Connecting Interconnecting Devices

Download as docx, pdf, or txt
Download as docx, pdf, or txt
You are on page 1of 10

CHAPTER FIVE

CONECTING DEVICES

Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter the learner shall be able to;

i. Explain the different devices used in constructing a computer


network ii. Explain the different networking devices such as
the Hub, switch etc.
iii. Explain the different internetworking devices such as the Router, Bridge etc.

1.1 Introduction to Networking devices


Networking means connecting two or more devices for the purpose of
sharing data and resources. Setting a small network is fairly simple task but
once the network start to grow and become a local area network it may
need to cover more distance than its media can handle effectively. Or the
number of station may be too great for efficient communication or
management of the network, and the network may need to e subdivided.

When two or more separate networks are connected for exchanging data or
resources, they become an internetwork (or internet). The devices required
to link number of LANs into an Internet are known as internetworking
devices.

There is several ways that you can expand network capability such as:

 Physically expending to support additional computers

 Segmenting to filter network traffic

 Extending to connect separate LANs

 Connecting two separate computing environments


There are many devices available to accomplish these tasks. Following
diagram will help to understand different types of connective devices.

Figure 4.1 Networking & Internetworking Devices


Connecting Devices

Networking Devices Internetworking Devices

Hub Bridge Switch Router Gateway

Repeater

1.2 Networking Devices


Expansion within a single network, called network connectivity. And to
expand a single network the following networking devices can be used.

 Hub

 Switch

 Repeaters

 Bridges

Hub

A hub is a device for connecting multiple twisted pair or fiber optic Ethernet
devices together and making them act as a single network segment. Hubs
work at the physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI model. The device is a form of
multiport repeater.
A hub is a fairly unsophisticated broadcast device. Hubs do not manage any
of the traffic that comes through them, and any packet entering any port is
regenerated and broadcast out on all other ports. Since every packet is
being sent out through all other ports, packet collisions result—which
greatly impedes the smooth flow of traffic.

Switch

In a telecommunications network, a switch is a device that channels


incoming data from any of multiple input ports to the specific output port
that will take the data toward its intended destination. In the traditional
circuit-switched telephone network, one or more switches are used to set up
a dedicated though temporary connection or circuit for an exchange
between two or more parties. On an Ethernet local area network (LAN), a
switch determines from the physical device (Media Access Control or MAC)
address in each incoming message frame which output port to forward it to
and out of. In a wide area packet-switched network such as the Internet, a
switch determines from the IP address in each packet which output port to
use for the next part of its trip to the intended destination.

In the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communications model, a switch


performs the Layer 2 or Data-link layer function. That is, it simply looks at
each packet or data unit and determines from a physical address (the "MAC
address") which device a data unit is intended for and switches it out
toward that device.

Repeater

Because of the electrical and mechanical limitations of any wiring system a


network has physical limitations. Such as :

Attenuation: Loss of signal strength as the signal travels along a medium.

Segment length: longest successful data transmission through a


continuous single cable.
Node capacity per segment: number of nodes can be connected on a media
Signal that carry information within a network can travel a fixed distance
before attenuation or other interference from noise endangers the integrity
of the data. A repeater installed on a link receive the signal before it
becomes too week or corrupted, regenerates the original bit pattern, and
puts the refreshed signals back onto the link. A repeater allows is to extend
only physical length of the network.

Repeaters operate at the physical layers of the OSI model and have no
concern for the type of data being transmitted, the packet address, or the
protocol being used. They are unintelligent electronic device unable to
perform any filtering or translation on the actual data.

Repeater

Incoming weak signals Regenerated signals

Repeaters retransmit the data at the same speed as the network. However
there is a slight delay as the repeater regenerate the signal. If there are a
number of repeaters in a row, a significant propagation delay can be crated.
Therefore, many network architectures limits the number of repeaters on
the network.

The location of a repeater on a link is vital. A repeater must be placed so


that a signal reaches it before any noise changes the meaning of any of its
bits. A little noise can alter the precision of a bit‘s voltage without
destroying its identity. If the corrupted bit travels much farther, however,
accumulated noise can change its meaning completely. At that point the
original voltage become unrecoverable and the error can be corrected only
by retransmission.
Strengths and Limitations of Repeaters

 Strength:
• Allows easy expansion of the network over large distance.
• Has very little impact on the speed of the network.
• Allows connection between different media.

 Limitations:

• Provide no addressing information.


• Can not connect two different architectures.
• Does not help ease congestion problem.
• The number of repeaters in a network is limited.

Bridge
Bridges operate in both the physical and data link layer of OSI model. Like
repeaters, bridges also can be used to connect two network segments and
can connect dissimilar physical media. However, bridges can also limit the
traffic on each segment and eliminate bottlenecks.

How Does Bridge Works?

A bridge‘s primary function is to filter traffic between network segments. As


a packet is received from a network segment, the bridge looks at the
physical destination address of the packet before forwarding the packet on
to other segments. If the packet‘s destination is on another network
segment, the bridge retransmits the packet. However, if the destination is
on the same network segment, on which the packet was received, the
bridge assumes the packet has already reached its destination and the
packet is discarded. As a result, network traffic is greatly reduced.

