Computer networking layer-3 switching solution for an IoT app

Posted by Denzel Vieta

Over the last few years, layers-3 switching has become quite popular. Though layer-3 switches are costlier than layer-2 or other traditional switches, layer-3 switches are way more beneficial for large companies.

Layer-3 switches not only solve the problems in large companies and networks but, also make IoT apps perform better. I have recently worked on an IOT project and for that project, we used layer-3 switches.

First of all, let's discuss layer-3 switches.

The layer-3 switches are a step ahead of the layer-2 switches. The smartness of these switches is their biggest advantage. When a company is facing a lot of traffic in their network then considering a layer-3 switch can be the right option. The only disadvantage of choosing a layer-3 switch is that they are complicated to set up and require a lot of time. Along with that, a layer-3 switch is costlier than the traditional switch. You need to be an expert in computer networking to configure this type of switch.

A layer-3 switch is a smart switch. Here with a smart switch, we mean that the switch has the ability to take a decision on its own. Instead of sending requests to all the systems connected to LAN, this switch sends requests to just a few systems that are connected to a specified network.

For example, a company network contains different departments like Sales, purchase, marketing, HR, testing, web development, and mobile app development. A layer-2 switch sends requests to all the networks while a layer-3 switch sends the request to just one network and the systems connected to that network. This switch determines for which network a request is sent with the help of the map. Once determined, it sends a request to just one network. This reduces the traffic on the network and increases speed.

Along with these advantages, with the help of the virtual-routing option one can change the hexadecimal number in the MAC address. With the help of this routing scheme, it is easier to convert hex to numbers easily. Hexadecimal to decimal number converter helps a person to read a MAC address in a better way easily.

Why did we use these switches in an IoT project?

We were developing an IoT project for a car garage. At this garage, there were more than 500 cars parked at any time. Our server used to receive more than 100 requests at the same time. Apart from that, the app was running on the Local area network along with the layer-2 switch. At that time, we assumed that the reason behind this might be the server and the switch were not able to handle these many requests at the same time. So, we insisted on the switches. Once they were replaced, our IoT app was working just fine.

So, this was our experience of working on an IOT app that used a layer-3 switch. If you have also worked on such an app then do share your experience here. It would be great for this community to know more about computer networking in detail.