a switch and a process of operating a switch are described where a received data frame is stored into memory in a systematic way . in other words , a location is selected in the memory to store the received data frame using a non - random method . by storing the received data frame in this way , switches that employ this system and method increase bandwidth by avoiding delays incurred in randomly guessing at vacant spaces in the memory . the received data frame is stored until a port that is to transmit the received data frame is available . throughput is further improved by allowing the received data frames to be stored in either contiguous or non - contiguous memory locations .