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There are three major types of networks—circuit switched, message switched, and packet switched.
Circuit switched networks establish a physical connection from one point to another and keep it connected for the duration of the communication. Telephone networks are circuit switched. When you dial a number a circuit is opened so that the phone at the other end can ring. It stays open until the phone is hung up. The circuit usually has to connect multiple nodes together. Nodes can be computers, switches, routers and so on. The diagram illustrates this concept. The red line represents the circuit from the source to the destination.
Figure Connections all on for Circuit Switched Network
Message switched networks have no fixed connection. Instead they send the message with destination information embedded. The connection only needs to be from one point of the network to another, with the message being relayed to the next point until it reaches its destination. Each point, or node, on the path needs to be able to store and forward the entire message. In the diagram below, note the red segment, representing the connection, jumps from node to node until it reaches its destination.
Figure Message Switched Network. The whole message is transmitted from node to node until it reaches its destination.
Packet switched networks are message switched networks that split the information in fixed sizes of data called packets. Packets have information about the destination, and about how the packets need to be reassembled when they reach the destination. The internet is a packet switched network.
For Additional information
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