An asymmetric LAN switch provides
switched connections between ports of unlike bandwidth, such as a
combination of 10 Mbps and 100 Mbps ports. This type of switching is
also called 10/100 switching.
Asymmetric switching is optimized for
client-server network traffic flows where multiple clients are
simultaneously communicating with a server, requiring more bandwidth
dedicated to the switch port that the server is connected to in order
to prevent a bottleneck at that port.
Memory buffering in an asymmetric
switch is required to allow traffic from the 100 Mbps port to be sent
to a 10 Mbps port without causing too much congestion at the 10 Mbps
port.
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