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Networking Devices

Network devices allow hardware on a computer network to communicate. Examples include repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, routers, and network interface cards. Repeaters regenerate weak signals to extend their range over the same network. Hubs connect multiple devices but do not filter or route data packets intelligently. Bridges operate at the data link layer, reading MAC addresses to filter packets between interconnected LANs. Switches are multiport bridges that can selectively forward packets to specific ports for improved efficiency. Routers connect LANs and WANs, using dynamically updating routing tables to direct packets based on IP addresses.

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Udaypratapsingh Rajput
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40 views

Networking Devices

Network devices allow hardware on a computer network to communicate. Examples include repeaters, hubs, bridges, switches, routers, and network interface cards. Repeaters regenerate weak signals to extend their range over the same network. Hubs connect multiple devices but do not filter or route data packets intelligently. Bridges operate at the data link layer, reading MAC addresses to filter packets between interconnected LANs. Switches are multiport bridges that can selectively forward packets to specific ports for improved efficiency. Routers connect LANs and WANs, using dynamically updating routing tables to direct packets based on IP addresses.

Uploaded by

Udaypratapsingh Rajput
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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NETWORKING DEVICES

Network Devices: Network devices, also known as networking hardware, are physical devices
that allow hardware on a computer network to communicate and interact with one another. For
example Repeater, Hub, Bridge, Switch, Routers, Gateway, Brouter, and NIC, etc.

1. Repeater – A repeater operates at the physical layer. Its job is to regenerate the signal over
the same network before the signal becomes too weak or corrupted to extend the length to
which the signal can be transmitted over the same network. An important point to be noted
about repeaters is that they not only amplify the signal but also regenerate it. When the signal
becomes weak, they copy it bit by bit and regenerate it at its star topology connectors
connecting following the original strength. It is a 2-port device.

Figure 1: Repeater
2. Hub –  A hub is a basically multi-port repeater. A hub connects multiple wires coming from
different branches, for example, the connector in star topology which connects different
stations. Hubs cannot filter data, so data packets are sent to all connected devices.  In other
words, the collision domain of all hosts connected through Hub remains one.  Also, they do not
have the intelligence to find out the best path for data packets which leads to inefficiencies and
wastage. 

 Types of Hub :
 
 Active Hub: These are the hubs that have their power supply and can clean, boost, and
relay the signal along with the network. It serves both as a repeater as well as a wiring
center. These are used to extend the maximum distance between nodes.
 Passive Hub: These are the hubs that collect wiring from nodes and power supply from
the active hub. These hubs relay signals onto the network without cleaning and boosting
them and can’t be used to extend the distance between nodes.
 Intelligent Hub: It works like an active hub and includes remote management
capabilities. They also provide flexible data rates to network devices. It also enables an
administrator to monitor the traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port
in the hub.
Figure 2: Hub and its working

3. Bridge – A bridge operates at the data link layer. A bridge is a repeater, with add on the
functionality of filtering content by reading the MAC addresses of the source and destination.
It is also used for interconnecting two LANs working on the same protocol. It has a single
input and single output port, thus making it a 2 port device.

 Types of Bridges :

 Transparent Bridges: These are the bridge in which the stations are completely
unaware of the bridge’s existence i.e. whether or not a bridge is added or deleted from
the network, reconfiguration of the stations is unnecessary. These bridges make use of
two processes i.e. bridge forwarding and bridge learning.
 Source Routing Bridges: In these bridges, routing operation is performed by the source
station and the frame specifies which route to follow. The host can discover the frame
by sending a special frame called the discovery frame, which spreads through the entire
network using all possible paths to the destination.

Figure 3: Bridge & its working


4. Switch – A switch is a multiport bridge with a buffer and a design that can boost its
efficiency (a large number of ports imply less traffic) and performance. A switch is a data link
layer device. The switch can perform error checking before forwarding data, which makes it
very efficient as it does not forward packets that have errors and forward good packets
selectively to the correct port only.  In other words, the switch divides the collision domain of
hosts, but the broadcast domain remains the same. 

Figure 4: Switch and its working

5. Routers – A router is a device like a switch that routes data packets based on their IP
addresses. The router is mainly a Network Layer device. Routers normally connect LANs and
WANs and have a dynamically updating routing table based on which they make decisions on
routing the data packets. The router divides the broadcast domains of hosts connected through
it.

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