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In the last issue we had talked about repeaters. We now continue our series on connecting
devices with bridges.
Bridges are a step up from repeaters in terms of complexity and capability. Instead of
providing a purely physical connection between segments of a network, bridges have
some intelligence to perform traffic control. They keep local traffic local and send traffic
only to other segments on which it belongs. Bridges have the regenerating capabilities of
repeaters, so you don't need to use them in tandem.
Types of bridges
there are two main types of bridges, transparent
and source-route. A translational bridge is used to
connect dissimilar network types.
Transparent bridges
transparent bridges use hardware network card
addresses to determine which data to pass and
which to filter. If you remember, each network
card has a unique address assigned to it. Bridges
use this information to decide which frames are
passed and which are not. Computer addresses are
stored in a table, one for each port. When data is received, the destination address is
checked and compared against this table.
Source-route bridges
While most networks use transparent bridges, Token Ring networks use a different type
of bridge called a source-route bridge. Instead of depending on MAC addresses, they use
information in the token ring frame to determine whether to pass the data or not.
Translational bridges
Unlike repeaters, a translational bridge allows you to connect dissimilar networks
together. Translational bridges have a port for the two different network types. The
process that translational bridges use to pass data depends on which two types of
networks they are connecting. They handle the conversion of the frames from one type to
another and take into account the media access method.
What role do bridges play in your network?
So much for how bridges function in the theoretical world. Now lets take a look at the
various possible roles of a bridge on a network.
Traffic control
Bridges keep records of the MAC addresses on each side of the segments they connect,
and can compare the source and destination address of a packet with the addresses in the
table. If the destination is local, then the bridge filters out the broadcast and leaves it on
the local segment. If the destination is on another segment, then the bridge passes the data
along to that segment. Either way, the data is only passed to the segment(s) where it
belongs, so the network isn't tied up with broadcasts that belong only to one segment.
Security