Ethernet – Technical Difference Between Collision and Broadcast Domain

broadcastduplexethernetprotocol-theory

Many people new to networking wonder what the technical differences between a broadcast domain and a collision domain are. Specifically:

  • What criteria is used to know the boundaries of a collision domain?
  • Why does an ethernet switch break up a collision domain?
  • Are broadcast domains and collision domains mutually exclusive?

Best Answer

Theory

By convention, a collision domain is a contiguous wired and / or wireless half-duplex segment (typically using CSMA/CD), which is a subset of the subnet or vlan's broadcast domain.

How Ethernet switches control Collision Domains

Ethernet switches control collision domains because they can join half-duplex and full-duplex links within the same broadcast domain; Ethernet switches buffer frames to assist the transition between half-duplex and full-duplex links.

Example:

This shows a strange network which illustrates how collision domains are a contained within a broadcast domain, and how devices form boundaries for each one.

  • Yellow areas are the span of the broadcast domain
  • Grey area are the span of the collision domains
  • Firewalls and routers are assumed in routed mode (i.e. not bridged mode)

Illustration

CollisionDomain vs BroadcastDomain