HomeResourcesCyber SecurityCyber Security Tutorial: A Step-by-Step GuideAn Introduction To Circuit Switching And Packet Switching

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Cyber Security Tutorial: A Step-by-Step Guide

Overview

What is Cybersecurity?

Lesson - 1

Cyber Security for Beginners

Lesson - 2

How to Become a Cybersecurity Engineer?

Lesson - 3

What is Ethical Hacking? A Comprehensive Guide [Updated]

Lesson - 4

What is Penetration Testing?: A Step-by-Step Guide

Lesson - 5

What Is SQL Injection: How to Prevent SQL Injection

Lesson - 6

How to Become an Ethical Hacker in 2025?

Lesson - 7

What is a Firewall? A Guide to Network Security and Safety

Lesson - 8

MD5 Hash Algorithm: Understanding Its Role in Cryptography

Lesson - 9

A Definitive Guide to Learn the SHA 256 Algorithm

Lesson - 10

What Is a Ransomware Attack and How Can You Prevent It?

Lesson - 11

5 Best Programming Languages for Hacking in 2025

Lesson - 12

The Most Informative Guide on What Is an IP Address?

Lesson - 13

18 Best Cyber Security Books and Ethical Hacking Books in 2025

Lesson - 14

Types of Cyber Attacks You Should Be Aware of in 2025

Lesson - 15

The Top Computer Hacks of All Time

Lesson - 16

Top 10 Cybersecurity Jobs in 2025: Career and Salary Information

Lesson - 17

Top Cybersecurity Interview Questions and Answers for 2025

Lesson - 18

What Is a Brute Force Attack and How to Protect Our Data Against It?

Lesson - 19

The Top 8 Cybersecurity Skills You Must Have

Lesson - 20

Your Guide to Choose the Best Operating System Between Parrot OS vs. Kali Linux

Lesson - 21

All You Need to Know About Parrot Security OS

Lesson - 22

The Best and Easiest Way to Understand What Is a VPN

Lesson - 23

What Is NMap? A Comprehensive Tutorial for Network Mapping

Lesson - 24

What Is Google Dorking? Your Way to Becoming the Best Google Hacker

Lesson - 25

Cyber Security Roadmap: Career Path | Skills | Salary

Lesson - 26

The Value of Python in Ethical Hacking and a Password Cracking Tutorial

Lesson - 27

The Best Guide to Understand What Is TCP/IP Model?

Lesson - 28

What Are Keyloggers and Its Effect on Our Devices?

Lesson - 29

Best Guide to Understand the Importance of What Is Subnetting

Lesson - 30

Your Guide to What Is 5G and How It Works

Lesson - 31

How to Crack Passwords and Strengthen Your Credentials Against Brute-Force

Lesson - 32

A Look at ‘What Is Metasploitable’, a Hacker’s Playground Based on Ubuntu Virtual Machines

Lesson - 33

One-Stop Guide to Understanding What Is Distance Vector Routing?

Lesson - 34

Best Walkthrough for Understanding the Networking Commands

Lesson - 35

Best Guide to Understanding the Operation of Stop-and-Wait Protocol

Lesson - 36

The Best Guide to Understanding the Working and Importance of Go-Back-N ARQ Protocol

Lesson - 37

What Are Digital Signatures: A Thorough Guide Into Cryptographic Authentication

Lesson - 38

Your One-Stop Guide ‘On How Does the Internet Work?’

Lesson - 39

An Introduction to Circuit Switching and Packet Switching

Lesson - 40

One-Stop Guide to Understanding What Is Network Topology?

Lesson - 41

A Deep Dive Into Cross-Site Scripting and Its Significance

Lesson - 42

The Best Walkthrough on What Is DHCP and Its Working

Lesson - 43

A Complete Look at What a Proxy Is, Along With the Working of the Proxy Server

Lesson - 44

A Detailed Guide to Understanding What Identity and Access Management Is

Lesson - 45

The Best Guide to Understanding the Working and Effects of Sliding Window Protocol

Lesson - 46

The Best Guide That You’ll Ever Need to Understand Typescript and Express

Lesson - 47

Express REST API

Lesson - 48

A Definitive Guide on How to Create a Strong Password

Lesson - 49

Ubuntu vs. Debian: A Look at Beginner Friendly Linux Distribution

Lesson - 50

Your One-Stop Guide to Learn Command Prompt Hacks

Lesson - 51

Understanding IPv4 vs IPv6: Key Features and Differences

Lesson - 52

What Is Kali NetHunter? A Deep Dive Into the Hackbox for Android

Lesson - 53

A Perfect Guide That Explains the Differences Between a Hub and a Switch

Lesson - 54

What Is Network Security? Benefits, Types of Tools To Protect Your Shared Network

