Why we need switching in networks? Can’t we have network without switching? If it’s compulsory, what are the different types of switching and how we know which type to use?
Why switching is required in network and what are it’s type?
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Why we need switching in networks? Can’t we have network without switching? If it’s compulsory, what are the different types of switching and how we know which type to use?
Sweta
When devices, which needed to communicate are far apart or it is impractical to provide a dedicated wire between each pairs of device, we use switching in network.
Each device will be attached to communication network. And transmission will be achieved through intermediate nodes. They will provide facility for same using switching.
There are three switching techniques in common use: circuit switching, message switching and packet switching.
1) Circuit Switching: communication via circuit switching implies that there is a dedicated communication path between two stations. That path is a connected sequence of links between nodes. On each physical link, a channel is dedicated to the connection. The most common example of circuit switching is the telephone network.
Circuit switching is an appropriate and easily used technique in the case of data exchanges that involves a relatively continuous flow, such as voice(telephone) and some forms of sensor and telemetry input.
It’s drawbacks are.. Both stations must be available at the same time for the data exchange including required resources in communication path.
2) Message Switching: it’s an alternative approach, which is generally appropriate to digital data exchange, is to exchange logical units of data, called messages. Here we don’t need dedicated path for communication.
Rather, if a station wishes to send a message, it appends a destination address to the message. The message is then passed through the network from node to node.
Advantages are… Line efficiency is greater. Simultaneously availability of sender and receiver is not required. Message priority can be set too.
Disadvantage is that it is not suited for real time or interactive traffic.
3) Packet Switching: It represents an attempt to combine the advantages of message and circuit switching while minimizing the disadvantages of both. It’s basically like message switching only. The difference is that the length of the units of data that may be transmitted is limited in a packet switch network.
It uses Datagtam approach where packet is independent or virtual circuit approach where logical connection is established.
Switch is a network device which is used to connect multiple devices together and filter packets on the basis of their destination within the connected devices.
Switching is required in networking because it serves these many benefits –
There are basically three types of switching methods as stated below –
Among all three, circuit and packet switching are more famous since message switching has been opposed out in the general communication procedure but is still used in the networking application.