Router on a stick VS Layer 3 routing

[Aloffawy]

So i have been thinking, which is preferable supposing all required hardware are available for both. Configuring router on a stick or configuring inter vlan routing on a layer 3 switch.

[Jon Marshall · Accepted solution]

L3 switch is generally a better approach for all but the smallest business. 

The reason is with router on a stick all vlans share the bandwidth of the physical interface whereas with a L3 switch you get the full switching capacity. 

Obviously L3 switches do not have the full feature support of routers. 

Jon

[Aloffawy]

Thanks for the quick reply Jon.

[Joseph W. Doherty]

Just to add to what Jon has noted, there's often a huge performance difference between a L3 switch and a software based router, especially for the price. For example, a high-performance 4451 can router up to 2 Gbps, while multi gig port L3 switches can do wire speed for all their gig ports.