Switching

Context Switching

Understand what happens when the CPU switches between processes and why it is pure overhead.

MAC Addressing and Switching

How 48-bit MAC addresses identify devices and how switches learn and use them to forward frames.

Creating and Switching Branches

Master the day-to-day commands for creating, switching, listing, and deleting branches, including the modern git switch/git restore split from git checkout.

What is a MAC Address?

A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a 48-bit hardware identifier burned into a network interface card by its manufacturer, used to identify a device unique…

What is the Data Link Layer (OSI Layer 2)?

The Data Link layer is OSI Layer 2 — it packages raw bits from the Physical layer into structured frames, adds MAC addresses for local delivery, and detects (t…

VLAN Trunking Explained

A VLAN trunk is a single physical link between two switches (or a switch and a router) that carries tagged traffic for multiple VLANs simultaneously, using 802…

What is STP (Spanning Tree Protocol)?

Spanning Tree Protocol is a Layer 2 protocol that prevents bridging loops in a switched network with redundant physical links by logically blocking enough port…

What is a VLAN?

A VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network) is a logical grouping of switch ports into a separate broadcast domain, letting devices on different physical switches (or…

What is Link Aggregation?

Link aggregation combines multiple physical network links between two devices into a single logical link, increasing available bandwidth and providing redundan…

What is Ethernet?

Ethernet is the family of wired networking standards (IEEE 802.3) that defines how devices on a local area network physically connect and frame data at the Phy…

What is a Network Bridge?

A network bridge is a Layer 2 device that connects two or more network segments and selectively forwards Ethernet frames between them based on learned MAC addr…

What is a Network Hub?

A network hub is a basic Layer 1 device that connects multiple Ethernet devices into a single network segment by electrically repeating every incoming signal o…

What is EtherChannel?

EtherChannel is a link-aggregation technology that bundles multiple physical Ethernet links between two switches (or a switch and a server) into a single logic…

What are Jumbo Frames?

Jumbo frames are Ethernet frames carrying a payload larger than the standard 1500-byte MTU — typically up to 9000 bytes — used to reduce per-packet overhead an…