Lesson - 55

What Is CIDR? And Its Importance in the Networking Domain

Lesson - 56

A Thorough Guide on Application Security: Benefits, Risks, and Protection Mechanisms

Lesson - 57

One-Stop Solution to Learn About Parity Bit Check

Lesson - 58

What is HDLC and Understand the Functioning of Each Part of an HDLC Frame

Lesson - 59

What Is Dijkstra’s Algorithm and Implementing the Algorithm through a Complex Example

Lesson - 60

What Is Checksum? One-Stop Guide for All You Need to Know About Checksum

Lesson - 61

The Best Guide to Understanding the Working and Implementation of Selective Repeat ARQ

Lesson - 62

One Stop Guide to Understanding Network Layer in the OSI Model

Lesson - 63

The Working and Implementation of Data-Link Layer in the OSI Model

Lesson - 64

An Introduction To Circuit Switching And Packet Switching

Lesson 40 of 64By Anmol Kapoor

Last updated on Oct 12, 202215927
An Introduction to Circuit Switching and Packet Switching

Table of Contents

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When establishing a large network channel over an area for data transmission, you need proper network techniques to design the network hardware. To solve this problem, you must use switching techniques. In this tutorial on ‘Circuit Switching and Packet Switching’, you will understand the two different types of switching models and see the differences between both techniques.

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What Is Network Switching?

In a network channel, numerous network nodes are connected over a large area for data exchange; this exchange of information is possible only because of the application of switching techniques.

What_Is_Network_Switching

The switching techniques determine the best and the shortest route for the data packets to reach the destination node after passing through network devices in the channel.

Next, in the tutorial on ‘Circuit Switching abd Packet Switching’, you will look into circuit switching and packet switching.

Circuit Switching

Circuit switching is designed based on the pre-establishment of a path for the data packet before the data exchange takes place in the network.

Circuit_Switching_Network_Switching

This switching technique is the simplest form of network switching; only when the path is established data transmission is initiated from the sender to the receiver end, as shown in the above model.

Packet Switching

In packet switching, the data or the message is divided into smaller packets. Each packet is fed with proper network information for smooth transmission in the network channel.

Packet_Switching_Network_Switching

This technique provides the data packets with a unique number for identification at the receiver end. Then following the number issued, the packets are reassembled at the receiver node according to the number assigned at the sender node, as shown in the above example.

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Circuit Switching vs. Packet Switching

Store and Transmission

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

No service related to data storage in case of network traffic is applied. 

In packet switching, storing data in case of data traffic is done at each node, and then forwarded to the next node.

Path Establishment

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

It establishes a dedicated path between the nodes before data transmission takes place. 

No pre-destined path is established for data transfer.

Route Followed

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

The route followed by the data is fixed with no flexibility.

Each data packet follows its own path in the network with the flexibility of changing the path mid-route.

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Bandwidth Availability

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

For Circuit switching, bandwidth is fixed because of the involvement of a pre-destined route.

Bandwidth allocation is dynamic because no pre-destined path is established before data exchange.

Reliability

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

It is highly reliable because of the one-way transmission nature of data transmission.

Low reliability because of the virtual router availability and open type network.

Installation Cost

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

The initial cost of setup is low.

High Installation cost due to a large number of network devices required.

Protocols

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

Simple protocols are applied for data delivery.

Complex data protocols are required because of the complex nature of the switching model.

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Path Nature

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

The physical path is required for data exchange, e.g., Telephone cables.

No physical path is needed, the use of a virtual route is applied for data transmission.

Types of Switching

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

Two types of circuit switching:

  • Time Division Switching
  • Space Division Switching

Two types of packet switching:

  • Datagram Circuit Approach
  • Virtual Circuit Approach

Application

Circuit Switching

Packet Switching

It is mostly used for analog data exchange, such as telephone networks.

It is used for data exchange over the internet, with binary format data transmission.

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Conclusion

In this tutorial on ‘Circuit Switching and Packet Switching’, you looked at the way to network switching while also looking into the type and difference between circuit and packet switching by using various points as a reference.

If you want to learn more about the implementation model of the network switching types used for the establishment of the shortest path for data exchange, you can refer to Simplilearn’s Cyber Security Expert course. By the end of this professional course, you will be more efficient in designing the best possible route for the data transfer.

Do you have any questions related to this tutorial on ‘Circuit Switching and Packet Switching’? If yes, feel free to mention them in the comment section at the bottom of this page. Our team will help you solve your queries ASAP.

About the Author

Anmol KapoorAnmol Kapoor

Anmol is a Research Analyst who aims to become a Data Scientist one day. He enjoys Data Management systems and analysis. You will find him reading a book when he is not working.

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