The traditional type of
Ethernet, in which all hosts are connected to the same
bus and compete with one another for
bandwidth. In contrast, a
switched Ethernet has one or more direct, point-to-point connections between hosts or
segments. Devices connected to the Ethernet with a
switch do not compete with each other and therefore have dedicated bandwidth.
Also see the Ethernet Designations chart in the Quick Reference section of Webopedia.
