Networking Devices

Er. Avinash Bhagat

Assistant Professor
9463281930
avinash.bhagat@lpu.co.in
What are networking Devices?
• Network devices are the devices used for
• organizing a network,
• connecting to a network,
• routing the packets,
• strengthening the signals,
• communicating with others,
• surfing the web,
• sharing files on the network and many more uses.
Types of network devices

• Modem
• Hub
• Switch
• NIC
• Repeater
• Bridge
• Router
• Gateway
Modem
Modem is a device that converts digital signal to analog signal as a
modulator and analog signal to digital signal as a demodulator.
Description
• Enable computers to communicate over telephone lines.
• Speed of modem is measured in bits per second and varies depending
upon the type of modem. Higher the speed, the faster you can send
and receive data over the network.
• Used to connect computer to the internet.
• Layer -1
Working

• Consider a communication between two computers A and B.

• Computer A transmits the digital signals to its modem in the form of binary
0's and 1's.
• Modem of computer A converts these digital signals it into analog signals
and sends over the telephone line. This process is called as modulator.
• While at the other end, modem of computer B receives the analog signals
and converts back into digital signals. This process is called as demodulator.
• Converted digital signals by the modem are sent to the computer B for
processing.
• In similar way computer B can communicate with computer A.
Hub

• Definition
• Hub is a connecting device in which various types of cables are
connected to centralize network traffic through a single connecting
point.
Hub

• Definition
• Hub is a connecting device in which various types of cables are connected to
centralize network traffic through a single connecting point.
• Description
• Hub with multiple ports are used to connect topologies, segments of LAN and to
monitor network traffic.
• It manages and controls the send and received data to and from the computers.
• Hub works on the physical layer of OSI or TCP/IP model.
• To avoid collision of data CSMA/CD protocol is used and protocol varies
depending upon the vendor.
Working of HUB
Switch

• Definition
• Switch is a multiple LAN connecting device, which takes incoming data
packet from any multiple input ports and passes the data packet to
specific output port.
Switch

• Description
• It works same as hub but does its work very efficiently.
• It uses MAC address information to switch forward the data packets
to a particular destination device.
• By monitoring the network traffic, it can learn where the particular
addresses is located.
• Operates at one or more OSI model layers mainly the data link layer.
• Minimizes the collision of data packets.
• Provides better utilization of limited bandwidth.
Switch
• The term commonly refers to a network bridge that processes and
routes data at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model.
• Switches that additionally process data at the network layer (layer 3
and above) are often referred to as Layer 3 switches or multilayer
switches.
Working of Switch
Working

• Uses two different method for switching the packets :

1) Cut-through
2) Store and forward
• In cut-through method switch examines the header of the packet and
decides, where to pass the packet before it receives the whole packet.

Increases the chances of errors without verifying the data integrity.

• In store and forward method switch reads the entire packet in its
memory and checks for error before transmitting the packet.
This method is slower and time consuming but error free.
NIC

• Definition
• A Network Interface Card (NIC) is circuit board or a card that allows
computers to communicate over a network via cables or wirelessly.
NIC

• Description
• It is also called as LAN adaptor, network adaptor or network card.
• Enable clients, servers, printers and other devices to transmit and receive data over the
network.
• Operates on physical layer (data link)
• Every network adaptor is assigned a unique 48-bit Media Access Control (MAC) address,
which is stored in ROM to identify themselves in a network or a LAN.
• Available maximum data transfer rate is 10, 100 and 1000 MBPS.
• Typically network adaptor has RJ45 or BNC or both sockets for connecting and a LED to
show up it is active and transmitting the data.
• Connects to a network via cables like CAT5, Co-axial, fiber-optics etc. And wirelessly by a
small antenna.
Repeater

• Definition
• Repeater is a electronic device that reshapes and amplifies the signal
received from one LAN segment to another.
Repeater

• Description
• Mostly used to boost the signals in the network.
• Operates at physical layer in the OSI layer model.
• Best suited for long distances network and bus topology.
• Main advantage is that they remove unwanted noise from the incoming
signals.
• Requires separate power supply for functioning.
• Repeater component parts varies from where they are used like in digital
communication, wireless communication, fiber-optic system, cellular system
etc.
Bridge

• Definition
• Bridge is a networking device that connects two or more LAN's
segments together.
Bridge

• Description
• Bridge is used when number of LANs starts increasing, the network
traffic begins on overwhelming to available bandwidth.
• Reduces the network traffic of LAN by dividing it into segments.
• Operates at data link layer of OSI model.
• Can transfer data between two different protocols like Ethernet
(802.3) and token bus (802.4).
• Checks the MAC address of the frame and decides to forward the
frame or to discard the frame
Working of Bridge
A Network with two Bridges and
Bridging Loop
Router

• Definition
• Router is internetwork connecting device that determines most
efficient path for sending a data packet to any given network.
Router

• Description
• Used to connect two or more similar or dissimilar topological LANs or
WLANs
• Shares available bandwidth with multiple computers in a network.
• Provides a better protection as a hardware firewall against hacking.
• Routers are intelligent enough to determine shortest and fastest path from
source to destination in a network using algorithms.
• Operates at network layer of OSI model.
• Wireless routers are now widely used in home and offices as they allow a
user to connect easily without installing any cables.
Gateway

• Definition
• A gateway, as the name suggests, is a passage to connect two
networks together that may work upon different networking models.
• They basically works 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
layer. Gateways are generally more complex than switch or router.
Gateway

• Description
• Following are some common functions of the gateway :
• Protocol translation : translates protocol format into required protocol
format of the network, such as X.25 to TCP/IP.
• Network address translation : translates your public IP address to the private
IP addresses on your network.
• DHCP service : automatically assigns IP address to a computer from a defined
range of addresses for a given network.
• Monitoring and regulating each packet entering and leaving the network.
ultiple Choice Questions
Modem—Layer 1
Hub—Layer 1
Switch—Layer2
NIC—Layer 1 /2
Repeater –Layer1
Bridge—Layer2
Router—Layer3
Gateway- any layers 
 
 

Router is ____________ device.

Network Layer
Transport Layer
Physical Layer
Data Link Layer
ultiple Choice Questions
Modem—Layer 1
Hub—Layer 1
Switch—Layer2
NIC—Layer 1 \ Layer2
Repeater –Layer1
Bridge—Layer2
Router—Layer3
Gateway- all layers 
 
 
Router is ____________ device.
Layer3
Layer4
Layer1
Layer2
 
ultiple Choice Questions

Device used to convert Digital signals to Analog signal. –MODEM

Device used to broadcast mechanism for communication —HUB

Device forwards the message to actual recipient in the network –switch

Device used to manage the routes between two nodes located in

different network—router

Hardware device or software application used to protect the internal network from
external threats. -Firewall
ultiple Choice Questions

Device used to connect two network segments—Bridge

A network node equipped for interfacing with another network that uses different
communication protocols--Gateway
 
 
ultiple Choice Questions

 
 
Which of the following is true about Gateway
A. The software interface between a web-based shopping cart and a
merchant account
B. A webpage designed to attract visitors and search engines to a
particular website
C. A network node equipped for interfacing with another network that
uses different communication protocols.
D. All of the above