1.

REPEATERS Definition In telecommunications, a repeater is an electronic device that receives a signal and retransmits it at a higher level or higher power, or onto the other side of an obstruction, so that the signal can cover longer distances. The term "repeater" originated with telegraphy in the 19th century, and referred to an electromechanical device used to regenerate telegraph signals.[1] Use of the term has continued in telephony and data communications. In telecommunication, the term repeater has the following standardized meanings: 1. An analog device that amplifies an input signal regardless of its nature (analog or digital). 2. A digital device that amplifies, reshapes, retimes, or performs a combination of any of these functions on a digital input signal for retransmission. A repeater that includes the retiming function is also known as a regenerator[2]. Usages Repeaters are used to increase the range of a transmitted signal by re-transmission. For a conducted signal, an amplifier is used. Optical systems don't amplify but all these devices give the appearance of doing so.

Advantages

Makes it easy to expand a network over a large distance. Connection between various types of media [e.g. fibre optic, UTF, coaxial cable] is possible.

Disadvantages

Traffic cannot be filtered to ease congestion. A repeater cannot work across multiple network architectures.

2. HUB An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub, multiport repeater or hub is a device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment. It has multiple input/output (I/O) ports, in which a signal introduced at the input of any port appears at the output of every port except the original incoming. A hub works at the physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI model.[1] The device is a form of multiport repeater.. Ethernet is a family of computer networking technologies for local area networks (LANs). Definition A common connection point for devices in a network. Hubs are commonly used to connect segments of a LAN. A hub contains multiple ports. When a packetarrives at one port, it is copied to the other ports so that all segments of the LAN can see all packets.

Types A passive hub serves simply as a medium for the data, enabling it to go from one device (or segment) to another. A intelligent hubs include additional features that enables an administrator to monitor the traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port in the hub. Intelligent hubs are also called manageable hubs. A switching hub, actually reads the destination address of each packet and then forwards the packet to the correct port.

Technical information A hub does not examine or manage any of the traffic that comes through it: any packet entering any port is rebroadcast on all other ports.[2] Effectively, it is barely aware of frames or packets and mostly operates on raw bits or symbols. Consequently, due to the larger collision domains, packet collisions are more frequent in networks connected using hubs than in networks connected using more sophisticated devices.[1]

The need for hosts to be able to detect collisions limits the number of hubs and the total size of a network built using hubs (a network built using switches does not have these limitations). Most hubs detect typical problems, such as excessive collision on individual ports, and partition the port, disconnecting it from the shared medium.

Hubs are classified as physical layer devices in the OSI model. At the physical layer, hubs support little in the way of sophisticated networking. Hubs do not read any of the data passing through them and are not aware of their source or destination addressing. A hub simply receives incoming Ethernet frames, regenerates the electrical signal on the bit (more precisely the symbol) level, and broadcasts these symbols out to all other devices on the network.[1]

Advantages

A hub allows you connect clients to share and conversations with a network. A hub also can modulate signal of the cable, if needed. Using hub save money because switches are costly then hub.

Disadvantages

Hub cant control traffic of data. Cause it receive all attachment post. Hubs have limited port to connect client, so it is not suitable for large network. It works as a query system. When NIC send a work to the hub then hub make this work pending and process one by one. So its time consuming.

3. BRIDGE

A network bridge is a network device that connects multiple network segments. In the OSI model bridging acts in the first two layers, below the network layer. There are four types of network-bridging technologies: simple bridging; multiport bridging; learning, or transparent bridging; and source route bridging A bridge is a device that separates two or more network segments within one logical network (e.g. a single IP-subnet).

The job of the bridge is to examine the destination of the data packets one at a time and decide whether or not to pass the packets to the other side of the Ethernet segment. The result is a faster, quieter network with less collisions. In computer networking, a bridge serves the same purpose. It connects two or more local area networks (LANs) together. The data, use the bridge to travel to and from different areas of the network. The device is similar to a router, but it does not analyze the data being forwarded. Because of this, bridges are typically fast at transferring data, but not as versatile as a router. For example, a bridge cannot be used as a firewall like most routers can. A bridge can transfer data between different protocols (i.e. a Token Ring and Ethernet network) and operates at the "data link layer" or level 2 of the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) networking reference model. The network bridge, in contrast, allows you to connect network segments by selecting the appropriate network connection icons and clicking Bridge Connections. Similar buttons allow you to enable the bridge and add connections to it. The network bridge manages your network segments, and creates a single IP subnet for the entire network. There is no configuration required. Bridge automates the configuration that is required in order to forward information from one type of media to another. The network bridge is provide an easy and affordable way to connect Bridge belongs to the data link layer of the OSI model. A bridge reads the outermost section of data on the data packet, to tell where the message is going.

It reduces the traffic on other network segments, since it does not send all packets. Bridging occurs at the data link layer of the OSI model, which means the bridge cannot read IP addresses, but only the outermost hardware address of the packet. Bridges work on the media access sub layer of the data link layer of the OSI model. Because they work on this layer, all information contains in higher level is unavailable to them. So they dont distinguish between protocols. Bridges forward all broadcast messages. By using the bridge we can join two dissimilar or different transmission media. And we also connect two different types of network architectures. The hardware address is also called the MAC (media access control) address. To determine the network segment a MAC address is necessary. If the protocols are different of the two networks than we cant connect them by bridge. So protocol conversion is not done through bridges. If the destination address is at the same segment as the source address than bridge simply drops this packet.

