Switches

Network switches can be classified into two types:

wide area network switches & local area network switches.

Wide area network switches are mainly used in the telecommunications field, providing the basic platform for communication. Local area network switches are applied in local networks and are used to connect terminal devices such as personal computers and network printers, etc.

By transmission rate per port: It's divided into 100-megabit switches, 1-gigabit switches, and 10-gigabit switches. 

The port rate of a 100Mbps switch is generally 100Mbps, suitable for small offices or home networks.

The port rate of a 1Gbps switch is 1000Mbps, commonly used in small and medium-sized enterprise networks.

The port rate of a 10Gbps or higher switch can reach up to 10Gbps or more, mainly applied in large data centers, backbone networks and other scenarios with high bandwidth requirements.

Switches' Main functions: Port expansion, Data exchange, Network segmentation, VLAN division.