Advantages of Layer 2 Ethernet Switches

Explanation

Layer 2 Ethernet switches and hubs both operate at the data link layer of the OSI model and provide connectivity between devices on a network. However, switches offer several advantages over hubs, including:

1. Decreasing the number of collision domains:

When multiple devices are connected to a hub, they all share the same bandwidth, creating a single collision domain. This means that when two devices transmit data at the same time, a collision occurs, and both devices must retransmit their data, causing delays and reducing network efficiency. On the other hand, a switch creates a separate collision domain for each port, which means that collisions are limited to the devices connected to a specific port, reducing network congestion and improving performance.

2. Filtering frames based on MAC addresses:

Ethernet switches are capable of reading the source and destination MAC addresses of each frame that they receive and forwarding them only to the appropriate destination port. This process is known as filtering and helps to reduce network traffic by limiting the number of devices that receive each frame. In contrast, hubs blindly broadcast all frames to all devices on the network, increasing the amount of unnecessary traffic and potentially causing security issues.

Therefore, the correct options are A and B:

A. Decreasing the number of collision domains, and B. Filtering frames based on MAC addresses.