Layer 2 LAN Switching

Layer 2 LAN Switching
You can think of layer 2 switches as bridges with more ports. Remember from Chapter 12 that
layer 2 switching is hardware based, which means that it uses the Media Access Control (MAC)
address from the hosts’ network interface cards (NICs) to filter the network. You should also
remember how switches use application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs) to build and maintain
filter tables.
However, there are some differences between bridges and switches that you should be aware of.
This section outlines those differences and then discusses the three functions of layer 2 switching.