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cmkpl
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Why is the connection between KVM hosts in RouterOS called bridge but not switch?

Fri May 08, 2015 12:50 pm

Why is the connection between KVM hosts in RouterOS called bridge but not switch? I doubt whether there is special meaning.
 
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ZeroByte
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Re: Why is the connection between KVM hosts in RouterOS called bridge but not switch?

Fri May 08, 2015 3:52 pm

"switch" means that the routerboard has a hardware switch chip for wire speed forwarding at layer 2.
"bridge" is the CPU-based bridging of frames at layer 2, and it will probably not come anywhere near wire speed unless you have a very powerful host running RouterOS.

Since the KVM host is virtual, it has no hardware for switching ethernet frames, so it is only able to use CPU bridging.

This is the difference and it is indeed a very important "special" meaning.
 
cmkpl
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Re: Why is the connection between KVM hosts in RouterOS called bridge but not switch?

Fri May 08, 2015 4:38 pm

Thanks! See the difference

Is it possible for those KVM routers to direct connect with each other without using bridge?
 
barkas
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Why is the connection between KVM hosts in RouterOS called bridge but not switch?

Fri May 08, 2015 10:52 pm

No.

switch is a name that has come into use for a multiport bridge that is quick and realized in hardware. Meaning, the older name bridge fits better in this case.

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