What is the difference between a hub and a switch? Which one is better for my network?
A switch is effectively a higher-performance alternative to a hub. Technically speaking, hubs operate using a broadcast model and switches operate using a virtual circuit model. When four computers are connected to a hub, for example, and two of those computers communicate with each other, hubs simply pass through all network traffic to each of the four computers. Switches, on the other hand, are capable of determining the destination of each individual traffic element and selectively forwarding data to the computer that actually needs it. By generating less network traffic in delivering messages, a switch performs better than a hub on busy networks. Read more…
