Computer Network Devices

Definition
Computer networking devices are units that mediate data in a computer network. Computer networking devices are also called network equipment, Intermediate Systems (IS) or Inter Working Unit (IWU). Units which are the last receiver or generate data are called hosts or data terminal equipment.
Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_network

Computer network devices also known as communication devices and they constitute a data communication network. These devices are routers, switches, hubs, LAN cards, gateway, modems, hardware firewall, CSU/DSU, ISDN terminals and transceivers. In an Ethernet or WAN network, the data communication cannot be performed without these devices. Being an IT professional or a network administrator, you must have the good understanding of these devices. (Computer network devices are used for communication of different users or different computers for sharing the information from one computer to another also known as communication devices. Without these devices we cannot we make a network and we cant communicate with each other and share information. Network devices are the main part of networking. If you are a IT professional you must have the knowledge about these devices)
Reference:http://www.theitlibrary.com/Network_devices.html

List of computer networking devices

Here are many devices listed below are used for networking.

Router: Bridge: Switch: Hub: Repeater:

Some hybrid network devices:

Multilayer Switch: Protocol Converter: Bridge Router (B router):

Hardware or software components that typically sit on the connection point of different networks, e.g. between an internal network and an external network:

Proxy: Firewall: Network Address Translator:

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_networking_device

1 Router:
Definition:
A Router is a device that connects two networks - frequently over large distances. It understands one or more network protocols, such asIP orIPX. A Router accepts packets on at least two network interfaces, and forwards packets from one interface to another. Introduction: A router is a device that forwards data packets between computer networks, creating an overlay internetwork. A router is connected to two or more data lines from different networks. When a data packet comes in on one of the lines, the router reads the address information in the packet to determine its ultimate destination. Then, using information in its routing table or routing policy, it directs the packet to the next network on its journey. Routers perform the "traffic directing" functions on the Internet. A data packet is typically forwarded from one router to another through the networks that constitute the internetwork until it gets to its destination node. (A router is a device that used for making the network, forward data packets from one computer to another computer, creating an overlay internetwork. A router is connected to two or more computers from different networks. When a data is come from one computer this device reads the address and sends the specific destination where are data sending in the form of packets. Routes control the traffic directing function on the internet. A data packet is forwarded from one router to another through the network that makes a internetwork until the data is reached on the destination.)

Router may be programmed to filter out some packets, and to dynamically change the route by which packets are routed.
Routers often use different media on each interface. For instance, a router might have

one Ethernet port and one ISDN port. (Router may be programmed for specific task such as to filter out some packets, and change route by which packets are routed when other route is busy or damage. Routers often use different media on each interface. a router might have one Ethernet port and one ISDN port.)
Reference:http://hitachi-id.com/concepts/router.html

Types of Router:
Routers provide connectivity inside enterprises, between enterprises and the Internet, and within an Internet Service Provider (ISP)

Edge Router
This type of router are placed at the edge of the ISP network, they are normally configured to external protocol like BGP (Border gateway protocol) to another BGP of other ISP or large organization. (This type of router are placed at the edge of the internet service provider network,

Subscriber Edge Router

This type of router belongs to an end user (enterprise) organization. Its configured to broadcast external BGP to its providers AS(s)

Inter-provider Border Router

This type of router is for Interconnecting ISPs, this is a BGP speaking router that maintains BGP sessions with other BGP speaking routers in other providers' ASes.

Core Router
A router that resides within the middle or backbone of the LAN network rather than at its periphery. In some instances , a core router provides a stepdown backbone, interconnecting the distribution routers from multiple building of a campus ( LAN), or Large enterprise Location (WAN). They tend to be optimized for a high brandwidth.

Wired and Wireless Routers.

Home and small office networking is becoming popular by day by the use of IP wired and wireless router.Wired and wireless router are able to maintain routing and configuration information in their routing table. They also provide the service of filtering traffic of incoming and outgoing packets based on IP addresses. Some wireless routers combine the functions oa router with those of a network switch and that of a firewall in one. (Wired and Wireless router is used in small area like that in office and home. Wireless Router is popular day by day we can communicate without any distortion. Wired and wireless router is able to maintain routing and configuration information in their table and provide the services to filter the data of incoming and outgoing packets based on ip addresses. Referance: http://www.orbit-computer-solutions.com/Types-of-Router.php

2 Bridge:
Definition:

A bridge device filters data traffic at a network boundary. Bridges reduce the amount of traffic on a LAN by dividing it into two segments.

