at networking basics, understanding the way a network operates is the
first step to understanding routing and switching. The network operates by connecting computers
and peripherals using two pieces of equipment; switches and routers. Switches and routers,
essential networking basics, enable the devices that are connected to your network to
communicate with each other, as well as with other networks.
Though they look quite similar, routers and switches perform very different functions in a
network.
Networking Basics: Switches
Switches are used to connect multiple devices on the same network within a building or
campus. For example, a switch can connect your computers, printers and servers, creating
a network of shared resources. The switch, one aspect of your networking basics, would
serve as a controller, allowing the various devices to share information and talk to each
other. Through information sharing and resource allocation, switches save you money and
increase productivity.
There are two basic types of switches to choose from as part of your networking basics: managed
and unmanaged.

An unmanaged switch works out of the box and does not allow you to make changes.
Home-networking equipment typically offers unmanaged switches.
A managed switch allows you access to program it. This provides greater flexibility to
your networking basics because the switch can be monitored and adjusted locally or
remotely to give you control over network traffic, and who has access to your network.

Networking Basics: Routers

Routers, the second valuable component of your networking basics, are used to tie
multiple networks together. For example, you would use a router to connect your
networked computers to the Internet and thereby share an Internet connection among
many users. The router will act as a dispatcher, choosing the best route for your
information to travel so that you receive it quickly.
Routers analyze the data being sent over a network, change how it is packaged, and send
it to another network, or over a different type of network. They connect your business to
the outside world, protect your information from security threats, and can even decide
which computers get priority over others.
Depending on your business and your networking plans, you can choose from routers that
include different capabilities. These can include networking basics such as:
Firewall: Specialized software that examines incoming data and protects your business network
against attacks
Virtual Private Network (VPN): A way to allow remote employees to safely access your
network remotely
IP Phone network: Combine your company's computer and telephone network, using voice and
conferencing technology, to simplify and unify your communications

Building a Small Office Network

Building a small office network means starting with a foundation of switches and routers.
The following guide will help you understand the difference between switches and routers and
develop a clear vision for what your network foundation needs.
Building a Small Office Network: The Difference Between Switches and Routers
When building a small office network, the two most essential pieces of equipment you
will need are switches and routers. Though they look similar, the two devices perform different
functions in a network.

Switches connect multiple devices (computers, printers, servers) on the same network
within a building or campus. A switch enables connected devices to share information
and talk to each other. Building a small office network isnt possible without switches to
tie devices together.

Routers tie multiple networks together. When building a small office network, youll
need one or more routers. A router connects your networked computers to the Internet.
This enables all connected computers to share one single Internet connection. A router
acts as a dispatcher, choosing the best route for your information to travel. It connects
your business to the world, protects information from security threats, and can even
decide which computers get priority over others.

Building a Small Office Network: Determining the Best Foundation

When building a small office network, its important to determine the best foundation for
your companys needs. The following tips should help you get started.

Invest in business-grade switches and routers for reliable communications. Consumer or

home networking products cant keep pace with the challenges of business growth.

Invest in a network that can grow over time, so you can add features and functionality as
needed. Additions to consider include video surveillance, Voice over Internet Protocol
(VoIP), integrated messaging, and wireless applications.

Make sure your switches and routers are easy to install, use, and manage. Example:
Switches with in-line power allow you to place equipment, such as wireless access
points, anywhere there's a network wall jack. Youll be spared the trouble and expense of
installing additional electrical outlets or wires to power the devices.

Make sure your network is designed with reliability and redundancy in mind. This
provides the business continuity youll need to bounce back quickly from unforeseen
circumstances.

Difference between L2 switch and multilayer switch?

A layer 2 switch, makes forwarding decisions based on L2 (MAC) addresses. We would
normally just call this device a switch.
A layer 3 switch, makes forwarding decisions based on L3 (IP) addresses. If we aren't
trying to sell anything, this would normally call this device a router.
A layer 4 switch, would take into consideration L4 information regarding
forwarding/filtering of data. We could say that a router with ACLs or Policy Based
Routing that look at L4 information regarding segments of data is a L4 device.
An example of a multilayer switch, would be a Cisco 3560, that can do L2 switching, L3
routing, and can involve the L4 content regarding forwarding, dropping, prioritizing,
packets carrying specific L4 information (such as a specific L4 protocol of TCP or UDP
or ICMP, or a specific port such as TCP:23 or TCP:80.

Differences between layer 2, 3, 4 Switching, Multilayer switching and Routing has been
given below according to the function/operation of devices
Layer 2 Switching Devices that forward frames at Layer 2 involve the following functions:
MAC addresses are learned from the incoming frames source addresses.
A table of MAC addresses and their associated bridge and switch ports is built and
maintained.
Broadcast and multicast frames are flooded out to all ports (except the one that
received the frame).
Frames destined for unknown locations are flooded out to all ports (except the one that
received the frame).
Bridges and switches communicate with each other using the Spanning Tree Protocol
to eliminate bridging loops.
A Layer 2 switch performs essentially the same function as a transparent bridge; however, a
switch can have many ports and can perform hardware-based bridging. Frames are forwarded
using specialized hardware, called application-specific integrated circuits (ASIC). This hardware
gives switching great scalability, with wire-speed performance, low latency, low cost, and high
port density.
As long as Layer 2 frames are being switched between two Layer 1 interfaces of the same
media type, such as two Ethernet connections or an Ethernet connection and a Fast Ethernet
connection, the frames do not have to be modified. However, if the two interfaces are different
media, such as Ethernet and Token Ring or Ethernet and Fiber Distributed Data Interface
(FDDI), the Layer 2 switch must translate the frame contents before sending out the Layer 1
interface.

