How do I know if I need a layer 3 switch?

Posted by eekmeter on Server Fault See other posts from Server Fault or by eekmeter
Published on 2010-06-04T00:42:24Z Indexed on 2010/06/05 6:03 UTC
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switch

We currently have a flat network with a bunch of unmanaged switches. I would like to use VLANs to segregate certain users like guests and I would like to use 802.1x. However, I'm not sure if what I need is a layer 3 or a level 2 switch.

From what I understand a layer 3 switch does routing between VLANs. I don't think I need this at the moment but as I said I'm not sure since this is all new to me. What else would a layer 3 switch do for me? Our network is relatively small, less than a 100 users. What exactly does a layer 3 switch do that I can't get with a layer 2 switch? When would I need a layer 3?

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