Switch

A switch on a computer network connects devices on that network to each other based on moving the packets to the designated device. This is known as packet switching. From a communications standpoint, such switches operate at Layer 2, the Datalink Layer of the Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) model. Some switches, known as multilayer switches, can operate at Layer 3 (the Network Layer of OSI). To do this, these switches incorporate the functionality of a network router. At Layer 3, the router is capable of connecting two or more packet-switched networks and managing the traffic within the networks by forwarding packets to the intended IP (Internet Protocol) address. It allows multiple devices to use a single Internet connection.