L2 Managed Switch Vs L3

This is where a layer 3 switch can be utilized.

L2 managed switch vs l3.

The traffic forwarding decision is based on its mac address table entries. Now the exceptions l3 switches like 6500 can be loaded with cards which support wan connections also. A layer 3 switch builds a layer 2 forwarding table to be able to forward within a vlan. 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.

So l3 switch happen to be faster than router in forwarding packets. Since vlans exist in their own layer 3 subnet routing will need to occur for traffic to flow in between vlans. So layer 2 switches simple do switching. Layer 2 layer 3 in osi model.

Layer 3 switch make its forwarding decision in hardware asic application specific integrated circuits and router make its decision in software intelligence from ios. These solutions are optimized for a wide range of industries including service providers financial services and the public sector. Layer 3 switch work on layer 3 of osi model i e. A layer 2 switch works with mac addresses only and does not care about ip address or any items of higher layers.

This is also the biggest difference lies between layer 2 switch and layer 3 switch. So a layer 3 switch is aware of subnets and networks in addition to being aware of vlans. 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. The image below shows an example of a multi vlan environment on a layer 2 switch.

A layer 2 managed switch forwards traffic between network hosts such as a server and a client pc within the same subnet. Cisco delivers a comprehensive portfolio of switching solutions for enterprise networks data centers and smaller businesses. 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. A layer 3 switch on the other hand is a specialized hardware device used for routing data packets using ip.

Network layer where it route packet by using ip address it is used widely on vlans. Layer 2 vs layer 3 switch the main difference between layer 2 and layer 3 is the routing function.