Switches

This past week I’ve been learning more about switches. Switches are networking devices that , connect end devices on a network and use packet switching to transport data. Switches have a , startup process, remote configuration, secure access and cryptographic features. Switches first , execute POST, then load the Bootloader from the ROM, followed by the CPU performing a few , startup operations, then the Flash file system is initialized loading the IOS and transfers control , of the switch to the IOS. In switches, a VLAN interface can be used to remotely configure the , switch. VLAN interfaces are the only interfaces that need to be manually activated after the , powering on of the switch. Some switches are full duplex that allows bidirectional data flow and , 100% efficiency in both directions. Some switches also sport Auto-MDIX that allow any type of , Ethernet cable (crossover, straight through, or rollover) to work regardless of the devices being , connected. When remotely accessing a switch it's important to be wary of telnet connections as , they are done in plain text. For more security, SSH is strongly encouraged to ensure end to end , encryption. SSH used port 22 while telnet uses 23. Switches that support cryptographic features , have “k9” in their IOS file name. Switches have many different features and have many , advantages in comparison to hubs. Overall switches have a lot of functions and I look forward to , continuing to learn more about them.