Frequently Asked Questions about Switches

This Article Applies to:All switches

Q1:The difference between unmanaged switches, POE switches, and managed switches?

A1:unmanaged switches:Plug and play No configuration required, ready to use out of the box. No management function: There is no setting interface, and detailed configuration cannot be performed.Basic function: mainly provides basic network connection and data forwarding functions.

POE switches: switch that supports power over Ethernet, with standard POE supporting 802.11af and 802.11at protocols.

managed switches：Layer 3 switches support routing functionality: capable of IP routing and supporting communication between different subnets. Advanced management functions: usually capable of VLAN configuration, traffic monitoring, QoS configuration, etc. Supporting more complex network requirements: Suitable for environments that require complex network configurations, such as enterprise networks.

Q2：What is POE power supply technology？

A2:It refers to the existing Ethernet cabling infrastructure that, without any modifications, uses conventional Ethernet cables to transmit data while supplying power, ensuring that the cable can transmit data signals to Ethernet Data Terminal Equipment (DTE) (such as IP phones, wireless APs, network cameras IPC, and other IP based terminal equipment) while also providing DC power to such equipment。Simply put, POE switches provide DC power to terminals that support POE power supply through Ethernet cables to make them work.

Q3: What is the backplane bandwidth parameter of a switch and how does it affect the network?

A3: Backplane bandwidth refers to the maximum amount of data that can be throughput between the switch interface processor or interface card and the data bus. It determines the maximum upper limit of the connection bandwidth between each module and the switching engine, affecting the peak speed of data transmission.

Q4: How to understand the line speed switching capability of a switch?

A4: Line speed switching refers to the ability of switches to achieve bottleneck free data exchange based on the data transmission speed on network communication lines. This usually refers to layer 2 line speed (switching capability) and layer 3 line speed (packet forwarding rate).

Q5: What is the packet forwarding rate of a switch and why is it important?

A5: Packet forwarding rate is an indicator that measures the ability of a switch to forward packets, representing the number of packets of a specific size (such as 64 bytes) sent per unit of time. A high packet forwarding rate means that the switch has a stronger ability to handle large amounts of data packets.

Q6: What is the function of Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) and how to configure it?

A6: VLANs can divide broadcast domains, improving network security and efficiency. Configuring VLANs requires creating different logical networks on the switch and assigning VLAN IDs to each port.

Q7: What is DHCP Snooping function and how does it help the network?

A7: DHCP Snooping is a security feature that prevents unauthorized DHCP server responses, thereby avoiding IP address conflicts and network security issues.