Bridges work at the data link layer of the OSI model. At this layer the
hardware address, both source and destination, is added to the packet.
Because bridges function at this layer, they have access to this address
information. Each computer in the network is given a unique address.
Bridges analyze these address to determine whether or not to forward a
packet.

A C
C to K

C to K

L AN1 Bridge

C to K C to K

LAN2

In above figure, the packet generated by computer C is intended for


computer K. The bridge allows the packet to cross and relay it to the entire
lower segment where it is received by computer K. IF a packet is destined
on a same segment (for example from computer A to computer F) the
bridge will block the packet from crossing into lower segment to reduce the
traffic.

Strengths and Limitations of


Bridges  Strength:
• Easy to extend network distances
• Can filter traffic to ease congestion
• Can connect network with different media
• Translation bridges can connect different network architectures
 Limitation:
• Slower than repeaters
• More expensive than repeaters
• Cannot handle multiple paths
1.3 Internetworking Devices
Expansion that involves and joins two separate networks called
internetworking connectivity. Following devices can be used for
internetworking.

 Routers
 Brouters
 Gateways
 Switches
Router

Routers are combination of hardware and software and used to connect


separate networks to form an internetwork. Router can be used like bridges
to connect multiple network segments and filter traffic. Also, unlike bridges,
routers can be used to connect two or more independent networks.

Routers can connect complex networks with multiple paths between


network segments. Each network segment, also called a subnetwork, is
assigned a network address. Each node on a subset is assigned an address
as well. Using a combination of the network and node address, the router
can route a packet from the source to a destination address somewhere
else on the network.

Router has access to first three layers(physical, data link, and network) but
works in the network layer. To successfully route a packet through the
internetwork, a router must determine packet‘s path. When the router
receives a packet, it analyzes the packet‘s destination network address and
look up that address in its routing table. The router than repackages the
data ad sends it to the next router in the path.

Because operate at the higher layers of the OSI model than bridges do,
routers can easily send information over different network architectures. For
example, a packet received from a token ring network can be sent over an
Ethernet network. The router removes the token ring frame, examines the
packet to determine the network address, repackages the data into
Ethernet frames, and sends the data out onto the Ethernet networks.

With this kind of translation, however, network speed is affected. As an


example, Ethernet frames have a maximum data frame size of
approximately 1,500 bytes, whereas token ring frames range in size from
4,000 to 18,000 bytes. So, for a single token ring frame of maximum size
(18,000 bytes), 12 Ethernet frames must be created.
Although routers are very fast, this type of translation does affect the
network‘s speed.

Unlike bridges routers have ability to select the best path that is faster and
economical. When a router receives a packet whose destination address is
unknown, it simply discards the packet but if the same packet received by a
bridge the bridge will forward it to all connected network segments

Routing Table

Routing has a routing table that contains network addresses and the
address of the routers that handle those networks. Following table shows a
sample routing table for router A. it includes the next hop (i.e., where
transmission will go next) and cost (i.e., number of hops the packet must
take).

1. Static Routing

If router uses static routing, the routing table must be updated manually
by the administrator. Each individual route must be added manually. The
router will always use the same path to a destination, even if it is not
necessarily the shortest or most efficient route.

2. Dynamic Routing

Dynamic routers communicate with each other and are constantly


receiving and are constantly receiving updated routing tables from other
routers. If multiple routes are available to a particular network, the
router will decide which route is best and enter that route into its routing
table.

Strengths and Limitations of


Routers  Strength:

• Can connect networks of different physical media and network


architectures
• Can choose the best path for a packet through an internetwork
• reduces network traffic by not forwarding corrupt packets 
Limitation:
• More expensive a more complex than bridges or repeaters.
• Slower than bridge because they perform more complex
calculations on the packet
• Only work with routable protocols (TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, DECnet, OSI,
XNS).

Brouters

Brouters combines the best of both bridges and routers. When brouters
receive packets that are routable, they will operate as a router by choosing
the best path for the packet and forwarding it to its destination. However,
when a nonroutable packet is received, the brouter functions as a bridge,
forwarding the packet based on hardware address. To do this brouters
maintain both bridging table, which contains hardware address, and a
routing table, which contains network address.

Gateway

Gateways operate in all seven layers of OSI model. A gateway is a protocol


converter. A router itself transfers, accepts, and relays packets only across
network using similar protocols. A gateway on the other hand, can accept a
packet formatted for one protocol (e.g. AppleTalk) and convert it to a packet
formatted for another protocol (e.g. TCP/IP)
Netware SNA
Gateway
Network Network

before forwarding it.

A gateway is generally software installed within a router. The gateway


understands the protocol used by each network linked into the router and is
therefore able to translate from one to another.

Strengths and limitations of


Gateway  Strength:
• Can connect completely different systems.
• Dedicated to one task and perform that task well.
 Limitation:
• More expensive than other devices.
• More difficult to install and configure.
Greater processing requirements men they are slower than other devices.

You might also like