Network Devices
Modems, Switches, Routers,
Bridges, NICs, Hubs…
Modem
• Short for modulator/demodulator, a modem is
a hardware device that allows a computer to
send and receive information over telephone
lines. Computer information is stored digitally,
whereas information transmitted over
telephone lines is transmitted in the form of
analog waves. When sending a signal, thee
device converts ("modulates") digital data to
an analog audio signal. Similarly, when an
analog signal is received, the modem converts
it back ("demodulates" it) to a digital signal.
Modem
Roles
• Error Correction: In this process the device checks if the
information they receive is undamaged. It divides the information
into packets called frames. Before sending this information, it tags
each of the frames with checksums. Checksum is a method of
checking redundancy in the data present on the computer. The
device that receives the information, verifies if the information
matches with checksums, sent by the error-correcting modem. If it
fails to match with the checksum, the information is sent back.
Roles
• Compressing the Data: For compressing the data, it is sent
together in many bits. The bits are grouped together by the device
in order to compress them.
• Flow Control: Different devices vary in their speed of sending
signals. Thus, it creates problems in receiving the signals if either
one of them is slow. In the flow control mechanism, the slower one
signals the faster one to pause, by sending a 'character'. When it is
ready to catch up with the faster one, a different character is sent,
which in turn resumes the flow of signals.
Switch
• A switch, in the context of networking is a high-speed device that
receives incoming data packets and redirects them to their
destination on a local area network (LAN). A LAN switch operates
at the data link layer (Layer 2) or the network layer of the OSI
Model and, as such it can support all types of packet protocols.
Essentially, switches are the traffic police of a simple local area
network.
Switch
• In simpler terms, a switch is a hardware device that filters and
forwards network packets, but often not capable of much more. The
first network device that was added to the Internet was a switch
called the IMP, which helped send the first message on October 29,
1969. A network switch is more advanced than a hub but not as
advanced as a router. The picture shows an example of a NETGEAR
5 port switch.
Switch
Roles
• A switch can manage the flow of data across the network.
• A network switch plays an integral part in most modern Ethernet
LANs. Mid to large sized LANs contain a number of linked
managed switches.
• Switches are also used in SOHO(Small Office/Home Office)
applications that typically uses a single switch to access the various
broadband services an d the services like voice over internet
protocol.
Router
• A router is hardware device designed to receive, analyze and move
incoming packets to another network. It may also be used to
convert the packets to another network interface, drop them, and
perform other actions relating to a network. The picture shows the
Linksys wireless router and is what many home routers resemble.
Router
• A router has a lot more capabilities than other network devices,
such as a hub or a switch that are only able to perform basic
network functions. For example, a hub is often used to transfer data
between computers or network devices, but does not analyze or do
anything with the data it is transferring. By contrast, routers can
analyze the data being sent over a network, change how it is
packaged, and send it to another network or over a different
network. For example, routers are commonly used in home
networks to share a single Internet connection between multiple
computers.
Router
Roles
• Determine the optimal path to forward packets and store the
decision in a routing table.
• Forward packets based on entries in a routing table.
Router
• A bridge is a type of computer network device that provides
interconnection with other bridge networks that use the same protocol.
• Bridge devices work at the data link layer of the Open System
Interconnect (OSI) model, connecting two different networks together
and providing communication between them. Bridges are similar to
repeaters and hubs in that they broadcast data to every node. However,
bridges maintain the media access control (MAC) address table as soon
as they discover new segments, so subsequent transmissions are sent to
only to the desired recipient. Bridges are also known as Layer 2
switches.
Bridges
• Simply, a bridge is a device that connects two LANs (local area
networks), or two segments of the same LAN. Unlike a router,
bridges are protocol independent. They forward packets without
analyzing and re-routing messages.
Bridge
• A network bridge device is primarily used in local area networks
because they can potentially flood and clog a large network thanks
to their ability to broadcast data to all the nodes if they don’t know
the destination node's MAC address.
• A bridge uses a database to ascertain where to pass, transmit or
discard the data frame.
Bridge
• If the frame received by the bridge is meant for a segment that
resides on the same host network, it will pass the frame to that
node and the receiving bridge will then discard it.
• If the bridge receives a frame whose node MAC address is of the
connected network, it will forward the frame toward it.
Bridge
Network Interface Cards
• Short for network interface card, the NIC is also referred to as an
Ethernet card and network adapter. It is an expansion card that
enables a computer to connect to a network; such as a home
network, or the Internet using an Ethernet cable with an RJ-45
connector.
Network Interface Cards
• A network interface card connects your computer to a local data
network or the Internet. The card translates computer data into
electrical signals it sends through the network; the signals are
compatible with the network so computers can reliably exchange
information. Because of the popularity of the Internet and networks
in general, virtually all desktop and notebook PCs have some form
of interface card included.
Network Interface Cards
Roles
• A network card functions as a middleman between your computer
and the data network. For example, when you log in to a website,
the PC passes the site information to the network card, which
converts the address into electrical impulses. Network cables carry
these impulses to a Web server somewhere on the Internet, which
responds by sending a Web page back to you, once again in the
form of electronic signals. The card receives these signals and turns
them into data that your PC displays.
Hubs
• A hub is a hardware device that relays communication data. A hub
sends data packets (frames) to all devices on a network, regardless of
any MAC addresses contained in the data packet.
• Unlike a network switch or router, a network hub has no routing tables
or intelligence on where to send information and broadcasts all
network data across each connection.
• The obvious advantage of having a hub is that it allows two or more
computers to share the resources and communications on any of the
computers that are on the network, but they also tend to be cheaper
than routers and switches.
Hubs
• When referring to a network, a hub is the most basic networking
device that connects multiple computers or other network devices
together. Most hubs can detect basic network errors such as
collisions, but having all information broadcast to multiple ports
can be a security risk and cause bottlenecks. In the past, network
hubs were popular because they were cheaper than a switch or
router. Today, switches do not cost much more than a hub and are
a much better solution for any network.
Hubs
• A switch is different than a hub in that it keeps a record of all MAC
addresses of all connected devices. Thus, it knows which device or
system is connected to which port. When a data packet is received,
the switch immediately knows which port to send it to. Unlike a
hub, a 10/100 Mbps switch will allocate the full 10/100 Mbps to
each of its ports, and users always have access to the maximum
bandwidth – a huge advantage of a switch over a hub.
Hubs
Role
• The role of a hub is to allow communications between devices so
that data can be transmitted from one computer to another. It is a
piece of hardware and is most often used in a small LAN (Local
Area Network) setting, where there is little likelihood of traffic
conflicts. A hub is usually the easiest and cheapest way of
connecting a few computers so that they can share communication
resources like the Internet.
