Lead-in: An airport has a LAN. One office has five computers connected to one switch. The computers are connected using a star topology.
(c)(iii) Describe the role of the switch in the star topology.
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A common misconception was that a switch performed the same role as a server, with candidates incorrectly identifying that the switch stored the data for devices in the network and that the switch provided services to the connected devices.— J277_01_ER_Jun2024.txt lines 210-213
A switch connects the devices together in the star network so they can communicate with each other.
The switch stores the MAC addresses of all the devices connected to it in a table.
When the switch receives a data packet it uses the destination MAC address to direct the data only to the correct device.
A switch is not a server. It does not store user data or provide services. It stores MAC addresses in a lookup table and forwards packets only to the correct device. Don't say "the switch stores data" — say "stores MAC addresses".