Bridges operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model. Bridges inspect incoming traffic and decide whether to forward or discard it. An Ethernet bridge, for example, inspects each incoming Ethernet frame - including the source and destination MAC addresses, and sometimes the frame size - in making individual forwarding decisions. Bridges serve a similar function as switches, that also operate at Layer 2. Traditional bridges, though, support one network boundary, whereas switches usually offer four or more hardware ports. Switches are sometimes called "multiport bridges" for this reason.
Referance:http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/internetworking/g/bldef_bridge.htm

Network Bridges - Related Terms

LAN MAC switch

Advantages of network bridges

Simple bridges are inexpensive Isolate collision domains with microsegmentation Access control and network management capabilities Bandwidth scales as network grows

Disadvantages of network bridges

Does not limit the scope of broadcasts Does not scale to extremely large networks Buffering and processing introduces delays A complex network topology can pose a problem for transparent bridges. For example, multiple paths between transparent bridges and LANs can result in bridge loops. The spanning tree protocol helps to reduce problems with complex topologies.

Referance:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridging_(networking)

Bridging versus routing

Bridging and routing are both ways of performing data control, but work through different methods. Bridging takes place at OSI Model Layer 2 (data-link layer) while routing takes place at the OSI Model Layer 3 (network layer). This difference means that a bridge directs frames according to hardware assigned MAC addresses while a router makes its decisions according to arbitrarily assigned IP Addresses. As a result of this, bridges are not concerned with and are unable to distinguish networks while routers can. When designing a network, one can choose to put multiple segments into one bridged network or to divide it into different networks interconnected by routers. If a host is physically moved from one network area to another in a routed network, it has to get a new IP address; if this system is moved within a bridged network, it doesn't have to reconfigure anything.

3 Switch:

Definition:

A network switch is a small hardware device that joins multiple computers together within one local area network (LAN). Technically, network switches operate at layer two (Data Link Layer) of the OSI model.

Referance:http://compnetworking.about.com/od/hardwarenetworkgear/g/bldef_switch.htm

Introduction

In a telecommunications network, a switch is a device that channels incoming data from any of multiple input ports to the specific output port that will take the data toward its intended destination. In the traditional circuit-switched telephone network, one or more switches are used to set up a dedicated though temporary connection or circuit for an exchange between two or more parties. On an Ethernet local area network (LAN), a switch determines from the physical device (Media Access Control or MAC) address in each incoming message frame which output port to forward it to and out of. In a wide area packet-switched network such as the Internet, a switch determines from the IP address in each packet which output port to use for the next part of its trip to the intended destination.

Function:
The network switch plays an integral part in most modern Ethernet local area networks (LANs). Mid-to-large sized LANs contain a number of linked managed switches. Small office/home office (SOHO) applications typically use a single switch, or an all-purpose converged device such as a residential gateway to access small office/home broadband services such as DSL or cable internet. In most of these cases, the end-user device contains a router and components that interface to the particular physical broadband technology. User devices may also include a telephone interface for VoIP. An Ethernet switch operates at the data link layer of the OSI model to create a separate collision domain for each switch port. With 4 computers (e.g., A, B, C, and D) on 4 switch ports, A and B can transfer data back and forth, while C and D also do so simultaneously, and the two conversations will not interfere with one another. In the case of a hub, they would all share the bandwidth and run in half duplex, resulting in collisions, which would then necessitate retransmissions. Using a switch is called microsegmentation. This allows computers to have dedicated bandwidth on a point-to-point connections to the network and to therefore run in full duplex without collisions.

