Comparison and Contrast of Switches and Bridges

Question: Discuss about the Comparison and Contrast of Switches and Bridges? Answer: Introduction Network bridges and switches used as data link layer in the OSI (Open System Interaction) model. Both of these have similar functionalities, however switches are considered as more superior devices than bridges in terms of network performance. This particular report has used to explore the intelligence functions of switches and bridges in network traffic flow activities. Specific performance of these devices will be analyzed in a comparative way by paying attention to the data transmission method, traffic management control, error recovery system and network performance. The Layer(S) Used in the OSI Model Figure 1: OSI Layers (Source: Bari et al., 2013, pp-915) Network Switches: Network switch always operates at the second layer of the OSI model and provide proper connectivity between the LAN clients. Data link layer allows the users access the network medium, as well as provides the means to check the errors of the system and other basic functionalities of the network (Chowdhury, 2013). This network layer consists of Ethernet, token ring switches, NIC (Network Interface Cards) and bridges which allows the network switch to access the system for sending and receiving messages. Figure 2: Operations of Network Switch (Source: Gebali, 2015, pp-100) Network Switch uses MAC address of the network interface card. This MAC address of data link layer in OSI model helps to address, forward and filter traffic, so that network congestion can be reduced at larger extent. The Ethernets offers a physical address to that data of devices such as switch can be sent on the network (Huang Kemp, 2016). This layer with networking software management system has error detection capabilities. Bridges: This also operate in the data link layer of OSI model. This network bridge connects two parts in the same network and reads the destination address for each Ethernet packet and token frame with maximum efficiency and speed (Ortiz et al., 2013). Figure 3: Operations of Bridges in Data Link Layer (Source: Tate et al., 2016, pp-55) The data link layer offers reliable transmission of data frames between the adjacent nodes of bridges. With the implementation of CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check), data link layer performs the errors detection functions and control management system. Bridges with high data link control applications of this layer facilitates best communication over multiple links. Intelligence of Switches and Bridges In order to measure the intelligence of switches in OSI model, it can be stated that it can effectively built a network and links all the network devices to forward data and information. In layer 2 of OSI model, switches read the MAC address and build a table to forward the packets (Wang et al., 2013). The application of switch only receives messages from the connected devices and transmits those messages only to those particular devices for which the message was made. This facility makes the switch more intelligent than other components of the network. In the modern Ethernet LANs, switch plays a significant role. Switch has redundant power circuits that can operate in power fails situation also. On the other hand, bridges have high performance functionalities which are used to improve network performance by maintaining traffic and signals. Bridges can read the messages of the outermost section of network to check the path of going messages. This helps to reduce traffic flows in the network system as it does not sent all the packets through the network management system (Ramanathan et al., 2012). But efficiency of bridges is lesser than the switches as it can only read the messages of the outermost section of network hardware. Bridges also do not allow connection of several networks with various architectures. Data Transmission For increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of traffic management network performance, the switches plays a crucial role. Primarily, switches are used to break one single system into several subdivided systems and for that reason, the repeater limitations and the distance are resumed (Pagan Short, 2014). Then the same segmentation separates the traffic and which in turn lessens the collisions thereby optimizes the network congestion. On the other hand, bridges use two Ethernet networks so that data can be transferred from on network to another network. By the use of bridge system, networks are divided into several parts so that transmission of data can be handled precisely (Chowdhury, 2013). Bridges are used for segregating data by distinguishing them into two streams which can effectively decrease the traffic flow and increase the control over data transmission system. Traffic Management Switches with multiple ports used in the local networks to isolate the data flow for the improvements of performance (Mehta et al., 2012). Switches are more superior than bridges and with high sped functionalities help to minimize the traffic congestion problems. Bridge is the device that is used to connect and pass packets between several network segments. This can be used to analyze the incoming packets and forward each packet. By this bridge can improve the performance of network management system by minimizing the collision chances and reducing unnecessary traffic (Boutaba et al., 2013). This application of bridges divides the traffic into several segments and filters the traffic flows based on the MAC address. Network Performance By two basic operations switch improve the performance of the entire network. At first, it receives data frame from input media and sends this to output media. By the second operation, maintenance of switching applications can be done by switching tables and switch builds (Gebali, 2015). The Ethernet switch allows the users to communicate over the virtual circuits, so that efficiency of the network bandwidth can be increased. Bridges can join two networks of several media platforms and always try to keep te networks data free, so that congestion can be minimized and improvements of network can be increased. Error Recovery In the case of error recovery, the LAN switches can be used which comprises of two different architectures including store-and-forward and cut-through. The store-and-forward switch analyzes and acquires the overall packet before transferring it to the destination source (Bari et al., 2013). The cut-through switches, on the other hand, review the address of the destination before moving it to the target part. According to the error recovery in the network design, the bridges can be used to disallow packets from particular systems and it is used to lower the bandwidth utilization. The bridges are unable to maintain the integrity of data transmission when they receive errors. When there is an error in a single frame then that frame is not correctly transmitted (Ortiz et al., 2013). At that moment, the bridges don't allow the option of retransmission. When the bridges become congested, the frames are discarded for making the traffic smooth. Appearance of Switches and Bridges in a Network In a network design, a switch is a network device which chooses a circuit or path for transferring a data unit to the next destination. Figure 4: Appearance of Bridge and Switch in Network (Source: ) Bridges, on the other hand, helps to establish connections between local area networks (LANs) using the same protocol. Conclusion After the analysis of the report, it can be concluded that the switches operate on the second Open System Interconnection (OSI) layer known as the data link layer. The functions depending on the 3rd layer of the OSI model consist of routing between the networks and VLANs. The bridges work at the Data-Link Layer of the Open System Interconnection model and are used to connect similar or dissimilar local area network segments which operate at the data link layer. The switches in a network optimize the network congestion while the usage of bridges can make the traffic smooth. Switches appear at the gateway levels or backbone of a network while the bridges appear at the nodes of a local area network. References Bari, M. F., Boutaba, R., Esteves, R., Granville, L. Z., Podlesny, M., Rabbani, M. G., ... Zhani, M. F. (2013). Data center network virtualization: A survey.Communications Surveys Tutorials, IEEE,15(2), 909-928. Chowdhury, D. D. (2013).High speed LAN technology handbook. 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