Chapter Five

Network Devices and

Internetworking

1
OBJECTIVES
 Explain the uses, advantages, and
disadvantages of repeaters
 Explain the uses, advantages, and

disadvantages of hubs
 Define wireless access points

 Define network segmentation

 Explain network segmentation using bridges

2
OBJECTIVES (CONTINUED)
 Explain network segmentation using switches
 Explain network segmentation using routers

 Explain network segmentation using brouters

and gateways

3
REPEATERS
 Length of cable used influence the quality of
communication
 Attenuation
 Repeaters repeat signals
 Clean and boost digital transmission
 Analog networks use amplifiers to boost signal
 Repeaters only work with the physical signal
 Cannot reformat, resize, or manipulate the data
 Repeater is a Physical layer (layer 1) device
 A Repeater can extend the physical length of
a LAN
4
A REPEATER CONNECTS SEGMENTS OF A
LAN.

5
REPEATERS (CONTINUED)

6
HUBS
 Generic connection device
 They are Physical layer devices
 Connect several networking cables together
 Active hubs
 Multiport repeaters
 Passive hubs
 Hubs and topology

7
HUBS (CONTINUED)

8
DISADVANTAGES OF REPEATERS
AND HUBS

 Advantages of using repeaters

 Extend network physical distance
 Do not seriously affect network performance
 Special repeaters connect different media
 Copper to fiber

 Disadvantages of using repeaters

 Cannot connect different network
architectures
 Token Ring and Ethernet

 Cannot reduce network traffic 9

DISADVANTAGES OF
REPEATERS AND HUBS
(CONTINUED)

 Do not segment the network

 Repeateverything without discrimination
 Number of repeaters must be limited
 Repeaters are part of a collision domain

10
WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS
 Are Wireless local area networks (WLANs)
 Wireless access points provide cell-based

areas
 Contains radio transceiver
 Function like a hub
 Bandwidth is shared
 May also function as a wireless repeater
 Wireless clients

11
WIRELESS ACCESS POINTS
(CONTINUED)

12
NETWORK SEGMENTATION
 Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Detection (CSMA/CD)
 Problems occur with too many nodes on the

same network segment or collision domain

13
NETWORK SEGMENTATION
(CONTINUED)
 Collision
 Back off algorithm
 Back off period
 Because of Segmentation
 Collisions
and retransmissions are reduced
 Contention for bandwidth is reduced

14
BRIDGES
 Operate at the Data Link layer
 Forward or drop frames

 Cannot filter broadcasts

 MAC to segment # table

 MAC to segment # table initial development

15
BRIDGES (CONTINUED)

16
TRANSPARENT BRIDGES
 Also called learning bridges
 Build a table of MAC addresses as frames

arrive
 Ethernet networks use transparent bridges

 Token Ring networks use source-routing

bridges

17
SOURCE-ROUTING BRIDGES
 Used in Token Ring networks
 Rely on source of the frame transmission

Translation Bridges
 Connect networks with different network
architecture
 Example:
 Token ring connecting to Ethernet

18
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF BRIDGES
 Advantages of using a bridge
 Extend physical network
 Reduce network traffic with minor segmentation
 Creates separate collision domains
 Reduce collisions
 Connect different architecture

19
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
BRIDGES (CONTINUED)

 Disadvantages of using bridges

 Slower than repeaters due to filtering
 Do not filter broadcasts
 More expensive than repeaters

20
SWITCHES
 Operate at the Data Link layer
 Increase network performance

 Opens Virtual circuits between source and

destination
 Micro segmentation

21
SWITCHES (CONTINUED)
 Between two computers using a switch two
collision domains are created each with
dedicated bandwidth
 Between two hubs using a switch two

collision domains are created each with

shared bandwidth
 Filter based on MAC addresses

 Build tables in memory

22
SWITCHES (CONTINUED)
 Advantages of switches
 Increase available network bandwidth
 Reduced workload, computers only receive
packets intended for them specifically
 Increase network performance
 Smaller collision domains

