Networks connect computing devices together so that users can share resources such as data,printers and other devices. Any device with an IP address is a host but you will see them referred to as clients or nodes. Network devices are like the utensils used in a kitchen,they are the ones to bring about a good,they help in cooking the food for a person.
There are several network devices but the ones I will be talking about are;
- Hub
- Bridge
- Switch
- Router
- Firewalls and
- Modem
Let us dive into it one after the other.
HUB
It is a layer one device i.e it has no knowledge of addresses.It helps to connect devices in a network together but it is not intelligent. It has multiple ports and if a data comes into one port,the hub will just rebroadcast the data to every port that has a device connected to it thereby wasting bandwidth. Hubs have one collision domain and uses half duplex. It has security risks. Hubs are old technology.
BRIDGE
It is a layer two device i.e it understands and learn MAC address. It has two collision domain i.e data can be sent or received on each section of the network at the same time. It has two ports.
It is better than hub in the sense that it can send and receive data.
SWITCH
It is a layer two device,it can learn MAC addresses which is known as layer 2 addresses. A switch can use full duplex i.e it can send and receive data at the same time which means each port has its own collision domain. A switch is a huge improvement over a hub. It saves huge amount of bandwidth. A switch can detect specific devices that are connected to it and keeps a record of the MAC address of those devices.
ROUTER
A router is a device that routes or forward data from one network to another based on their IP address. It is a doorway out of the internal network and into the outside world. It is a layer three(3) device because it not only uses MAC addresses but also IP address (which is a layer 3 address). It has two ports and it is highly configurable.
Hubs and switches are used to Create networks while routers connect networks.
FIREWALLS
They protect your network from authorized access and threats.
MODEM
It connects your network to the internet.
It is safe to say that without these network devices,we won't be able to send and receive data and they help to make things easier like how our kitchen utensils helps to make cooking easier for us.
Top comments (0)