RATHWA SONAL
190130116059 Computer Networks (3150710)
PRACTICAL: 04
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AIM: Study of different network devices in detail.
The network devices are explained below:
1. Switch: The switch connects the computer network
components but it is smart about it. It knows the
address of each item and so when the desktop
computer wants to talk to the laptop, it only sends the
message to the laptop and nothing else. In order to have
a small home network that just connects the local
equipment all that is really needed is a switch and
network cable or the switch can transmit wireless
information that is received by wireless receivers that
each of the network devices have.
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190130116059 Computer Networks (3150710)
2. Hub – A hub is basically a multiport repeater. A hub
connects multiple wires coming from different
branches, for example, the connector in star topology
which connects different stations. Hubs cannot filter Page | 2
data, so data packets are sent to all connected devices.
In other words, the collision domain of all hosts
connected through Hub remains one. Also, they do not
have the intelligence to find out the best path for data
packets which leads to inefficiencies and wastage.
Types of Hub
Active Hub:- These are the hubs that have their own
power supply and can clean, boost, and relay the signal
along with the network. It serves both as a repeater as
well as a wiring center. These are used to extend the
maximum distance between nodes.
Passive Hub:- These are the hubs that collect wiring
from nodes and power supply from the active hub.
These hubs relay signals onto the network without
cleaning and boosting them and can’t be used to
extend the distance between nodes.
Intelligent Hub:- It works like active hubs and includes
remote management capabilities. They also provide
flexible data rates to network devices. It also enables an
administrator to monitor the traffic passing through the
hub and to configure each port in the hub.
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190130116059 Computer Networks (3150710)
3. Repeater – A repeater operates at the physical layer. Its
job is to regenerate the signal over the same network
before the signal becomes too weak or corrupted so as
to extend the length to which the signal can be Page | 3
transmitted over the same network. An important point
to be noted about repeaters is that they do not amplify
the signal. When the signal becomes weak, they copy
the signal bit by bit and regenerate it at the original
strength. It is a 2 port device.
4. Bridge – A bridge operates at the data link layer. A
bridge is a repeater, with add on the functionality of
filtering content by reading the MAC addresses of
source and destination. It is also used for
interconnecting two LANs working on the same
protocol. It has a single input and single output port,
thus making it a 2 port device.
Types of Bridges
Transparent Bridges:- These are the bridge in which the
stations are completely unaware of the bridge’s
existence i.e. whether or not a bridge is added or
deleted from the network, reconfiguration of the
stations is unnecessary. These bridges make use of two
processes i.e. bridge forwarding and bridge learning.
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190130116059 Computer Networks (3150710)
Source Routing Bridges:- In these bridges, routing Page | 4
operation is performed by the source station and the
frame specifies which route to follow. The host can
discover the frame by sending a special frame called
the discovery frame, which spreads through the entire
network using all possible paths to the destination.
5. Routers – A router is a device like a switch that routes
data packets based on their IP addresses. The router is
mainly a Network Layer device. Routers normally
connect LANs and WANs together and have a
dynamically updating routing table based on which they
make decisions on routing the data packets. Router
divide broadcast domains of hosts connected through it.
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190130116059 Computer Networks (3150710)
6. Gateway – A gateway, as the name suggests, is a Page | 5
passage to connect two networks together that may
work upon different networking models. They basically
work as the messenger agents that take data from one
system, interpret it, and transfer it to another system.
Gateways are also called protocol converters and can
operate at any network layer. Gateways are generally
more complex than switches or routers. Gateway is also
called a protocol converter.
7. Brouter – It is also known as the bridging router is a
device that combines features of both bridge and
router. It can work either at the data link layer or a
network layer. Working as a router, it is capable of
routing packets across networks, and working as the
bridge, it is capable of filtering local area network
traffic.
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190130116059 Computer Networks (3150710)
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8. NIC – NIC or network interface card is a network
adapter that is used to connect the computer to the
network. It is installed in the computer to establish a
LAN. It has a unique id that is written on the chip, and
it has a connector to connect the cable to it. The cable
acts as an interface between the computer and router
or modem. NIC card is a layer 2 device which means
that it works on both physical and data link layer of the
network model.
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