2.

2 Network Devices
Connectors, Repeaters, Hubs, Bridges, Switches, Routers, NIC’s
 Network Devices
 Network is interconnection of devices.

 For these connection we need to use the connecting devices.

 Also called as Network Control Devices.

 The purpose
 Allow a greater number of nodes to be connected to the network.
 Extend the distance over which a network can extend.
 Localize traffic on the network.
 Can merge existing networks.
 Isolate network problems so that they can be diagnosed more easily.
Devices and the layers at which they
operate
WAN LAN

A WAN network will have a

larger coverage area that can
A LAN network is limited to
range up to 100,000 KM and
between 100-1000 meters
in some cases, stretches
coverage
globally or over international
borders.

Area covered
 Connectors

 To connect cable between two computers.

 Connectors are of different type such as –
 Twisted Pair cable
 Co-axial Cable
 Fibre optic cable.
 Connectors are type such as-
 Jacks
 Plugs
 Sockets and ports
 Connectors
Example:
RS232 and V35 for serial interface
RJ45 and BNC connectors for Ethernet.
SC or ST connectors for fibre optic
 Repeaters

 Signal attenuation or signal loss – signal degrades over distance

 Repeaters clean, amplify, and resend signals that are weakened by long cable
length.
 Built-in to hubs or switches
 A repeater operates only at the PHYSICAL layer.
 It connects two segments of the same network.

 Single port, multi-port repeaters.

Repeaters

Function of a repeater
HUB

 A hub is used as a central device.

 Connects the computers in star topology.
 Hubs are simple devices that direct data packets to all devices connected to
the hub.
 Hubs regenerate and retime network signals
 hubs work at the OSI physical layer
 They cannot filter network traffic.
 They cannot determine best path
 They are really multi-port repeaters
 Types of Hub

1. Passive hub
 is just a connector - connects the wires coming from different branches.
 The signal pass through a passive hub without regeneration or amplification. (distance
300 feet)
2. Active hubs or Multiport repeaters-
 They regenerate or amplify the signal before they are retransmitted (distance -2000
feet).
3. Intelligent Hub

 Regenerate the signals and perform network

management and intelligent path selection.
 Bridges

 Operates in both the PHYSICAL and the data link layer.

 As a PHYSICAL layer device, it regenerates the signal it receives.
 As a data link layer device, the bridge can check the PHYSICAL/MAC
addresses (source and destination) contained in the frame.
Bridge
 Bridges

 A bridge has a table used in filtering decisions.

 It can check the destination address of a frame and decide if the frame should
be forwarded or dropped.

 For frame to be forwarding, it specify the port.

 Limit or filter traffic - keeps local traffic local yet allow connectivity to other
parts (segments).
Function of Bridge
Characteristics of Bridges
 Routing Tables
– Contains one entry per station of network.
– Is used to determine the network of destination.
 Filtering
– Packets are filtered with respect to their destination and multicast addresses.
 Forwarding
– the process of passing a packet from one network to another.
 Learning Algorithm
– the process by which the bridge learns how to reach stations on the internetwork.
 Types of Bridges

 Transparent Bridge
 Also called learning bridges
 Build a table of MAC addresses as frames arrive.
 Ethernet networks use transparent bridge
 Duties are : Filtering frames, forwarding and blocking
 Source Routing Bridge
 Used in Token Ring networks
 Frame contains not only the source and destination address but also the bridge
addresses.
 Advantages And Disadvantages
 Advantages of using a bridge
– Extend physical network
– Reduce network traffic with minor segmentation
– Reduce collisions
– Connect different architecture
 Disadvantages of using bridges
– Slower than repeaters due to filtering
– Do not filter broadcasts
– More expensive than repeaters
 Differences Between Bridges and
Repeaters
Repeaters Bridges

OSI layer Physical layer Data link layer

Data Regenerate data at Regenerate data

regeneration the signal level at the packet
level
Reduce network No Yes
traffic
Switched networks

 Shared ethernet networks perform best when kept to 30-40

percent full capacity
 This is a result of CSMA/CD
 A LAN switch is a high-speed multiport bridge which segments
each port into its own collision domain and can access the full
bandwidth
Devices and the layers at which they
operate

Layer Name of Layer Device

3 Network Routers, layer 3
switches

2 Data Link Switches,

bridges, NIC’s

1 Physical Hubs
Switches

 Each port is a simulated segment to itself

Store and Forward Switches

 Do error checking on each frame after the entire

frame has arrived into the switch
 If the error checking algorithm determines there
is no error, the switch looks in its MAC address
table for the port to which to forward the
destination device
 Highly reliable because doesn’t forward bad
frames
 Slower than other types of switches because it
holds on to each frame until it is completely
received to check for errors before forwarding
Cut Through Switch

 Faster than store and forward because doesn’t perform error

checking on frames
 Reads address information for each frame as the frames enter the
switch
 After looking up the port of the destination device, frame is
forwarded
 Forwards bad frames
 Performance penalty because bad frames can’t be used and
replacement frames must be sent which creates additional traffic
Fragment free cut through switch

 Combines speed of cut through switch with error checking

functionality
 Forwards all frames initially, but determines that if a particular
port is receiving too many bad frames, it reconfigures the port to
store and forward mode
 Preferred switching solution
Unmanaged/Intelligent switches

 Unmanaged – provides LAN’s with all the benefits of switching

 Fine in small networks
 Intelligent switches tracks and reports LAN performance
statistics
 Have a database ASIC (application specific integrated circuit) on
board to collect and store data which you view through a software
interface
Layer 3 switch

 By definition a switch filters or forwards frames

based on MAC addresses. This makes a switch a
layer 2 device.
 Now we have layer 3 switches which have
routing capability. If a data frame can’t be
switched it is routed.
 Each port is a separate LAN port, but the
forwarding engine actually calculates and stores
routes based on IP addresses, not MAC addresses
 Usually support only IP or IP and IPX
VLAN Switches

 Virtual local area network

 Each port on a switch defines a collision domain
 The entire switch forms a single broadcast domain
 VLANs can define multiple broadcast domains
 Network traffic that is directed to all computers on the
network can be segmented to transmit only on a specific
VLAN.
 Improves bandwidth on a the VLAN’s because each
VLAN filters the network-to-network broadcast traffic as
well as the collision traffic from other VLAN’s
Physical Layer Broadcast

 Physical layer broadcasts – implemented by non-switched

Ethernet networks through shared cabling and hubs
 Each bit that is transmitted is physically received by every
station
 Switches and VLAN’s don’t do physical layer broadcasts
MAC-level broadcast

 MAC-level broadcast – deal with how to handle

MAC level broadcast frames; that is the data frames
that have a broadcast destination MAC address
 MAC-level broadcast frames are addressed to all
MAC addresses on a given network (not a network
segment, but an actual network as defined by its
network address)
 A regular switch forwards all broadcast frames out all
ports, but a VLAN switch forwards broadcast frames
only to ports that are part of the same VLAN
 Multiple switches can be part of the same VLAN
VLAN Switches

 None of the VLAN’s can communicate unless each VLAN is

connected to a router or layer 3 switch
 Each VLAN is separating collision traffic associated with MAC
Addresses (layer 2) and each VLAN is separating the network-to-
network broadcast traffic. In other words each VLAN is acting as
a separate network so a layer 3 device is necessary for them to
communicate
After this PPT3 & then PPT7