What is the difference between a switch and a hub?
Computers and Technology · College · Thu Feb 04 2021
Answered on
The key difference between a switch and a hub lies in the way they handle network traffic. A hub is a simple networking device that operates at the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model's physical layer (Layer 1) and is used to connect multiple devices in a network. When a data packet arrives at one of the hub's ports, it is copied to all other ports so that all network segments can see all packets. This means that hubs do not manage any of the traffic that comes through them, and they can cause a lot of unnecessary traffic on the network, which can lead to inefficiencies and congestion.
On the other hand, a switch operates at the data link layer (Layer 2) and is more sophisticated. It has the capability to learn the Media Access Control (MAC) addresses of the devices connected to it. When a switch receives a data packet, it inspects the packet's destination MAC address and sends it only to the specific port to which the destination device is connected. This intelligent forwarding significantly helps reduce unnecessary traffic because data is only sent to the device that needs to receive it, rather than to all devices like a hub does.
In summary, a switch fosters more efficient use of network bandwidth than a hub because it can direct packets only to the intended recipient rather than broadcasting to all connected devices.