L2 Managed Switch Vs L3

So a layer 3 switch is aware of subnets and networks in addition to being aware of vlans.

L2 managed switch vs l3.

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. Layer 3 switch work on layer 3 of osi model i e. Layer 2 switch work on layer 2 of osi model i e. This is also the biggest difference lies between layer 2 switch and layer 3 switch.

So l3 switch happen to be faster than router in forwarding packets. 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. Layer 2 vs layer 3 switch the main difference between layer 2 and layer 3 is the routing function. The image below shows an example of a multi vlan environment on a layer 2 switch.

Network layer where it route packet by using ip address it is used widely on vlans. This is where a layer 3 switch can be utilized. However if the server and the client pc are located on different subnets and the traffic needs to be sent across between subnets then a layer 3 managed switch is needed which makes traffic. Now the exceptions l3 switches like 6500 can be loaded with cards which support wan connections also.

These solutions are optimized for a wide range of industries including service providers financial services and the public sector. Cisco delivers a comprehensive portfolio of switching solutions for enterprise networks data centers and smaller businesses. A layer 3 switch builds a layer 2 forwarding table to be able to forward within a vlan. Layer 2 layer 3 in osi model.

The traffic forwarding decision is based on its mac address table entries. 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. 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.

A layer 2 switch works with mac addresses only and does not care about ip address or any items of higher layers. A layer 2 managed switch forwards traffic between network hosts such as a server and a client pc within the same subnet.