Layer 2 switching is used primarily for workgroup connectivity and network segmentation.
You can contain traffic between users and servers in a workgroup within the switch. In addition,
the number of stations on a network segment can be reduced with a switch, minimizing the
collision domain size.
One drawback to Layer 2 switching is that it cannot be scaled effectively. Switches must
forward broadcast frames to all ports, causing large switched networks to become large
broadcast domains.
In addition, Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) can have a slow convergence time when the
switch topology changes. STP also can block certain switch ports, preventing data transfer.
Layer 3 Routing
Devices involved in Layer 3 routing perform the following functions:
Packets are forwarded between networks based on Layer 3 addresses.
An optimal path is determined for a packet to take through a network to the next router.
Packet forwarding involves a table lookup of the destination network, the next-hop
router address, and the routers own outbound interface.
An optimal path can be chosen from among many possibilities.
Routers communicate with each other using routing protocols.
By nature, routers do not forward broadcast packets and forward only multicast packets
to segments with multicast clients. This action provides control over broadcast propagation
and offers network segmentation into areas of common Layer 3 addressing.

Logical addressing is possible on a network with routers because the Layer 3 (network
layer) address uniquely identifies a device only at the network layer of the OSI reference model.
Actual frame forwarding occurs using the Layer 2, or data link, address of devices. Therefore,
some method must exist to associate a devices data link layer (MAC) address with its network
layer (IP) address. A router must also have addresses from both layers assigned to each of its
interfaces connected to a network. This assignment gives the router the functionality to support
the logical network layer addresses assigned to the physical networks.
In addition, a router must examine each packets Layer 3 header before making a routing
decision.
Layer 3 security and control can be implemented on any router interface using the source
and destination addresses, protocol, or other Layer 3 attribute to make decisions on whether to
limit or forward the packets.
Layer 3 routing is generally performed by microprocessor-based engines, which require
CPU cycles to examine each packets network layer header. The routing table of optimal paths
to Layer 3 networks can also be a large table of dynamic values, requiring a finite lookup
delay. Although you can place a router anywhere in a network, the router can become a
bottleneck because of a latency of packet examination and processing.
Layer 3 Switching
Devices involved in Layer 3 switching perform the following functions:
Packets are forwarded at Layer 3, just as a router would do.
Packets are switched using specialized hardware, ASIC, for high speed and low
latency.

Packets can be forwarded with security control and quality of service (QoS) using
Layer 3 address information.
Layer 3 switches are designed to examine and forward packets in high-speed LAN
environments.Whereas a router might impose a bottleneck to forwarding throughput, a
Layer 3 switch can beplaced anywhere in the network, with little or no performance
penalty.
Layer 4 Switching

Devices involved in Layer 4 switching perform the following functions:

Packets are forwarded using hardware switching, based on both Layer 3 addressing
and Layer 4 application information. (Layer 2 addressing is also inherently used.)
Layer 4 protocol types (UDP or TCP, for example) in packet headers are examined.
Layer 4 segment headers are examined to determine application port numbers.
Switching at Layer 4 allows finer control over the movement of information. For example,
traffic can be prioritized according to the source and destination port numbers, and QoS can be
defined for end users. Therefore, video or voice data can be switched at a higher level of
service, with more bandwidth availability than file transfer or HTTP traffic. Layer 4 port numbers
for source and destination also can perform traffic accounting.
A Layer 4 switch also must allocate a large amount of memory to its forwarding tables. Layer
2 and Layer 3 devices have forwarding tables based on MAC and network addresses, making
those tables only as large as the number of network devices. Layer 4 devices, however, must
keep track of application protocols and conversations occurring in the network. Their forwarding
tables become proportional to the number of network devices multiplied by the number of
applications.
Multilayer Switching
Devices involved in MLS perform the following functions:
Packets are forwarded in hardware that combines Layer 2, Layer 3, and Layer 4
switching.

Packets are forwarded at wire speed.

The traditional Layer 3 routing function is provided using Cisco Express Forwarding
(CEF),in which a database of routes to every destination network is maintained and
distributed to switching ASICs for very high forwarding performance.
Cisco switches perform multilayer switching at Layer 3 and Layer 4. At Layer 3, the
Catalyst family of switches caches traffic flows based on IP addresses. At Layer 4, traffic flows
are cached based on source and destination addresses, in addition to source and destination
ports. All switching is performed in hardware, providing equal performance at both Layer 3 and
Layer 4 switching.