subject: Switching History [print this page] In the mid 1920's telecommunications began using switches. Before then, the caller had to call the operator who took down the necessary information, then hung up with the caller. She then would continue working to establish the connection to the desired location, then would call the caller back when the connection was complete.
Switching hardware started being used in 1926. This assisted the operator in connecting the call. The caller could now stay on the line as the call completion time dropped to about 2 minutes.
In the 1940's and 50's automated technology improved, and the call completion time was lowered to 10-20 seconds. In the 1970's technology again made great improvements with the digital electronic age. This technology gave more options due to the powerful computing built into the network switches. The call completion time dropped to 1-2 seconds.
Technology kept improving until the call connection time became almost instantaneous due to the improved hardware. In the 1990's Ethernet switches came into use. These devices now drive the networking world, even providing for voice communication (Voice Over IP).
As technology moves forward, devices become more intelligent with each hardware and software release. They are now very sophisticated, highly intelligent, and designed for any network setting. Their intelligence allows them to inspect each packet of information and the destination so that it is quickly sent directly where it is supposed to go.
By operating at the Data Link layer of the OSI model, they can inspect each packet as it crosses the switch interface. This inspection ability alllows network vendors to write code utilizing the information gathered from the packet. These smart devices can prioritize data traffic based on the type of traffic and the route of the traffic.
In the VOIP (Voice Over IP) world, this prioritization is known as QoS (Quality of Service). These smart devices prevent collision domains by limiting collisions to segments instead of entire domains. They can also separate LANs into Virtual LANs (VLANs) which helps keep broadcast domains within bounds.
Technology devices of today have greatly improved over those of a hundred years ago. They have become quite intelligent indeed. They are also fast and reliable as well.
