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What is the difference between circuit switching and packet switching?

Lindi Horton EXPERT RESPONSE FROM: Lindi Horton

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QUESTION POSED ON: 11 January 2007
  1. What is the difference between circuit switching and packet switching?

  2. Do we need Ethernet MAC if we're using an Ethernet switch to build up a LAN?

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Packet switching and circuit switching are two networking methods for transferring data between two nodes or hosts. For a packet switched network, data is transferred by dividing the data into individual packets and passing it through the circuits to the other host. In packet switched networks, the route is not exclusively determined when the packets hit the wire. Using routing algorithms, each packet may actually take a different route through the network to arrive at the destination host. Unlike circuit switching where a static route is setup and pre-established prior to initializing connections to the host.

Using an Ethernet switch to build up a LAN should inherently require an Ethernet MAC.


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