Network Connectivity Devices

CHAPTER 4 --- NETWORK CONNECTIVITY DEVICES

This chapter is devoted to the hardware that is used to expand networks. We begin with the most basic
communication device: the modem. Modems have become so common that they are standard equipment on
most computers sold today. Indeed, anyone who has ever used the Internet or a fax machine has used a
modem. In addition to modems, several devices are used to connect small LANs into larger wide area
networks (WANs). Each of these devices has its own function along with some limitations. They can be used
simply to extend the length of network media or to provide access to a worldwide network over the Internet.
Devices used to expand LANs include repeaters, bridges, routers, brouters, and gateways.

Basic Modem Functions

A modem is a device that makes it possible for computers to communicate over a telephone line. When
computers are too far apart to be joined by a standard computer cable, a modem can enable communication
between them. In a network environment, modems serve as a means of communication between networks and
as a way to connect to the world beyond the local network.
Computers cannot simply be connected to each other over a telephone line, because computers communicate
by sending digital electronic pulses (electronic signals), and a telephone line can send only analog waves
(sound). Figure 1 shows the difference between digital computer communication and analog telephone
communication.

Figure1 Digital signals versus analog waves

A digital signal has a binary form. The signal can have a value of either 0 or 1. An analog signal can be
pictured as a smooth curve that can represent an infinite range of values.
As shown in Figure 2, the modem at the sending end converts the computer's digital signals into analog waves
and transmits the analog waves onto the telephone line. A modem at the receiving end converts the incoming
analog signals back into digital signals for the receiving computer.
In other words, a sending modem MOdulates digital signals into analog signals, and a receiving modem
DEModulates analog signals back into digital signals.

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Figure 2 Modems convert digital signals to analog waves, and convert analog waves to digital signals

Modem Hardware
Modems are known as data communications equipment (DCE) and share the following characteristics:
 A serial (RS-232) communications interface
 An RJ-11 telephone-line interface (a four-wire telephone plug)
Modems are available in both internal and external models. An internal modem, as shown in Figure 3, is
installed in a computer's expansion slot like any other circuit board.

Figure 3 Internal modem installed in an expansion slot

An external modem, as shown in Figure 4, is a small box that is connected to the computer by a serial (RS-
232) cable running from the computer's serial port to the modem's computer cable connection. The modem
uses a cable with an RJ-11C connector to connect to the wall.

Figure 4 External modem connects through the RS-232 cable to the computer serial port
Expanding a Network Using Components
As companies grow, so do their networks. LANs tend to outgrow their original designs. You know your LAN
is too small when:
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 The cable begins to get crowded with network traffic.

 Print jobs include longer wait times.
 Traffic-generating applications, such as databases, experience increased response times.

The time usually comes when administrators need to expand the size or improve the performance of their
networks. But networks cannot be made larger merely by adding new computers and more cable. Each
topology or architecture has limits. There are, however, components that can be installed to increase the size of
the network within its existing environment. These components can:
 Segment existing LANs so that each segment becomes its own LAN.
 Join two separate LANs.
 Connect to other LANs and computing environments to join them into a larger comprehensive WAN.

The components that enable engineers to accomplish these goals are:

 Hubs.  Bridges.  Brouters.
 Repeaters.  Routers.  Gateways.

Repeaters
As signals travel along a cable, they degrade and become distorted in a process called "attenuation. If a cable is
long enough, attenuation will finally make a signal unrecognizable. Installing a repeater enables signals to
travel farther. A repeater works at the physical layer of the OSI Reference Model to regenerate the network's
signals and resend them out on other segments. Figure 7 shows how repeaters regenerate weak signals.

Figure 5 Repeaters regenerate weakened signals

The repeater takes a weak signal from one segment, regenerates it, and passes it to the next segment. To pass
data through the repeater from one segment to the next, the packets and the Logical Link Control (LLC)
protocols must be identical on each segment. A repeater will not enable communication, for example, between
Ethernet LAN and Token Ring LAN.
Repeaters do not translate or filter signals. For a repeater to work, both segments that the repeater joins must
use the same access method. A repeater cannot connect a segment using CSMA/CD to a segment using the
token-passing access method. That is, a repeater cannot translate an Ethernet packet into a Token Ring packet.
As shown in Figure 5. repeaters can move packets from one kind of physical media to another. They can take
an Ethernet packet coming from a thinnet coaxial-cable segment and pass it on to a fiber-optic segment,
provided the repeater is capable of accepting the physical connections.

