What is the main advantage of having a Layer 3 switch over a router?

What is the main advantage of having a Layer 3 switch over a router?

In this Q&A, our router expert, Sudhanshu Gupta, talks about the advantages of having a Layer 3 switch over a router.

QUESTION: What is the main advantage of having a Layer 3 switch over a router?

    Requires Free Membership to View

    Login

    By submitting your registration information to SearchNetworking.com you agree to receive email communications from TechTarget and TechTarget partners. We encourage you to read our Privacy Policy which contains important disclosures about how we collect and use your registration and other information. If you reside outside of the United States, by submitting this registration information you consent to having your personal data transferred to and processed in the United States. Your use of SearchNetworking.com is governed by our Terms of Use. You may contact us at webmaster@TechTarget.com.

With a Layer 3 switch, you get the functionality of routing and switching combined and more ports for access in a single box. The design of Layer 3 switches often provides better all-around performance than routers. The only hardware that is missing are WAN (serial) ports. So that's the difference; with a router you get WAN ports, Layer 3 functionality and two or three Ethernet ports (though for some of the Cisco router models, you can buy a 16-port EtherSwitch module which will give you 16 10/100 802.3 ports).

This was first published in October 2008

Join the conversationComment

Share
Comments

    Results

    Contribute to the conversation

    All fields are required. Comments will appear at the bottom of the article.
    Back to top