Understanding Network Devices

You are using internet every day, sharing files time to time, taking calls and gossiping around hours but have you ever realize about how these connections are establishing without any errors or less errors!!!

So, What are network devices?

Short answer:

Network devices are the physical components that connect computers and other electronic devices together so they can share files, resources, and internet access.

The Global Highway Example

Imagine you are going from office to your home and their is a highway.
But how will you reach your destination(Home)?
You need to know your address. You know where you live but you don't know how will you reach there as there are multiple ways to reach your destination. Now the path you choose have been choose by other people around you also but the common thing is the highway there. So like how there are bunch of vehicle(packets) going from the same highway and reaching from one destination(sender) to another(receiver), network also work same like this at one end there is a sender and and other side there is receiver and the common in both is the network(internet).

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Now there are different type of network hardware :

1. Modem

• Modem stands for Modulator and De-modulator.
• It converts analog signals (those signals which travels in wires or coming from satellite) to digital signals (as our systems only know 0s and 1s) and vice-versa.
• Analogy: Think modem as a language translator. Modem translates analog signals to hardware and it converts hardware response to analog signals again to network.

2. Router

• It is a networking that forwards data packets between different computer networks.
• It's main job is to direct the network traffic and direct them to their specific area/places.
• Analogy: A Router is like a Post-Office. It takes so many mails but send them to their correct places.

3. Hub

• A hub is a basic network device that connects multiple computers/devices in a Local Area Network (LAN) and act as a central connection point.
• But there is a catch --> Imagine 3 devices (A, B, C). If you send a message to device A the other remaining also got the message. So there is no privacy and for security it is not reliable.
• It is also called a dumb network manager.
• Analogy: Think it of as a person with a loud speaker 😂. He tells everyone even it for a specific person.

4. Switch

• A Switch is a network device like hub but it sends the incoming data to specific connections or ports in a LAN.
• It solves the problem which a hub couldn't resolve and hence also known as a Smart Hub.
• Analogy: It is a Post Man who knows where to send mails.

5. Firewall

• A firewall is a security system for the network.
• It controls, filters, and protects traffic entering and leaving networks.
• It is a essential point in cyber security and it checks every incoming and outgoing networks as are they authorized or unauthorized.
• Firewalls control network traffic using predefined rules based on:

    1. IP Addresses – Allow or block traffic from specific IPs
    2. Domain Names – Control access to certain websites or domains
    3. Protocols – Filter traffic based on protocols like TCP, UDP, or ICMP
    4. Programs – Permit or deny specific applications
    5. Ports – Control traffic through specific port numbers (e.g., HTTP, HTTPS)
    6. Keywords – Filter content based on specific words or patterns.

• why security lives here? Because every network connection must pass through the firewall which blocks hackers ,stops malware traffic ,prevent unauthorized access , and control which app can use the internet.

Load Balancer

• A load balancer is a traffic manager that distributes incoming requests across multiple servers.
• Instead of sending all users to one server, it spreads the load.
• Basically it manages that no server is overwhelmed with too much load. This helps the site to be live always with minimal downtime. It splits the work load between the servers .

A load balancer shares work between servers so no single server gets overloaded.

How These Devices Work Together

1. Switch receives the request (if wired) and forwards it toward your router.
2. Router decides where the request should go next.
3. Firewall checks the request against security policies.
4. Modem transmits that request out to your ISP and the internet.
5. For large services, a load balancer at the destination directs your request to the most appropriate server.
6. The server processes it and sends the response back through the same chain.

Your Device —> Switch —> Router —> Firewall —> Modem —> ISP/Internet —> Service Load Balancer —> Server

Hope you all liked the article

Thank You!