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Figure 6 Repeaters can connect different types of media

Some multiport repeaters act as multiport hubs and connect different types of media.

Hubs
Hubs can also be used to expand the size of a LAN. Although using hubs won't convert a LAN into a WAN,
connecting or adding hubs to a LAN can effectively increase the number of workstations. This method of
growing a LAN is popular, but does come with many design limitations.

Bridges
Like a repeater, a bridge can join segments or workgroup LANs. Figure 7 shows a bridge connecting two
network segments. However, a bridge can also divide a network to isolate traffic or problems. For example, if
the volume of traffic from one or two computers or a single department is flooding the network with data and
slowing down the entire operation, a bridge could isolate those computers or that department.
Bridges can be used to:
 Expand the length of a segment.
 Provide for an increased number of computers on the network.
 Reduce traffic bottlenecks resulting from an excessive number of attached computers.
 Split an overloaded network into two separate networks, reducing the amount of traffic on each
segment and making each network more efficient.
 Link unlike physical media such as twisted-pair and coaxial Ethernet.

Figure 7 A bridge connecting two networks

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Because bridges work at the data-link layer of the OSI reference model, all information contained in the higher
levels of the OSI reference model is unavailable to them. Rather than distinguish between one protocol and
another, bridges simply pass all protocols along the network. All protocols pass across bridges, so it is up to
the individual computers to determine which protocols they can recognize. Bridges work at the MAC sublayer
and are sometimes referred to as MAC-layer bridges.

A MAC-layer bridge:
 Listens to all traffic.
 Checks the source and destination addresses of each packet.
 Builds a routing table, as information becomes available.
 Forwards packets in the following manner:
o If the destination is not listed in the routing table, the bridge forwards the packets to all
segments.
o If the destination is listed in the routing table, the bridge forwards the packets to that segment
(unless it is the same segment as the source).
A bridge works on the principle that each network node has its own address. A bridge forwards packets based
on the address of the destination node. Bridges actually have some degree of intelligence in that they learn
where to forward data. As traffic passes through the bridge, information about the computer addresses is stored
in the bridge's RAM. The bridge uses this RAM to build a routing table based on source addresses.
Initially, the bridge's routing table is empty. As nodes transmit packets, the source address is copied to the
routing table. With this address information the bridge learns which computers are on which segment of the
network.

Figure 8 The routing table keeps track of addresses

Creating the Routing Table: Bridges build their routing tables based on the addresses of computers that have
transmitted data on the network. Specifically, bridges use source addresses—the address of the device that
initiates the transmission—to create a routing table.
When the bridge receives a packet, the source address is compared to the routing table. If the source address is
not there, it is added to the table. The bridge then compares the destination address with the routing-table
database.
 If the destination address is in the routing table and is on the same segment as the source address, the
packet is discarded. This filtering helps to reduce network traffic and isolate segments of the network.
 If the destination address is in the routing table and not in the same segment as the source address, the
bridge forwards the packet out of the appropriate port to reach the destination address.
 If the destination address is not in the routing table, the bridge forwards the packet to all its ports
except the one on which it originated.

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In summary, if a bridge knows the location of the destination node, it forwards the packet to it. If it does not
know the destination, it forwards the packet to all segments.

Segmenting Network Traffic: A bridge can segment traffic because of its routing table. As shown in Figure
11, a computer on segment 1 (the source), sends data to another computer (the destination) also located in
segment 1. If the destination address is in the routing table, the bridge can determine that the destination
computer is also on segment 1. Because the source and destination computers are both on segment 1, the
packet does not get forwarded across the bridge to segment 2.

Figure 9 The routing table allows bridges to segment networks

Therefore, bridges can use routing tables to reduce the traffic on the network by controlling which packets get
forwarded to other segments. This controlling (or restricting) of the flow of network traffic is known as
"segmenting network traffic."
A large network is not limited to one bridge. Multiple bridges can be used to combine several small networks
into one large network.

