Unmanaged switches are typically used to provide basic connectivity. They’re designed to be plug and play; no configuration is needed. Unmanaged switches are most effective when only basic switching and connectivity are required. You will often see them in home networks or wherever only a few ports are needed, such as at a desk, in a lab, or in a conference room.

Some unmanaged switches do offer limited advanced capabilities, however—as the name implies—these switches generally cannot be modified or managed.

Smart switches offer some management and segmentation, quality of service, and security capabilities, so they can be a cost-effective alternative to modular switches. Still, they are not as scalable as managed switches. These switches are typically deployed at the edge of a large network (while managed switches are used in the core), as the infrastructure for smaller networks, or for low complexity networks.

Among fixed-configuration switches, managed switches are designed to deliver the most comprehensive set of features to provide the best application experience, the highest levels of security, the most precise control and management of the network, and the greatest scalability. As a result, managed switches are usually deployed as aggregation/access switches in very large networks or as core switches in smaller networks.

Managed switches are the most expensive option of fixed-configuration switches and are most common in organizations with large- or growing- networks.

Four switch options to keep in mind

In addition to evaluating switch categories, you should also consider network switch speeds, number of ports, power-over-Ethernet features, and stacking capabilities.

1. Switch speeds

2. Switches are available in different throughputs or speeds, the rate they transmit data in megabits per second (Mbps). For example, fixed-configuration switches can provide Fast Ethernet (10/100 Mbps), Gigabit Ethernet (10/100/1000 Mbps), Ten Gigabit (10/100/1000/10000 Mbps), and even 40/100 Gbps (gigabits per second) speeds. The switch speed you choose depends on the type of throughput you need. If, for example, you need to move large data files on a regular basis, you should consider a Gigabit Ethernet switch.

Number of ports

As is the case with switch speed, the number of ports available in a switch can vary. The bigger your small business and the more network users you have, the more ports you’ll need. Fixed-configuration switches are usually available with five, eight, 10, 16, 24, 28, 48, or 52 ports.

1. Power over Ethernet (PoE) vs. non-PoE

PoE lets you power a device—such as an IP phone, surveillance camera, or wireless access point—over the cable that is used for data traffic. This allows you to place endpoints anywhere, even in those areas that are usually difficult to reach. Switches with PoE are more expensive, however. As you evaluate your options, think about the devices you would like to connect to determine whether PoE is required.

1. Stackable vs. standalone switches

As your business (and your network) grows, you will likely need to support more and more devices, which will mean investing in more switches. Just as its name implies, a standalone switch is managed and configured as an individual entity with limited capacity. If there is a problem, troubleshooting is also switch specific.

In contrast, stackable switches can be connected to increase the capacity and availability of your network. Rather than configuring, managing, and troubleshooting each switch, you can treat the “stack” as a single unit. This means that if any part of the stack fails, the stack will route around the failure, so your network keeps running.

A network switch usually operates at Layer 2 of the OSI model (working with the Ethernet protocol) but there are switch models that implement also routing, which can be considered as Layer 3 devices as well (see explanation at the end of this article).

Although switches are nowadays available as software modules in virtualization technologies (such as Vmware NSX etc), the traditional hardware switch with multiple Ethernet ports is still a necessary node in all networks (home, small business, large corporate networks etc).

۱) Fixed Switches

In this article I will discuss the various types of switches available in the networking field with their characteristics, use cases etc.

If you are an IT professional, a network builder or a business owner, knowing the different types of switches out there will help you select the right solution for your network’s needs.

They can have different types of ports (in terms of speed and connectivity options) but nowadays port speeds are usually 1Gbps (at least) and connectivity options are usually electrical wired ports (RJ45) or optical fiber ports.

You can find also fixed switches with much higher speed ports such as 10Gbps or 40Gbps.

۱) Fixed Switches

Some examples of fixed switches include the Cisco Catalyst 3600 series (for business networks), Ubiquity Unify Switches, Netgear or Linksys switches for small businesses etc.

Use Cases

Fixed switches can be used in any kind of network, from home networks up to large enterprise networks. You need to know the number of network hosts to be connected in order to select a switch with the right number of ports.

If you need to connect more than one fixed switch, you can connect them together with a network cable (such as Cat6 Ethernet cable or fiber optic) and create a trunk port between them.

۲) Modular Switches

Unlike the fixed switch type described above, modular switches are expandable by adding extra modules on the chassis for getting additional ports and additional performance.

Usually modular switches come in a big chassis (as shown on the picture) and each plug-in module adds extra switch ports to accommodate additional users in the network.

۲) Modular Switches

These types of switches are of course much more expensive than fixed switches and are usually used in large networks.

In most cases they offer also Layer 3 functionality (in addition to Layer 2) so they can be used as routers in a network as well.

