Switch
1. A piece of a physical circuitry component that governs signal flow. Having the switch open allows the signal to flow through, while keeping the switch closed stops the flow and breaks the circuit connection.
2. On a network, a switch is a hardware device that filters and forwards packets through the network, but often not capable of much more. The first network device that was added to the Internet was a switch called the IMP, which helped send the first message on October 29, 1969. A network switch is more advanced than a hub but not as advanced as a router.
In the picture to the right, is an example of a SMC EZ Switch, a 10/100 network switch.
3. A button or lever that can be switched to turn a device on or off.
4. When referring to the switches command, this command is loaded through config.sys and allows you to add and remove various functions of MS-DOS. See the switches command for further information about this command.
5. When referring to another command, a switch is an available option that can be used with the command. For example, the command: "fdisk" can be used with the /MBR switch, using "FDISK /MBR" would allow the user to recreate the master boot record and not just run the fdisk program.
Also see: Bridge, Electronics definitions, Network definitions, Parameter, Programmer's switch, Router