Differences Between Gigabit Switches and 10 Gigabit Switches

With the development of network technology, 10G switches have also been developed in the field of switches. The throughput of 10 gigabytes is beyond that of an ordinary switch. Therefore, the 10G switch is not only an accelerated replica of the Ethernet switch, but also the first time to realize the Ethernet technology of the 10G network and achieve the integration of private network and shared network.

Looking back, the development of switches has gone from 100M, Gigabit, 10G to 25G, 100G, 200G and even 400G switches. Gigabit switches and 10 Gigabit switches play an important role in Ethernet cabling. Next, we will briefly describe the differences between these two types of switches to help you make better choices.

What is a gigabit switch?

A gigabit switch is a switch whose ports can support 1000Mbps or 10/100/1000Mbps. The gigabit switch has the characteristics of flexible networking, which can provide full gigabit access and enhanced 10 gigabit uplink port expansion capability. In addition, it can also achieve high-performance stacking within the rack, between racks, and across regions for ultra long distance, helping data centers and enterprises quickly build scalable and easy to manage data center network platforms.

What is a 10 Gigabit switch?

A 10 Gigabit switch is a device that can provide more than 10 gigabytes of throughput in one second. As the core equipment of the network, 10G switch not only supports 10G access module on the existing Gigabit Ethernet switch, but also requires a new generation of system design, including the update of switch architecture and Layer 2/3 technology, to the default support and effective bandwidth management of the next generation IPv6, and shows amazing data processing capability with more powerful functions.

The 10G switch is a new generation of intelligent routing switch designed to meet the requirements of high performance and high reliability. It is mainly oriented to the enterprise network, operator network convergence or access layer, and can help users build an optimized network with high performance price ratio and high reliability. The 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch not only supports 10 Gigabit optical modules on existing gigabit Ethernet switches, but also has made great changes in switch architecture, updates of Layer 2/3 technology, and effective bandwidth management.

In the field of industrial communication, with the rapid development of 10G Industrial Switch technology, along with the company's data communication business process and its corresponding combined business process, 10G industrial switch, as an indispensable important industrial communication equipment, has not only been greatly improved in total, but also gradually improved in quality, characteristics and other aspects. The continuous improvement of the technical nature of the industrial switch means that the functionality of the industrial switch is becoming stronger and stronger, and the production process of the automation technology is more smooth, which has a great role in promoting the improvement of production efficiency.

What are the differences between gigabit switches and 10 gigabit switches?

The supported rates are different: the gigabit switch supports 1000Mbps at most, and the 10 gigabit switch supports 100G at most. Therefore, the transmission rate of the 10 gigabit switch is faster than that of the gigabit switch.

The backplane bandwidth and packet forwarding rate are different: 10 Gigabit switches have higher backplane bandwidth and packet forwarding rate than gigabit switches, so they are more competent for large-scale networking requirements. 10 Gigabit switches are generally used in core layer networks.

Different power consumption: The power consumption of a 10 gigabit switch is greater than that of a gigabit switch, so the gigabit switch has a better opportunity to save energy.

Different functions: Gigabit switches generally have two layers, and 10 Gigabit switches generally have two or three layers. Therefore, 10 Gigabit switches combine the simplicity and flexibility of layer 2 with the stability, scalability and high performance of layer 3. As an upgraded version of the gigabit switch, the 10 gigabit switch has more perfect functions than the gigabit switch.

Different application scenarios: gigabit switches are applied to the access layer of local area networks and networks, such as a large number of Internet access, extensive multimedia applications, regular transmission of large file transfers and other operations for small enterprises. These require the network to have strong data processing capabilities and efficiency, and the use of gigabit switches is completely competent. The 10G switch is applied to the convergence layer of MAN and network. For example, the 10G switch has higher data forwarding capability, improves the bottleneck problem of the gigabit network, and is often used in large enterprise networks, data centers, or networks with very high security requirements.

How to measure whether a 10 Gigabit switch is qualified?

To measure a 10GbE switch, first of all, test whether it can achieve the throughput of wire speed forwarding, and at the same time observe the end-to-end transmission delay. An excellent 10GbE switch should be able to forward packets at wire speed without blocking under the premise of loading key applications (such as multicast applications, IPv6 applications, and high-capacity access list control), and ensure that the end-to-end data delay is as small as possible. Secondly, it is necessary to test key protocols, such as the capacity of BGP4, route convergence and route oscillation, to test the prevention characteristics against attacks and the key characteristics of traffic management. Redundancy testing is also very important. Redundancy includes the redundancy of hardware system and the redundancy of software characteristics. It can be said that the choice of 10 Gigabit Ethernet switch is not only a choice of several single functions, but also a comprehensive evaluation of the system choice.