A small business has recently expanded its operations, adding several new employees and doubling its workspace. The network administrator has been tasked to ensure that all desktop computers have network connectivity. Given that the company wants to minimize costs and the building is already pre-wired with Ethernet cabling, which device should the administrator primarily consider installing to connect all the devices on the network?
Switches are the appropriate choice for connecting multiple devices on a network, as they provide multiple ports to facilitate wired connections. They operate on the data link layer (Layer 2) and can efficiently manage the traffic between the devices, forwarding data only to the intended recipient, hence reducing network congestion. \n\nSwitches come in managed and unmanaged versions. Managed switches offer more control with features like VLAN support, network traffic monitoring, and the ability to configure port settings, while unmanaged switches are simpler plug-and-play devices without these features. Since the business's priority is to minimize costs and because the new employees merely need network connectivity without advanced network management features, an unmanaged switch might suffice for their needs.
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What is the difference between a managed switch and an unmanaged switch?
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What are VLANs and how can a managed switch help with them?