Hello Eliepatientn
If you have a network of multiple switches, and you have two devices each connected to a different switch on such a network, how does the network decide what path should be taken if there are multiple paths. If I understand correctly, that’s the question you’re asking right?
Well, this depends upon several things. If the two devices are on the same VLAN, then we are talking about Layer 2 connectivity. In such a case, there is only a single path that can be taken. This path is determined by the Spanning Tree Protocol or STP. STP is designed to automatically block certain paths, and unblock others on a network of switches such that there is only one path. This is done to eliminate the possibility of layer 2 loops. You can however adjust various parameters so that the path chosen is different than it would be by default. You can find out more about STP at this introductory lesson, and in many subsequent lessons about the protocol:
Now if the two devices are not on the same VLAN, then we must get routing involved, which is at layer 3. Routing is the process by which layer 3 devices (such as routers and layer 3 switches) decide on how to forward particular packets that arrive at their interfaces, based on the destination IP address in the header of the IP packet. Routing can be statically or dynamically configured, and how you would do this can be seen in detail in the series of lessons pertaining to routing, found in the CCNA 200-301 course below:
I hope this has been helpful!
Laz