A switch may refer to any of the following:

  1. A switch is a piece of a physical circuitry component that governs the signal flow. Having a switch or toggle switch allows a connection to be opened or closed. When opened, the switch allows a signal or power to flow through the connection. When closed, the switch stops the flow and breaks the circuit connection. Early computers, like the Altair, use switches as a form of input for the computer.

  2. On a network, a switch is a hardware device that filters and forwards network packets, but is often not capable of more. A network switch is more advanced than a hub, but not as advanced as a router. The picture shows an example of a NETGEAR 5 port switch.

The first network device that was added to the Internet was a switch, called the IMP that helped send the first message on October 29, 1969.

  1. A switch is also a button or lever that can be switched to turn a device on or off.
  • Differences between a network hub, switch, and router.
  • Network and network card help and support.

  1. With a computer keyboard, a switch is what is beneath each key, which gives the key a response when pressed. For example, a scissor-switch is a type of switch used with laptop computers. The picture is an example of a scissor switch and how the key is compressed when pressed.

  2. When referring to a command, a command 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.

  3. When referring to the switches command, this command is loaded through config.sys and lets you add and remove various functions of MS-DOS. See the switches command page for further information about this command.

If you want to see all available switches for a command, search for the command on our site. Each of our command pages have a full listing of all available switches, with an explanation of each switch.

A command switch should not be confused with a command parameter.

5ESS switch, Argument, Bridge, Connection, Electronics terms, Hardware terms, Network terms, Parameter, Programmer’s switch, Router, Toggle