Overview
A bridge is used to join two separate LAN segments into a single logical network. It filters traffic by MAC address, only forwarding packets that need to cross to the other segment.
Evolution
Modern Switches are essentially multi-port bridges. While a traditional bridge might only have two ports, a switch can have dozens or hundreds.
Use Cases
- Connecting two different physical media (e.g., a wired segment to a wireless segment).
- Reducing congestion by splitting a large collision domain into two smaller ones.