Circuit Switching and Packet Switching

Switching in Computer Networks-

The process of moving the data packets towards their destination by forwarding them from one port to the other port is called as switching.

Various switching techniques are-

In this article, we will perform a comparison between circuit switching and packet switching.

The following table compares circuit switching and packet switching techniques-

Circuit Switching	Packet Switching
Circuit Switching	Virtual Circuit Switching	Datagram Switching
Connection oriented service	Connection oriented service	Connection less service
Ensures in order delivery	Ensures in order delivery	Packets may be delivered out of order
No reordering is required	No reordering is required	Reordering is required
A dedicated path exists for data transfer	A dedicated path exists for data transfer	No dedicated path exists for data transfer
All the packets take the same path	All the packets take the same path	All the packets may not take the same path
Resources are allocated before data transfer	Resources are allocated on demand using 1st packet	No resources are allocated
Stream oriented	Packet oriented	Packet oriented
Fixed bandwidth	Dynamic Bandwidth	Dynamic bandwidth
Reliable	Reliable	Unreliable
No header overheads	Only label overheads	Higher overheads
Implemented at physical layer	Implemented at data link layer	Implemented at network layer
Inefficient in terms of resource utilization	Provides better efficiency than circuit switched systems	Provides better efficiency than message switched systems
Example- Telephone systems	Examples- X.25, Frame relay	Example- Internet

To gain better understanding about Circuit Switching Vs Packet Switching,

Next Article- Distance Vector Routing | Routing Algorithms

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