Managed Versus Unmanaged Switches

When selecting the right type of switch to meet your needs, one consideration is whether to use a managed or an unmanaged switch. The key difference is in the amount of control you have over the settings of the switch.

Unmanaged switches are designed to just plug in and run, with no settings to configure. These are fine to use in small networks with only basic needs. Managed switches, however, are fully configurable, are customizable, and provide a range of data on performance. Those attributes make them more suitable for larger networks and networks supporting critical activities.

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What are the differences between managed and unmanaged switches?

Managed switches and unmanaged switches differ in three areas: capabilities, security, and cost.

Capabilities: Unmanaged switches immediately start forwarding traffic once users have plugged them in. They have no features besides what they need to negotiate transfer speeds and to determine each link's duplexing type. Managed switches can offer a huge number of features that can be configured by IT professionals, thus permitting a diverse array of deployment possibilities. These capabilities allow for optimization of network performance and availability.
Security: Network security includes protection from and detection of threats to data and operability. Managed switches provide security settings that can be configured to protect the network and to help identify threats. Unmanaged switches do not offer security capabilities.
Cost: For some users, cost is a significant choice driver. Unmanaged switches are cheap, as well as very simple to run. Managed switches, with all their additional capabilities, cost more than unmanaged switches. They also require more expertise to provision and manage, meaning added costs for staff with the skills to maintain the network

How should I choose between managed and unmanaged switches?

Unmanaged switches are most often seen in very small, uncomplicated networks with only a dozen or so devices connected and without critical requirements for security and availability.

Managed switches, with the flexibility and control they provide, are a must for networks where reliability and security are critical. Typically, such networks power enterprise-level businesses, government agencies, universities, and healthcare organizations.

While managed switches cost more than unmanaged switches, the range of models available mean that there are different levels of complexity and cost for businesses of all sizes.

A third type of switches, called smart managed switches, offers a compromise between cost and features. These switches are suited for small businesses that have limited budgets but need better security protection and want to improve their networks' performance.

Characteristics of switches

Managed switches

Characteristics of managed switches with full control and monitoring include:

Can be deployed in a wider array of topologies such as Spanning Tree Protocol, ring, mesh, stacking, and aggregation. These allow for greater redundancy and reliability.
Ease of managing and troubleshooting large networks, through remote management, software-defined network (SDN) management, access to telemetry data showing traffic flow, and even supplying of electric power to endpoint devices
Many security features to control who is accessing the network, monitor for attacks, and help remediate any breaches that occur
Ability to optimize performance of devices and applications on the network, through quality-of-service (QoS) features that help prioritize traffic and group types of devices that use common services

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Unmanaged switches

Characteristics of unmanaged switches with basic connectivity features at low cost include:

Plug-and-play operation that relies on autonegotiation for settings.
Suitability limited to simple network topologies, such as star and daisy chain.
Ability to create and store MAC-address tables, making traffic management a step better than with use of Ethernet hubs.
No distinction in how the switches treat multicast traffic and broadcast traffic, which can cause severe congestion issues called broadcast storms (a problem especially for industrial IoT devices, which often rely on multicast traffic for device-related commands)

See our unmanaged switches