Enterprise Networking

Active Networking (Switching & Routing)

The terms "switching" and "routing" are fundamental concepts in networking, but have you heard of "active networking"?

Active networking is like giving your network a superpower: it can think and adapt on the fly. Instead of rigid rules, switches and routers in active networks are like smart helpers that can be told what to do.

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Enterprise Networking

Traditional Networking: Switches and Routers as Traffic Directors

Switches

  • Operate at Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) of the OSI model. They act like traffic directors within a local network segment, efficiently forwarding data frames based on Media Access Control (MAC) addresses.

Routers

  • On the other hand, work at Layer 3 (Network Layer). They connect different networks, analyzing packet destinations (IP addresses) and choosing the optimal path for data to travel across vast internetworks.
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Enterprise Networking

Potential Benefits of Active Networking

Dynamic Routing
  • Active packets could analyze network conditions and suggest optimal routes, leading to more efficient traffic flow.
Content-Aware Networking
  • Packets could identify their content type (e.g., video, audio) and request specific Quality of Service (QoS) from the network.
Security Enhancements
  • Active packets could carry security measures or even perform self-defense mechanisms against cyber threats.

Leading brands

Cisco

Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Juniper Networks

Arista Networks

Ubiquiti Networks

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