Differentiate switches based on network coverage

As the number of switches increases, there are many different ways to classify them. We have previously said that switches can be divided into Layer 2 switches, Layer 3 switches, and Layer 4 switches based on different working protocol layers. This time, let's take a look at the characteristics of WAN switches and LAN switches based on network coverage.

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Switch room (Photo courtesy of zastavki)

WAN Switches

A WAN is a large network formed by interconnecting many network devices such as switches, routers, and firewalls. The backbone switches in this network can be called WAN switches, which are mainly used in WANs in the fields of telecommunication metropolitan area network interconnection and Internet access to provide a basic platform for communication.

WAN switches have the following features:

• The backplane has large bandwidth, high packet switching rate, and strong forwarding performance.
• Support routing functions, generally have three layers or higher functions, also known as multi-layer switches. The most common are three-layer switches and four-layer switches.
• With strong scalability, this type of switch is generally modular, and ports and functions can be expanded by adding new boards.
• It has strong stability and the equipment can run trouble-free for a long time.
• The port density is generally large, especially for optical module ports.
• WAN switches have built-in security mechanisms, which greatly improves security.
• WAN switches have billing functions.
• A WAN switch can manage multiple LANs.

LAN switch

This type of switch is a common switch. A LAN is a computer group consisting of multiple computers interconnected in a certain area. LAN switches are used in local area networks to connect terminal devices such as servers, workstations, hubs, routers, network printers and other network devices, providing high-speed independent communication channels.

The characteristics of LAN switches are:

• Low switching delay is the main feature of the switch. From the order of magnitude of transmission delay, if the switch is tens of microseconds, the bridge is hundreds of microseconds, and the router is thousands of microseconds.
• Support different transmission rates and working modes. The switch port can support different transmission rates, such as 10Mbps, 100Mbps, etc. The port can support two working modes: full-duplex and half-duplex.
• High transmission bandwidth.
• Support virtual LAN services. Switched LAN is the basis of virtual LAN, and current switches basically only support virtual LAN.
• LAN switches are used in local area networks to connect terminal devices.