L2 Managed Switch Vs L3

This is also the biggest difference lies between layer 2 switch and layer 3 switch.

L2 managed switch vs l3.

A layer 2 managed switch forwards traffic between network hosts such as a server and a client pc within the same subnet. Since vlans exist in their own layer 3 subnet routing will need to occur for traffic to flow in between vlans. Cisco delivers a comprehensive portfolio of switching solutions for enterprise networks data centers and smaller businesses. So a layer 3 switch is aware of subnets and networks in addition to being aware of vlans.

The image below shows an example of a multi vlan environment on a layer 2 switch. Layer 2 layer 3 in osi model. A layer 3 switch on the other hand is a specialized hardware device used for routing data packets using ip. So l3 switch happen to be faster than router in forwarding packets.

A layer 2 switch works with mac addresses only and does not care about ip address or any items of higher layers. Layer 3 switch make its forwarding decision in hardware asic application specific integrated circuits and router make its decision in software intelligence from ios. Data link layer and sends a frames to destination port using mac address table which stores the mac address of a device associated with that port. This is where a layer 3 switch can be utilized.

A layer 3 switch is basically a switch that can perform routing functions in addition to switching. Now the exceptions l3 switches like 6500 can be loaded with cards which support wan connections also. So layer 2 switches simple do switching. Layer 2 switch work on layer 2 of osi model i e.

A layer 3 switch builds a layer 2 forwarding table to be able to forward within a vlan. However if the server and the client pc are located on different subnets and the traffic needs to be sent across between subnets then a layer 3 managed switch is needed which makes traffic. The traffic forwarding decision is based on its mac address table entries. A layer 3 switch includes the functionality of a layer 2 switch and also is able to use layer 3 information ip addresses to make its forwarding decisions.

Layer 3 switch work on layer 3 of osi model i e. Layer 2 vs layer 3 switch the main difference between layer 2 and layer 3 is the routing function.