What Is an Access Switch? The Definitive Edge Network Guide
Learn what an access switch is, how it works at the network edge, why PoE and port density matter, and how Wi-Fi 7 and IoT change access-layer requirements.
Access Switch Performance Parameters
Home / Access Switch Performance Parameters
Here I'll go into detail on the four key performance and cost drivers of any network switch (managed and unmanaged): ports & power over ethernet, switching capacity, buffer size, and the MAC address table. Definition: Switch throughput, or throughput rate, is the most important measure of network switch performance. It's defined as the maximal forwarding speed without loss of packets, typically measured in the form of packets each second (PPS/FPS) or bytes per second (bit/s Mbit/s, Gbit/s). If CPU performance is very high to maxed out, that often indicates some issue beyond traffic volume, itself, as switches have dedicated hardware for switching. Head-of-line blocking, or fabric blocking, can cause poor performance, but troubleshooting those is more involved than I want to delve into. An access switch is a network device that connects end-user devices, such as computers, printers, and IP phones, to the broader network infrastructure.
