What's The Difference Between Managed Switch And Unmanaged Switch

At present, the switches on the market can be divided into managed switches and non-managed switches. How much do you know about these two types of switches?What is the difference between the two?How should I choose?This article will talk about some of the most common questions about managed and unmanaged switches.

What is managed switch?

The managed switch can monitor its ports,devide VLANS, and set Trunk ports etc. through the console port.Because the managed switch has the characteristics of VLAN, CLI, SNMP, IP routing, QoS, etc., it is often used in the core layer of the network, especially in large and complex data centers.

What is unmanaged switch?

The unmanaged switch is a plug-and-play Ethernet switch, which does not directly process data.Because the unmanaged switch does not require any settings, it can be used by plugging in the network cable, and it is also called a fool-type switch.

What is the difference between managed switch and unmnaged switch?

Regardless of whether it is a managed switch or a unmanaged switch, they are used for network port expansion and data exchange, but the network managed switch adds a series of management functions on this basis, some of them shown in the following table:

How to choose between managed switch and unmanaged switch?

To ensure the smooth operation of the entire network system, it is very important to choose a suitable switch. So how should one choose between a managed switch and a non-managed switch? You can consider from two aspects of network environment and cost:

In complex data centers and large enterprise networks, the network needs to continuously transmit large amounts of data. At this time, the switch has to undertake thousands of data traffic transmission and management functions. In this case, it is very wise to choose a managed switch.Because the network management switch can perform detection management and user control management on network equipment according to the equipment and users on the switch.

In simple network environments such as small offices, homes, etc., complex management functions are not required, so you can choose unmanaged switches because the price of unmanaged switches is cheaper and more affordable than managed switches.