Advantages of Switches | disadvantages of Switches

This page covers advantages and disadvantages of Switches. It mentions Switches advantages or benefits and Switches disadvantages or drawbacks. It also describes Switches basics.

What is Switch?

Introduction:
It is networking device which transfers data only to the host where it is being addressed. It checks the destination address to route the packet appropriately.

Following are features of the network switches.
• It operates at layer-2 (data link layer).
• It is available in various configurations and as per data transfer speeds such as 10/100/1000 Mbps or 10/100 Gbps.
• Operates in full duplex mode
• Packet collision is avoided due to port to port data transmission.

Refer Network Switch >> and difference between Hub and Switch >>.

Benefits or advantages of Switches

Following are the benefits or advantages of Switches:
➨They increase the available bandwidth of the network.
➨They help in reducing workload on individual host PCs.
➨They increase the performance of the network.
➨Networks which use switches will have less frame collisions. This is due to the fact that switches create collision domains for each connection.
➨Switches can be connected directly to workstations.

Drawbacks or disadvantages of Switches

Following are the disadvantages of Switches:
➨They are more expensive compare to network bridges.
➨Network connectivity issues are difficult to be traced through the network switch.
➨Broadcast traffic may be troublesome.
➨If switches are in promiscuous mode, they are vulnerable to security attacks e.g. spoofing IP address or capturing of ethernet frames.
➨Proper design and configuration is needed in order to handle multicast packets.
➨While limiting broadcasts, they are not as good as routers.

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