industrial ethernet switch

If you can’t answer this question, it’s definitely because you don’t understand switches.

Generally, when using network cables, the network quality does not exceed 100 meters.

To ensure stable network quality, it is necessary to stabilize the network transmission speed. Therefore, to achieve an infinite network extension, using switches as “amplifiers” and “stabilizers” is essential and a correct choice.

But this question, I want to discuss with you is not just that superficial. It’s been a long time since we last discussed technical issues, so let’s dive in and chat a bit.

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01 Before Discussing This Issue, Let’s Talk About Switches

Like the traffic hubs in a city, switches are mainly responsible for quickly and accurately transmitting information in a network.

Their most basic function is to efficiently forward data between multiple devices.

Imagine the path you take every day to class. You start from your dormitory, possibly passing by the library and cafeteria, and finally reaching the classroom.

This is similar to the process of data packets being transmitted in a network, and the switch is the “driver” guiding you to reach your destination more efficiently.

Suppose your school is hosting an online speech contest, and all participants need to transmit videos to the judges via the network.

In this case, switches play a crucial role.

They ensure that each participant’s video stream can be quickly and accurately transmitted to the judges’ computers and prevent the entire network from being blocked due to a participant uploading a large video.

This requires switches to have efficient data processing capabilities and good network management capabilities.

Therefore, switches are not just simple forwarding devices; they also carry the heavy responsibility of network management, ensuring efficient use and secure, stable operation of network resources.

Of course, on a technical level, switches involve a lot of technologies.

Each device on the network has an identity, right?

The MAC address can be seen as the device’s ID number, while the IP address is more like the home address.

Switches learn these addresses to ensure the correct forwarding of data.

Link aggregation technology can be used to combine multiple physical links into one logical link to increase bandwidth and improve reliability.

For example, by using the Ethernet aggregation protocol EtherChannel, multiple physical links can be bound into one logical link, providing higher bandwidth and redundancy.

There are also technologies such as redundancy, stacking, hot backup, VLAN and STP, port aggregation, SNMP, etc., working together to ensure the efficient, stable, and secure operation of the network.

Having a general understanding of switches, let’s return to the article’s title.

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02 Can an Infinite Number of Switches Be Chained to Extend Network Cables Indefinitely?

Let’s break down the problem and discuss it one by one.

First, let’s talk about the transmission limitations of network cables.

Ethernet standards specify the maximum transmission distances for different types of network cables (such as Cat5e, Cat6, etc.), usually within 100 meters.

This limitation is mainly determined by signal attenuation and noise interference. As the transmission distance increases, the signal gradually attenuates.

After a certain distance, the signal may become too weak for the receiving device to correctly identify, leading to data loss or errors.

When considering long-distance network transmission, various network standards and protocols must also be considered.

The IEEE 802.3 standard series defines various forms of Ethernet, including transmission rates, cable types, and device compatibility.

These standards ensure interoperability between different devices and transmission media but also set specific technical limitations, such as transmission distance.

In addition, electromagnetic interference is also a problem.

As the network cable extends, the external electromagnetic interference it receives also increases, which affects the integrity of the signal.

Therefore, although in theory, extending network cables by adding switches seems like a feasible solution, in practical applications, this method is limited by various factors.

Now, let’s talk about switches.

In the first point of the article, I spent a lot of time explaining switches. You should know that switches primarily connect multiple devices in a network and efficiently manage network traffic.

They read the header information of data packets to determine the target address and then forward the data packets to the correct port.

In the context of extending network distance, switches primarily act as signal amplifiers and repeaters.

However, while switches amplify signals, they also introduce certain delays.

This is because switches need time to process each data packet passing through them.

Moreover, each time the signal is amplified and forwarded, there is a small error rate, determined by the physical characteristics of electronic devices.

Therefore, as the number of switches increases, these delays and errors accumulate, eventually affecting the stability and reliability of data transmission, leading to a significant reduction in network response speed.

In real network design, it is usually avoided to simply chain a large number of switches.

Doing so not only increases failure points but also reduces network redundancy and reliability.

For example, if any switch in the chain fails, the entire link will be interrupted, causing network segmentation.

According to this purely theoretical calculation, after 1000 switches, the speed is reduced to only 36%. How can it be infinite?

In theory, it seems that as long as we continuously chain more switches, we can extend the transmission distance of network cables indefinitely.

However, in practical operations, this is really not feasible.

To be honest, if you want to achieve this, you don’t need to consider switches… Look, optical fibers are becoming cheaper, and SFP optical modules combined with SFP port switches can achieve optical fiber networking. Many routers now have SFP interfaces, and directly plugging in SFP optical modules can also achieve optical fiber networking.

Long-distance transmission should first consider optical fiber transmission.

If your neighboring company needs to design a new office network that needs to connect 100 workstations and multiple servers.

To simplify the layout, the newbie Xiao Yang suggested chaining multiple switches to provide network connections for each workstation.

He planned to use 20 switches, each connecting 5 workstations, and chaining these switches sequentially.

At this time, the seasoned veteran Lao Yang rolled his eyes in disdain, thinking, “The rookie still needs more polishing.”

Xiao Yang’s idea is beautiful, but if any switch fails, all workstations connected through that switch will lose network connectivity.

Since the switches are chained, the impact of the failure will be passed along the chain, affecting more devices…

This clearly does not conform to the stability principle or the blame-shifting principle. If something goes wrong, it’s a direct punch to Xiao Yang.

Lao Yang thinks it’s better to design using a dual star or mesh topology, although more complex, it’s more stable. If one link fails, it doesn’t affect the overall situation.

Then, adhering to the principle of not causing trouble, he quietly told Xiao Yang, who was grateful and changed the plan…

Lao Yang smiled silently, saying nothing, hiding his merit and fame.

As Xiao Yang was dragged into the office by the boss to furiously revise the plan, he silently shed tears.

We’re just saying, today’s overtime is inevitable.