I'm trying to figure out what makes a "top brand" switch better than a "cheap unknown brand" one with the same features.
I often see security thrown in the mix, but really can't understand how this is relevant, so I'm trying to figure out if it is.
The way I see it, most (all?) L2 switches just get some data that they have to pass to specific devices, no L3 stuff, no look up, just Alice has MAC X and is on port Y, I need to pass Z from port W to Y.
Now, besides CAM overflow and web interface exploits (I'm leaving VLAN hopping and other similar exploits out because they won't hack the switch itself) What could possibly go wrong? It looks like the Linux kernel used in most switches is ancient, but apparently, it doesn't get exposed to anything as it only runs the web UI/shell (the ASIC does everything?).
Am I missing something here?