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This wikipedia should answer your question:<br />
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAN_switching" rel="ugc">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAN_switching</a>
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This wikipedia should answer your question:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAN_switching [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LAN_switching]

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Note Normal packet switching of data traffic is done in the switch hardware and does not involve the CPU, so it is not affected by an overly busy CPU. <br />
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Hi above comment is direct from Cisco - what does this mean ? As a CPU is hardware?
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Note Normal packet switching of data traffic is done in the switch hardware and does not involve the CPU, so it is not affected by an overly busy CPU. 


Hi above comment is direct from Cisco - what does this mean ? As a CPU is hardware?

high cpu and a cisco switch -

A switch is a device that filters and forwards packets of data between LAN segments. Switches operate at the data link layer or the network layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model and therefore support any packet protocol. LANs that use switches to join segments are called switched LANs or, in the case of Ethernet networks, switched Ethernet LANs. A hub is a connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports; when a packet arrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.

Switches / Hubs

Networking hardware includes the physical devices facilitating the use of a computer network. Typically, networking hardware includes gateways, routers, network bridges, modems, wireless access points, networking cables, line drivers, switches, hubs, and repeaters. But it also includes hybrid network devices such as multilayer switches, protocol converters, bridge routers, proxy servers, firewalls, network address translators, multiplexers, network interface controllers, wireless network interface controllers, ISDN terminal adapters and other related hardware.

Networking Hardware-Other

Networking is the process of connecting computing devices, peripherals and terminals together through a system that uses wiring, cabling or radio waves that enable their users to communicate, share information and interact over distances. Often associated are issues regarding operating systems, hardware and equipment, cloud and virtual networking, protocols, architecture, storage and management.