At 08:54 AM 03/17/2000 , you wrote:
> > A switch acts like a cross point switch, being smart enough
> > to recognize which
> > packets are targeted to which computers connected to it. It
> > does this by
> > learning the ethernet address of each connected system, and
> > decoding the
> > ethernet address of the destination of each packet. It routes
> > that packet ONLY
>
>Okay, so what's the difference between a switch and a router?
>
>Philo

In basic terms a switch is a cheaper device than a router.   Both determine
were and how data should be sent to either adjacent devices or networks.
Switches may contain routers and vice-versa.  However, in strict terms
a switch is a faster and simpler device than a router.  A router creates or
maintains a table of the available routes and their conditions and uses this
information along with distance and cost algorithms to determine the best
route for a given packet.  A switch does not do this, accessing this information
from a router.

Please remember that both are more complicated than this and I am only
attempting to draw a distinct difference for this discussion.

     Bob Wright
The NOSPIN Group

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