MikroTik’s SwitchOS is an operating system specifically designed for their line of network switches. It provides advanced features for managing and configuring network switches efficiently. If you need a managed layer 2 switch to separate your data traffic from your VOIP traffic and power your IP phones but you are tight on a budget, then you need a Mikrotik SwitchOS device. Some key features of MikroTik SwitchOS include VLAN support, layer2 functionalities like mac-address filtering, port isolation, link aggregation with LACP, and spanning-tree. You could also achieve a basic-level security by using the ACL feature for frame filter.
If you have been a Mikrotik user long enough, you would know that the Mikrotik SwitchOS configuration process is different from the routerOS configuration process. Firstly, the GUI of any Mikrotik device powered exclusively on the Mikrotik SwitchOS can only be accessed via a web browser and not the Mikrotik Wibox. It is also worthy of mention that Mikrotik SwitchOS devices lack the capability to handle advance layer3 functionality. If your requirements for a switch includes routing, firewall, vpn, etc, then what you need is a Mikrotik Layer3 switch that is powered by the Miktotik RouterOS.
One great thing about Mikrotik switches that I often consider an advantage over other OEM switches is their affordability. Imagine getting a switch with twenty-four 1gigabit per second speed ports and two 10gigabit per second speed (SFP+) ports for less than $160! Mikrotik SwitchOS devices are ideal for small ISPs that want to backhaul their services from one point of presence (POP) to another and datacenter operators looking to aggregate multiple links to provide adequate bandwidth to connected servers.
You may also like: Mikrotik switch Vlan configuration in routerOS step by step
Mikrotik SwitchOS configuration
With a few tabs to go through, the configuration if any Mikrotik SwitchOS device has been greatly simplified by Mikrotik. Most of your configurations would be done in the vlan and vlans sub-menus. Mikrotik was intentional about the simplification of the vlan creation and filter processes. Kindly see the video blow, posted on my YouTube channel, for guide.
If you find this video interesting, please feel free to like, share, comment, subscribe to my YouTube channel, and ring the notification bell to get notified when new videos drop. Also, like my Facebook page and follow me on Twitter.
Here is a link to the Mikrotik’s official documentation page on the features and possibilities of the Mikrotik SwitchOS: SwOS – MikroTik Wiki
thanks