Equipments
Switch
OSI Layer 2 inter-connection.
Implements VLAN.
Spanning-tree based routing.
STP, RSTP, MSTP.
Wireless Access Points.
Router
OSI Layer 3 inter-connection.
Have extra functionalities like QoS, Security, VPN gateway, network monitoring, etc...
L3 Switch
Switch+Router.
Low-end and mid-end range routing functionalities are limited.
High-end have full routing functionalities.
Many have dedicated L2 routing hardware.
Router with switching modules
L3 Switch with full routing capabilities.
Security Appliance
Firewall.
IDS/IPS (Intrusion Detection/Prevention System).
NAT/PAT
VPN Gateway
Services proxy
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