Josh Gahan

There are three methods, by which a switch will use to process incoming frames

1. store-and-forward (default)
2. cut through
3. fragment free

Store and forward:

The entire frame is stored and then forwarded, the switch will read the FCS before forwarding to check for errors, this is the best method for error detection

Cut through:

only the mac addresse are read, then begins forwarding before checking the FCS, this method is the fastest but there is no error detection whilst using this method

Fragment free:

Reads the first 64bytes for errors, if none are found it begins forwarding the frame.