How many types of Networking Devices?
Answer: Networking Devices
Networks are connected by using some types of devices such as hubs, repeaters, switches, bridges,
routers, and gateways. It is very important to know the basic function of these devices in order to decide upon the device that is to be used for a particular purpose.
1. Hub:
A hub works in the physical layer of the OSI model. Hub is a nonintelligent device and has no decision-making capability. Hub basically takes the input data from one of the ports and broadcast the information to all the other ports connected to the network.
There are two types of hub :
(i) Active hub: Active hub regenerates, concentrates, and strengthens the signals before sending them to their destinations.
(ii) Passive hub: Passive hub simply broadcast the signals.
2. Repeater:
A repeater is a device similar to the hub but has additional features. It also works in the physical layer. We use the repeaters in places where amplification of input signal is necessary. It regenerates the input signal and amplifies only the desired signal. Hence, the noise component of the signal is eliminated. It is also called an active hub.
The repeaters are useful for long-distance transmission.
One common problem between the repeaters and the hubs is that only one transmission can take place on the network at a particular time. If multiple devices transmit data simultaneously, there will be data collision.
3. Switch:
A switch is an intelligent device that works in the data link layer. The term intelligent refers to the decision-making capacity of the switch. It has knowledge of the MAC addresses of the ports in the network. It establishes a link between the sender and the receiver based on the MAC addresses. Simultaneous data transfer is possible in a switch. The switch does not divide bandwidth. A switch is a secure device because it sends information only to the desired destinations, and also certain security features such as firewalls can be implemented in the switches.
4. Bridge:
A bridge is also a device that works in the data link layer but is more primitive when compared to a switch. Initial bridges were used to connect only 2 LANs, but the most recent ones perform similar operations as the switches. It also works on the principle of transfer of information using the MAC addresses of the ports. When bridging is used, each time the device has to be connected to the internet? A bridge alone cannot be used to connect to the internet. It does not know of the IP addresses used on the internet.
5. Router:
The router connects two different LANs. The router works in the network layer. Route sends the based on IP addresses. Routers are like bridges but there are some additional features, which routers provide such as the ability to filter messages and forward them to different locations based on various criteria. Routers are used to find the best route for data packets to travel in the network. The process of finding the path is called routing. We stored the information about the best route in the table called a routing table.
There are two types of routers:
(i) Static router: In a static router, users need to specify the routing path.
(ii) Dynamic router: Dynamic router determine the routing path automatically by using
different algorithms.
6. Gateway :
A gateway is a software or hardware device is used to connect two or more networks of dissimilar types. The gateways are useful for communication between different network architecture with a different protocol. Gateway is also called a protocol converter. The gateway accepts the packet formatted for one protocol and converts it to a packet formatted for another protocol.
7. Network interface card (NIC):
A network interface card (NIC) is a computer hardware component that allows a computer to connect to a network. NICs may be used for both wired and wireless connections. A NIC is also known as a network interface controller (NIC), network interface controller card, expansion card, computer circuit board, network card, LAN card, network adapter, or network adapter card (NAC).
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