Understanding the Impact of Error Thresholds on Switching Methods: Cut-Through vs Store-and-Forward Switching

When a switch configuration includes a user-defined error threshold on a per-port basis, to which switching method will the switch revert when the error threshold is reached?

cut-through switching

When a switch configuration includes a user-defined error threshold on a per-port basis, the switch will revert to a switching method called “cut-through switching” when the error threshold is reached.

Cut-through switching is a process where a switch starts forwarding a frame before it has completely received the entire frame. In this method, the switch looks at the destination MAC address of the frame and immediately starts forwarding it to the appropriate port without waiting for the entire frame to arrive. This allows for faster forwarding as there is no need to wait for the full frame.

However, cut-through switching comes with a drawback – it does not perform any error checking. If there are errors in the frame being transmitted, cut-through switching may forward the frame with errors to the destination, potentially causing data corruption or network issues. To handle this, switches include an error threshold setting that can be configured on a per-port basis.

When the error threshold is reached on a specific port, the switch will switch from cut-through switching to a different switching method called “store-and-forward switching”. In store-and-forward switching, the switch receives and stores the entire frame before forwarding it. This allows the switch to perform error checking on the entire frame, detecting any errors and preventing their propagation through the network.

By reverting to store-and-forward switching when the error threshold is reached, the switch prioritizes the integrity of the transmitted data over speed. It ensures that frames with errors are not forwarded, maintaining a more reliable network communication.

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