Routers
In an environment that consists of several network segments with differing protocols and architectures, a
bridge might be inadequate for ensuring fast communication among all segments. A network this complex
needs a device that not only knows the address of each segment, but can also determine the best path for
sending data and filtering broadcast traffic to the local segment. Such a device is called a "router."
Routers work at the network layer of the OSI reference model. This means they can switch and route packets
across multiple networks. They do this by exchanging protocol-specific information between separate
networks. Routers read complex network addressing information in the packet and, because they function at a
higher layer in the OSI reference model than bridges, they have access to additional information.
Routers can provide the following functions of a bridge:
 Filtering and isolating traffic
 Connecting network segments

Routers have access to more of the information in packets than bridges have and use this information to
improve packet deliveries. Routers are used in complex networks because they provide better traffic
management. Routers can share status and routing information with one another and use this information to
bypass slow or malfunctioning connections.

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Routers maintain their own routing tables, usually consisting of network addresses; host addresses can also be
kept if the network architecture calls for it. To determine the destination address for incoming data, the routing
table includes:
 All known network addresses.
 Instructions for connection to other networks.
 The possible paths between routers.
 The costs of sending data over those paths.

Routers require specific addresses. They understand only the network numbers that allow them to
communicate with other routers and local NIC addresses. Routers do not talk to remote computers.

Figure 10 Routers talk to other routers, but not to remote computers

When routers receive packets destined for a remote network, they send them to the router that manages the
destination network. In some ways this is an advantage because it means routers can:
 Segment large networks into smaller ones.
 Act as safety barriers between segments.
 Prohibit broadcast storms, because broadcasts are not forwarded.

Because routers must perform complex functions on each packet, routers are slower than most bridges. As
packets are passed from router to router, data-link layer source and destination addresses are stripped off and
then re-created. This enables a router to route a packet from a TCP/IP Ethernet network to a server on a
TCP/IP Token Ring network.
Because routers read only addressed network packets, they do not allow corrupted data to get passed onto the
network. Because they do not pass corrupted data or broadcast data storms, routers put little stress on
networks.
Routers do not look at the destination node address; they look only at the network address. Routers will pass
information only if the network address is known. This ability to control the data passing through the router
reduces the amount of traffic between networks and allows routers to use these links more efficiently than
bridges.
Using the router-addressing scheme, administrators can break one large network into many separate networks,
and because routers do not pass or even handle every packet, they act as a safety barrier between network
segments. This can greatly reduce the amount of traffic on the network and the wait time experienced by users.
Routable Protocols: Not all protocols are routable. Protocols that are routable include:
 DECnet.
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 Internet Protocol (IP).

 Internetwork Packet Exchange (IPX).
 OSI.
 Xerox Network System (XNS).
 DDP (AppleTalk).

Protocols that are not routable include:

 Local Area Transport Protocol (LAT), a protocol from Digital Equipment Corporation.
 NetBEUI (NetBIOS Extended User Interface).

Routers are available that can accommodate multiple protocols such as IP and DECnet in the same network.
Choosing Paths: Unlike bridges, routers can accommodate multiple active paths between LAN segments and
choose among redundant paths. Because routers can link segments that use completely different data
packaging and media-access schemes, there are often several paths available for the router to use. This means
that if one router does not function, the data can still be passed over alternate routes.
A router can listen to a network and identify which parts are busiest. It uses this information to determine
which path to send data over. If one path is very busy, the router identifies an alternative path and sends data
over that one.
A router decides the path the data packet will follow by determining the number of hops between internetwork
segments. Like bridges, routers build routing tables and use these in routing algorithms such as the following:
 OSPF ("open shortest path first") is a link-state routing algorithm. Link-state algorithms control the
routing process and allow routers to respond quickly to changes in the network.
 RIP (Routing Information Protocol) uses distance-vector algorithms to determine routes. Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) and IPX support RIP.
 NetWare Link Services Protocol (NLSP) is a link-state algorithm to be used with IPX.

Gateways
Gateways enable communication between different architectures and environments. They repackage and
convert data going from one environment to another so that each environment can understand the other
environment's data. A gateway repackages information to match the requirements of the destination system.
Gateways can change the format of a message so that it conforms to the application program at the receiving
end of the transfer. For example, electronic-mail gateways, such as the X.400 gateway, receive messages in
one format, translate it, and forward it in X.400 format used by the receiver, and vice versa.
A gateway links two systems that do not use the same:
 Communication protocols.
 Data-formatting structures.
 Languages.
 Architecture.
Gateways interconnect heterogeneous networks; for example, they can connect Microsoft Windows NT Server
to IBM's Systems Network Architecture (SNA). Gateways change the format of the data to make it conform to
the application program at the receiving end. Gateways are task-specific, which means that they are dedicated
to a particular type of transfer.

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