L2 Managed Switch Vs L3

So l3 switch happen to be faster than router in forwarding packets.

L2 managed switch vs l3.

A layer 3 switch includes the functionality of a layer 2 switch and also is able to use layer 3 information ip addresses to make its forwarding decisions. Routing in layer 2 and layer 3 switch switching operates at layer 2 of the osi reference model where data packets are redirected to a destination port based on mac addresses. A layer 3 switch builds a layer 2 forwarding table to be able to forward within a vlan. Layer 2 layer 3 in osi model.

This is also the biggest difference lies between layer 2 switch and layer 3 switch. Network layer where it route packet by using ip address it is used widely on vlans. A layer 3 switch is basically a switch that can perform routing functions in addition to switching. Since vlans exist in their own layer 3 subnet routing will need to occur for traffic to flow in between vlans.

A layer 2 switch works with mac addresses only and does not care about ip address or any items of higher layers. This is where a layer 3 switch can be utilized. The traffic forwarding decision is based on its mac address table entries. However if the server and the client pc are located on different subnets and the traffic needs to be sent across between subnets then a layer 3 managed switch is needed which makes traffic.

These solutions are optimized for a wide range of industries including service providers financial services and the public sector. Layer 3 switch make its forwarding decision in hardware asic application specific integrated circuits and router make its decision in software intelligence from ios. Cisco delivers a comprehensive portfolio of switching solutions for enterprise networks data centers and smaller businesses. The image below shows an example of a multi vlan environment on a layer 2 switch.

Layer 2 switch work on layer 2 of osi model i e. A layer 2 managed switch forwards traffic between network hosts such as a server and a client pc within the same subnet. So layer 2 switches simple do switching. Layer 3 switch work on layer 3 of osi model i e.

Data link layer and sends a frames to destination port using mac address table which stores the mac address of a device associated with that port. A layer 3 switch on the other hand is a specialized hardware device used for routing data packets using ip.