Two conceptual questions regarding switching - Need Help

Hello everyone,

I have two basic networking questions regarding switching.

The first one..

1. Why does bursty data leads to poor utilization in a circuit-switched network?

(I know we use packet-switching for bursty data transmission, but in case if it is used in a circuit-switched environment, why would it cause poor utilization of the network connection?)


And the second one...

2. Let us assume that the routing tables in an IP administrative domain remain unchanged for a long time. In this case, the path between any two computers, say A and B, within the same domain
will not change. Therefore, all of the packets sent from A to B will follow the same path. Can we say that during that time, the IP network behaves like a connection-oriented packet-switching
network? Why?

I am really confuzzled about this one, my answer is YES and NO)

(My answer to this question is NO, it will act as a circuit-switched network, because the routing tables do not change, hence the path is virtually a circuit-switched path dedicated between the two computers A and B.

My answer is YES, because, even though the routing tables have not changed, the individual packets still do not follow only on a single dedicated route, they still take different routes to reach the destination. Therefore, the connection is still a connection-oriented packet-switched network.)

The query was solved. If anyone wants to know the answers, please atleast reply to this post, so that I know I'm not talking to myself.

Reply - I am listening.

1. Bursty data transmission consists of alternating active and inactive periods: during active periods, data is transmitted at a high rate, while during inactive periods, there is practically no data transfer. Circuit switching involves setting up a connection before the transfer and tearing it down when there is no more data to be transmitted. For a bursty connection, the circuit still has to be active during inactive periods, since we might still be expecting further bursts. During these times, the bandwidth is wasted. Therefore, bursty data leads to poor utilization in a circuit-switched network.




2. The IP network does not behave as a connection-oriented network. Connection-oriented networks do not necessarily guarantee service quality. Conversely, in theory, even a connectionless network could guarantee delivery for individual packets. The difference is that connection-oriented networks maintain a network state associated with the connection (a.k.a. virtual circuit), which has to be set up before the transfer and then the tear down afterwards.

1) Makes sense.

2) That's what I was thinking - there still isn't a connection created before the transmission of data.


Thanks for sharing.