23
SWITCHES (CONTINUED)
 Disadvantages of switches
 More expensive than hubs and bridges
 Difficult to trace network connectivity problems
through a switch
 Do not filter broadcast traffic

24
SWITCHES (CONTINUED)

25
ROUTERS
 Provide filtering and network traffic control
 Used on LANs and WANs

 Connect multiple segments and networks

 Multiple routers create an “internetwork”

 Operate at the Network layer

26
ROUTERS (CONTINUED)
 Create a table to determine how to forward
packets
 Filtering and traffic control based on logical

addresses(IP Address)

27
ROUTERS CONNECTING
INDEPENDENT LANS AND WANS

28
PHYSICAL VERSUS LOGICAL
ADDRESSES
 MAC addresses
 Data Link layer application
 Used by switches, bridges, and routers for
filtering
 Used for directly connected devices
 Logical addresses
 Network and transport protocols dictate the
format of the logical network layer address
 TCP/IP, IPX/SPX
 IP addresses are assigned manually or by
software 29
PHYSICAL VERSUS LOGICAL
ADDRESSES (CONTINUED)

30
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF ROUTERS
 Advantages of routers
 Can connect networks of different architecture
 Token Ring to Ethernet
 Choose best path through or to a network
 Create smaller collision domains
 Create smaller broadcast domains

31
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
ROUTERS (CONTINUED)

 Disadvantages of routers
 Only work with routable protocols
 More expensive than hubs, bridges, and switches
 Routing table updates consume bandwidth
 Increase latency due to a greater degree of packet
filtering and/or analyzing

32
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES
OF ROUTERS (CONTINUED)

33
BROUTERS
 Hybrid device
 Functions as a router for routable protocols

 Functions as a bridge for non-routable

protocols
 Operates at Data Link and Network layers

34
GATEWAYS
 A gateway is a combination of hardware and
software
 Translate between different protocol suites

 Operates on all 7 layers of the OSI model

 Most negative on network performance

 Latency

35
SUMMARY
 Network administrators use devices to
control and extend the usable size of a
network
 These devices include repeaters, hubs,
bridges, switches, routers, brouters,
and gateways
 Repeaters work against attenuation by
cleaning and repeating signals that
they receive on a network
 Repeaters work at the Physical layer of
the OSI model
 They cannot connect different network
36
architectures
SUMMARY (CONTINUED)
 Repeaters do not reduce network traffic or
segment the network
 A hub ties several networking cables
together to create a link between different
stations on a network
 An active hub has its own electrical power
and acts as a repeater, whereas a passive
hub provides no signal regeneration
 Hubs operate at the Physical layer of the OSI
model and do not segment the network
 Network segmentation is the process of
isolating hosts onto smaller segments to
reduce the possibility of collisions
37
SUMMARY (CONTINUED)
 Bridges and switches are two
devices commonly used to segment
networks
 Bridges provide network segmentation
by examining the MAC address that is
sent in the data frame
 Bridges can use transparent bridging
or source-route bridging to determine
which segment includes a specific
physical address
 Bridges operate at the Data Link layer
38
of the OSI model
 SUMMARY (CONTINUED)
 Switches increase network performance by reducing the
number of frames transmitted to the rest of a network
 They do this by opening a virtual circuit between the

source and the destination

 Switches operate at the Data Link layer of the OSI

model

39
 SUMMARY (CONTINUED)
 Routers operate at the Network layer of the OSI
model; provide filtering and network-traffic
control on LANs and WANs
 They can connect multiple segments and

networks
 On a TCP/IP network, routers use IP addresses to
route packets to the correct network segment
 Routers
use information from routing tables to
move packets from one network to another
40
 SUMMARY (CONTINUED)
A brouter is a hybrid device that functions both
as a bridge for non-routable protocols and as a
router for routable protocols
 Brouters operate at both the Data Link and
Network layers
 Gateways are usually a combination of
hardware and software and are used to
translate between different protocols
 They usually operate at layer 4 and above in the
OSI model
41