When do you pick circuit, packet/datagram or virtual circuit for a new network?
Per Wikipedia: “Comparison hinges on setup cost, resource sharing, ordering, robustness and flexibility across traffic types.”
Circuit is private road, datagram is public road per car, virtual circuit is toll lane reservation.
- List setup cost and delay
- Compare sharing and utilization
- Compare ordering guarantees
- Check robustness to failures
- Pick based on traffic — voice vs bursty data
- Circuit good for steady voice
- Datagram good for bursty internet
- Virtual circuit good for ATM/MPLS
- No single best for all
| Circuit | Datagram | VC |- Built from: Circuit Switching — one side
- Built from: Packet Switching — another
- Built from: Virtual Circuit Network — third
- Builds into: Broadcast Links — links affect switching
- Claiming one always best
- Ignoring signaling overhead