Modular switches usually have additional power supplies for redundancy and multiple cooling fans on the chassis.

Use Cases

Modular switches are used in Data Centers and in big enterprise networks. They can segment large LANs into hundreds of VLANs and also can provide Layer 3 inter-VLAN routing as well.

۳) Stackable Switches

Stackable switches offer a combination of fixed switch and modular switch. There are some fixed switch models that can be stacked together with other fixed switches of the same model to form a stackable switch unit.

These fixed switches are connected together at the back with a special cable thus can communicate with each other and work as a single switch unit with additional ports. When you manage them, you see all the devices as one switch entity.

۱) سوئیچ های ثابت

در این مقاله من انواع سوئیچ های موجود در زمینه شبکه با ویژگی های آنها ، موارد استفاده و غیره را بحث خواهم کرد.

اگر شما یک متخصص فناوری اطلاعات ، سازنده شبکه یا صاحب مشاغل هستید ، دانستن انواع مختلف سوئیچ های موجود به شما کمک می کند راه حل مناسب نیازهای شبکه خود را انتخاب کنید.

آنها می توانند انواع مختلفی از پورت داشته باشند (از نظر گزینه های سرعت و اتصال) اما امروزه سرعت پورت معمولاً ۱Gbps (حداقل) است و گزینه های اتصال معمولاً پورت های سیمی الکتریکی (RJ45) یا پورت فیبر نوری است.

همچنین می توانید سوئیچ های ثابت با پورت های سرعت بسیار بالاتر مانند ۱۰Gbps یا ۴۰Gbps را پیدا کنید.

برخی از نمونه های سوئیچ های ثابت شامل سری Cisco Catalyst 3600 (برای شبکه های تجاری) ، Ubiquity Unify Switches ، Netgear یا Linksys برای کسب و کارهای کوچک و غیره است.

از موارد استفاده کنید

از سوئیچ های ثابت می توان در هر نوع شبکه ای استفاده کرد ، از شبکه های خانگی گرفته تا شبکه های سازمانی بزرگ. برای انتخاب یک سوئیچ با تعداد پورت مناسب ، باید تعداد میزبانهای شبکه را که باید متصل شوند بدانید.

در صورت نیاز به اتصال بیش از یک سوئیچ ثابت ، می توانید آنها را با کابل شبکه (مانند کابل Cat6 اترنت یا فیبر نوری) متصل کرده و یک درگاه صندوق بین آنها ایجاد کنید.
سوئیچ صنعتی ایرانی

۲) سوئیچ های مدولار

بر خلاف نوع سوئیچ ثابت که در بالا توضیح داده شد ، سوئیچ های مدولار با افزودن ماژول های اضافی روی شاسی برای بدست آوردن درگاه های اضافی و عملکرد بیشتر ، قابل ارتقا هستند.

معمولاً سوئیچ های مدولار دارای یک شاسی بزرگ هستند (همانطور که در تصویر نشان داده شده است) و هر ماژول پلاگین پورت های سوئیچ اضافی را برای جا دادن کاربران اضافی در شبکه اضافه می کند.

این نوع سوئیچ ها البته بسیار گرانتر از سوئیچ های ثابت هستند و معمولاً در شبکه های بزرگ استفاده می شوند.

۲) سوئیچ های مدولار

در بیشتر موارد ، آنها قابلیت لایه ۳ (علاوه بر لایه ۲) را نیز دارند ، بنابراین می توانند به عنوان روترهای شبکه نیز استفاده شوند.

سوئیچ های مدولار معمولاً دارای منبع تغذیه اضافی برای افزونگی و فن های خنک کننده متعدد روی شاسی هستند.

از موارد استفاده کنید

سوئیچ های مدولار در مراکز داده و در شبکه های سازمانی بزرگ استفاده می شوند. آنها می توانند LAN های بزرگ را به صدها VLAN تقسیم کنند و همچنین می توانند مسیریابی بین VLAN لایه ۳ را نیز فراهم کنند.
سوئیچ صنعتی ایرانی

۳) سوئیچ های Stackable

سوئیچ های قابل انباشت ترکیبی از سوئیچ ثابت و سوئیچ مدولار را ارائه می دهند. برخی از مدل های سوئیچ ثابت وجود دارد که می تواند همراه با دیگر سوئیچ های ثابت همان مدل روی هم قرار گرفته و یک واحد سوئیچ قابل انعطاف را تشکیل دهد.

این کلیدهای ثابت در پشت با کابل خاصی به یکدیگر متصل می شوند بنابراین می توانند با یکدیگر ارتباط برقرار کرده و به عنوان یک واحد سوئیچ واحد با پورت های اضافی کار کنند. وقتی آنها را مدیریت می کنید ، همه دستگاه ها را به عنوان یک سوئیچ مشاهده می کنید.
سوئیچ صنعتی ایرانی