DCN LAB ACTIVITY 1:

NAME: Vibhor Mathur

BRANCH: CSE-CSF (B4)

SAP ID: 500067161

END DEVICES :
The network devices that people are most familiar with are called end devices.
These devices form the interface between the human network and the underlying
communication network. Some examples of end devices are:

 Computers, laptops, file servers, web servers.

 Network printers
 VoIP phones
 Security cameras
 Mobile handheld devices.
Intermediary Devices and their Role on the Network
Physical media:

Physical media refers to the physical materials that are used to store or transmit information
in data communications. These physical media are generally physical objects made of
materials such as copper or glass. They can be touched and felt, and have physical
properties such as weight and colour. For a number of years, copper and glass were the
only media used in computer networking.

GUIDED MEDIA UNGUIDED MEDIA

Basic The signal requires a physical The signal is broadcasted

path for transmission. through air or sometimes

water.

Alternative It is called wired It is called wireless

name communication or bounded communication or unbounded

transmission media. transmission media.

Direction It provides direction to signal It does not provide any

for travelling. direction.

Types Twisted pair cable, coaxial Radio wave, microwave and

cable and fibre optic cable. infrared.

Coaxial cable:
The coaxial cable (or coax) carries signals with higher frequency ranges than the
twisted pair cables ranging from 100 KHz to 500MHz, in part because both media
built quite differently. Instead of having two wires, the coaxial cable has a central
conductor core formed by a solid or threaded wire (usually copper) covered by an
insulator of dielectric material, which is, in turn, covered by an outer sheet of
conductive metal, mesh or a combination of both (also usually copper). The outer
metal cover serves as a shield against noise and as a second conductor, which
completes the circuit. An insulating shield also covers this outer conductor, and a
plastic cover protects the entire cable.
UTP connectors:
UTP cables usually connected to network devices through a type of connector and a
type of plug like the one used in telephone plugs. The connectors can be male (the
plug) or female (the receptacle). The male connectors enter the female connectors
and have a movable tab (called a key) that blocks them when they located in a
place. Each wire of a cable is attached to these plugs are the RJ45, which have eight
conductors, one for each strand of four twisted pairs.
Shielded twisted pair cable (STP)
The STP cable has a metal sheath or an interlocking mesh coating that surrounds
each pair of insulated conductors. See the figure. the metal housing prevents
electromagnetic noise from penetrating. It also eliminates a phenomenon called
interference, which is an unwanted effect of one circuit (or channel) on another
circuit (or channel). It occurs when a line (acting as a receiving antenna) picks up
some of the signals traveling on another line (acting as a transmitting antenna) this
effect is experienced during telephone conversations when background
conversations heard. By shielding each pair of twisted pair cable, most interference
can eliminate.

Optical fibre:
Up to this moment, conductor (metal) cables have seen that transmit signals in the
form of current. The fibre optic, on the other hand, is made of plastic or glass and
transmits the signals in the form of light. To understand how optical fibre works, it
is necessary first to explore several aspects of the nature of light
Switches/hubs:
Hub:
Hub is a networking devices which is used to transmit the signal to each port (except
one port) to respond from which the signal was received. Hub is operated on
Physical layer. In this packet filtering is not available. It is of two types: Active Hub,
Passive Hub.
Switch:
Switch is a network device which is used to enable the connection establishment and
connection termination on the basis of need. Switch is operated on Data link layer. In
this packet filtering is available. It is type of full duplex transmission mode and it is
also called efficient bridge.
Difference between Hub and Switch:

S.NO HUB SWITCH

While switch is operated on Data link

1. Hub is operated on Physical layer. layer.

While switch is a Unicast, multicast

2. Hub is a broadcast type transmission. and broadcast type transmission.

3. Hub have maximum 4 ports. While switch can have 24 to 28 ports.

In hub, there is only one collision While in switch, different ports have

4. domain. own collision domain.

Hub is a half duplex transmission While switch is a full duplex

5. mode. transmission mode.

While in switch, Packet filtering is

6. In hub, Packet filtering is not provided. provided.

 While switch can be used as a

7. Hub cannot be used as a repeater. repeater.

Hub is not an intelligent device hence it While switch is an intelligent device so

8. is comparatively inexpensive. it is expensive.

Hub is simply old type of device and is While switch is very sophisticated

9. not generally used. device and widely used.

ROUTERS:
A router is a physical or virtual appliance that passes information between two or
more packet-switched computer networks. A router inspects a given data packet's
destination Internet Protocol address (IP address), calculates the best way for it to
reach its destination and then forwards it accordingly.

A router is a common type of gateway. It is positioned where two or more networks

meet at each point of presence on the internet. Hundreds of routers might forward a
single packet as it moves from one network to the next on the way to its
final destination. In the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model, routers are
associated with the network layer (Layer 3).

Traditional routers are stand-alone devices that use proprietary software. In contrast,
a virtual router is a software instance that performs the same functions as a physical
router. Virtual routers typically run on commodity servers, either alone or packaged
with other virtual network functions, like firewall packet filtering, load balancing and
wide area network (WAN) optimization capabilities.

Other network devices, such as wireless access points and switches may include
built-in router functionality.
BRIDGES:

A bridge is a class of network device that’s designed to connect networks

at OSI Level 2, which is the data link layer of a local-area network (LAN). Bridges
must connect like LAN protocols (for example, Ethernet, FDDI or token ring), and
bridged networks will pass the packets of all higher-layer protocols that might be
running on the network. While any LAN protocol can be bridged, the overwhelming
majority of LANs today are Ethernet switched LANs, and most bridges are thus
Ethernet bridges.

The big risk in bridging is traffic overload. All broadcast messages are sent across an
entire LAN, and even messages directed to a single station are actually sent to every
port on many LANs. This issue can be addressed by segmentation. Bridging builds
an extended LAN by connecting LAN segments, and advanced bridge technologies
aim at improving the options for extension to eliminate the problems of traffic
overload.
REPEATER:
A repeater is an electronic device that relays a transmitted signal. It receives a
signal on a specific frequency, then amplifies and rebroadcasts it. By
amplifying the signal, a repeater increases the transmission range of the
original signal.
Repeaters have many applications, but in computing they are most commonly
used in wireless networks. For example, a Wi-Fi network in a large home may
benefit from using one or more repeaters to relay the signal to different areas
of the house. Homes that have brick walls or cement floors may also benefit
from having a repeater relay the signal around the obstacle. Businesses often
use a series of repeaters to create a single wireless network within a large
building.
While repeaters all serve the same purpose, they come in many forms. Some
wireless devices, often called "range extenders" are designed to be used
specifically as repeaters. Other devices, such as hubs, switches,
and routers can all be configured as repeaters using a software utility or web
interface that controls the wireless device.

Since repeaters only relay an incoming signal, using a router as a repeater

does not make use of its signal routing capability. Therefore, it make more
sense to use a range extender as a repeater if possible.