Bridging

What is a network switch? It is a networking device that performs transparent bridging up to the speed of the hardware. Bridging refers to a forwarding technique which consists in making no assumption about where is located a particular address in a network. It depends on broadcasting to locate unknown devices so its utility is limited, its usage being optimum when used in local area networks. The expansion especially made for switches can perform a large number of connections through many media like: Ethernet, Fibre Channel, 802.11, ATM etc. A switch can connect to all those or to other packet switched network systems, in order to form an internetwork.