Switches

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Network switches are essential networking devices that operate at the of the TCP/IP model. They allow multiple computers to connect to a network through a single node and therefore reduce the requirement. This is especially important in larger networks. They are designed to efficiently manage data traffic within local area networks (LANs) by intelligently forwarding data frames based on .



A MAC address table is a critical component within network switches. It is used to store and manage MAC (Media Access Control) addresses and their associated . When a switch receives a data frame from a device on one of its ports, it examines the in the Ethernet frame header. The switch records this MAC address and associates it with the port through which the frame was received. This process is known as MAC address .



Media Access Control (MAC) addresses are unique identifiers assigned to network in computing devices. They operate at the Data Link Layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model. A MAC address is , typically represented as 12 hexadecimal digits (0-9 and A-F) grouped into pairs, separated by colons or hyphens. Each MAC address is globally . This means that no two network interfaces in the world should have the same MAC address. The first 24 bits of a MAC address represent the OUI, which identifies the or organization that produced the network interface card (NIC).

Keywords

mac (media access control) addresses | learning | network interfaces | 48 bits in length | data link layer | manufacturer | wiring | unique | source mac address | interfaces |