Referance: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Network_switch#Function

Difference between a hub and a switch:

A switch is effectively a higher-performance alternative to a hub. This article describes hubs in more detail. People tend to benefit from a switch over a hub if their home network has four or more computers, or if they want to use their home network for applications that generate significant amounts of network traffic, like multiplayer games or heavy music file sharing. In most other cases, home networkers will not notice an appreciable difference between a hub and switch Referance: http://compnetworking.about.com/od/hardwarenetworkgear/l/blfaq011.htm

4 Hub:
Introduction to Hubs:

A special type of network device called the hub can be found in many home and small business networks. Though they've existed for many years, the popularity of hubs has exploded recently, especially among people relatively new to networking. Do you own a hub, or are you considering purchasing one? This article explains the purpose of hubs and some of the technology behind them
Reference:http://compnetworking.about.com/od/hardwarenetworkgear/l/aa012801a.htm

Hub - Network Hub (Concentrator / Repeater Hub)

A Network hub is a device which enables more than one computer (host) to interconnect on a network. They are widely used for creating home, office and other networks.
Reference:http://www.helpwithpcs.com/jargon/hub.htm

Key Features of Hubs Hubs classify as Layer 1 devices in the OSI model. At the physical layer, hubs can support little in the way of sophisticated networking. Hubs do not read any of the data passing through them and are not aware of their source or destination. Essentially, a hub simply receives incoming packets, possibly amplifies the electrical signal, and broadcasts these packets out to all devices on the network including the one that originally sent the packet! Technically speaking, three different types of hubs exist:

passive active intelligent

Types of Hub

 Passive hubs: Passive hub receives data packet and retransmits them on the network without amplify the electrical signal. Active hubs: Active hubs are also known as Repeaters. They receives the data packets amplify them and retransmit on the network. For amplification they need the electrical signal. Intelligent hubs: Intelligent hubs includes remote management and basically used in the large scale companies where number of units can be placed one on the top of other as stack.

Reference: http://www.techfuels.com/general-internet-terms/10249-hub-network-devices.html

USES
Historically, the main reason for purchasing hubs rather than switches was their price. This motivator has largely been eliminated by reductions in the price of switches, but Hubs can still be useful in special circumstances:
.

For inserting a protocol analyzer into a network connection, a hub is an alternative to a network tap or port mirroring.[3]

[3] ^ "Sniffing Tutorial part 1 - Intercepting Network Traffic". NETRESEC Network Security Blog.

2011-03-11. Retrieved 2011-03-13

When a switch is accessible for end users to make connections, for example, in a Conference room, an inexperienced or careless user (or saboteur) can bring down

the network by connecting two ports together, causing a loop. This can be prevented by using a hub, where a loop will break other users on the hub, but not the rest of the network. This hazard can also be avoided by using switches that can detect and deal with loops, for example by implementing the spanning tree protocol.

A hub with a 10BASE2 port can be used to connect devices that only support 10BASE2 to a modern network. The same goes for linking in an old 10BASE5 network segment using an AUI port on a hub. Individual devices that were intended

for thicknet can also be linked to modern Ethernet by using an AUI-10BASET transceiver

5 Repeater:

Definition:
A repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level and/or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances.

Introduction:
A repeater connects two segments of your network cable. It retimes and regenerates the signalsto proper amplitudes and sends them to the other segments. When talking about, ethernet topology, you are probably talking about

using a hub as a repeater. Repeaters require a small amount of time to regenerate the signal. This can cause a propagation delay which can affect network communication when there are several repeaters in a row. Many network architectures limit the number of repeaters that can be used in a row. Repeaters work only at the physical layer of the OSI network model.

Referance:http://www.comptechdoc.org/independent/networking/guide/netdevices.html

Description
The term "repeater" originated with telegraphy and referred to an electromechanical device used by the army to regenerate telegraph signals. Use of the term has continued in telephony and datacommunications. In telecommunication, the term repeater has the following standardized meanings: 1. An analogdevice that amplifies an input signal regardless of its nature (analog or digital). 2. A digital device that amplifies, reshapes, retimes, or performs a combination of any of these functions on a digital input signal for retransmission.[1] Because repeaters work with the actual physical signal, and do not attempt to interpret the data being transmitted, they operate on the Physical layer, the first layer of the OSI model.

Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeater

Usage:

Repeaters are often used in transcontinental and submarine communications cables, because the attenuation (signal loss) over such distances would be

unacceptable without them. Repeaters are used in both copper-wire cables carrying electrical signals, and in fiber optics carrying light. When providing a point-to-point telecom link using radio beyond line of sight, one uses repeaters in a microwave radio relay. A reflector, often on a mountaintop, that relays such signals around an obstacle, is called a passive repeater or Passive Radio Link Deflection. A microwave repeater in a communications satellite is called a transponder.
Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Repeater