ADVANTAGES OF BRIDGE: - Used to expand the network. - We can join two dissimilar transmission media. - Translation bridges will allow two different network architectures to connect together. - Bridges can filter out the data. - And can handle the traffic problems very well. - Less expensive too. - Faster because protocol conversion is not done.

DISADVANTAGES OF BRIDGES: - Not an intelligent device. - Protocol conversion is not done.

4. Transparent Bridge

Transparent bridges are devices which connects more than one network segments with other bridges to make all routing decisions. A transparent bridge is essentially used to learn the MAC addresses of all nodes and their associated port, to filter incoming frames whose destination MAC addresses are located on the same incoming port, and to forward incoming frames to the destination MAC through their associated port@. There are two types of Transparent Bridge Modes:

Store-and-Forward: Stores the entire frame and verifies the CRC before forwarding the frame. If a CRC error is detected, the frame is discarded. Cut-Through: Forwards the frame just after it reads the destination MAC address without performing a CRC check.

Reasons for Bridges On a single LAN, there are limitations: Number of stations Size of segment Bandwidth per segment Bridges connect LAN segments to make extended LANs LANs, LAN Segments, Extended LANs

History and Intro Transparent bridges were first developed at Digital Equipment Corporation (Digital) in the early 1980s. Work into the IEEE 802.1 standard. Transparent bridges are very popular in Ethernet/IEEE 802.3 networks. When transparent bridges are powered on, they learn the workstation locations by analyzing the source address of incoming frames from all attached networks. If a bridge sees a frame arrive on port 1 from Host A, the bridge concludes that Host A can be reached through the segment connected to port 1. Through this process, transparent bridges build a table

Operation The bridge uses its table as the basis for traffic forwarding. When a frame is received on one of the bridge's interfaces, the bridge looks up the frame's destination address in its internal table. If the table contains an association between the destination address and any of the bridge's ports aside from the one on which the frame was received, the frame is forwarded out the indicated port. If no association is found, the frame is flooded to all ports except the inbound port. Broadcasts and multicasts also are flooded in this way.

The Bridge forwarded the traffic smartly Manual entry of station addresses? Stations use addresses from a range? Station addresses are assigned such that a portion indicates the LAN number?

 Transparent Bridging brings a number of benefits. First, the switches are invisible to the end stations. Because all of the logic is operating in the switch, there is no change required to end station software or hardware. Switches can be deployed, reconfigured, and removed at will. Second, as part of a Layer 2 solution, transparent bridging can be used in any IEEE-based network regardless of what Layer 3 (or other upper layers) is present. Third, in a network that does not require the Spanning Tree Protocol (STP) or Rapid STP (RSTP), transparent bridging introduces no additional traffic into the internetwork. If STP or RSTP is required, switches generate one 64 octet frame in each collision domain every few seconds. In a 10 Mbps Ethernet, this represents less than .0005 percent of the available bandwidth. Fourth, the network can be made resilient by adding redundant links and implementing STP or RSTP. Fifth, if RSTP is used in such environments, network recovery is fairly rapid. In some scenarios it can be as little one second; in others it may take as much as 1020 seconds. Finally, transparent bridging is an industry standard that can be deployed in any IEEE-compatible LAN environment and is broadly supported in the industry. Compatibility and interoperability among vendor platforms is high, making it easy for a network administrator to incorporate equipment from multiple vendors.

5. SWITCHES INTRODUCTION

A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that links network segments or network devices. The term commonly refers to a multi-port 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 called layer-3 switches or multilayer switches. Function

A switch is a telecommunication device that receives a message from any device connected to it and then transmits the message only to the device for which the message was meant. This makes the switch a more intelligent device than a hub (which receives a message and then transmits it to all the other devices on its network). The network switch plays an integral part in most modern Ethernet local area networks (LANs). Mid-to-large sized LANs contain a number of linked managed switches. Small office/home office (SOHO) applications typically use a single switch, or an all-purpose converged device such as a residential gateway to access small office/home broadband services such as DSL or cable Internet. In most of these cases, the end-user device contains a router and components that interface to the particular physical broadband technology. User devices may also include a telephone interface for VoIP.

OSI Layer Model for concentrators

Hubs/Repeaters are found in the Physical Layer Switches /Bridges/Wireless Access Point are found in the Data Link Layer Routers are found in the Network Layer Gateway are found in All 7 of the OSI Layers

Brouter are found in both the Data Link and Network Layer

Data Link(Layer 2)

At this layer, data packets are encoded and decoded into bits. It furnishes transmission protocol knowledge and management and handles errors in the physical layer, flow control and frame synchronization. The data link layer is divided into two sublayers: The Media Access Control (MAC) layer and the Logical Link Control (LLC) layer. The MAC sublayer controls how a computer on the network gains access to the data and permission to transmit it. The LLC layer controls frame synchronization, flow control and error checking.

Network Switching Types

Switching Types. Data can travel over several different types of lines using one of two overall types of switching technology.

Circuit Switching Packet Switching

An example of a circuit switched network is a telephone network. The a remote access link for each major node in the circuit associated with a phone call is established for the duration of the call. It is also the case that the pathway taken might be different from one call to the next. An example of a packet switching network is the standard routing operations on the Internet. When you send an e-mail it is broken down into packets. Each packet might take a different route to get to the destination. Then the packets are reassembled at the other end. acket switching networks are networks in which packets of data can take different routes to reach the same destination. At the receiving end the packets are put back together to reconstruct the original transmission. These sorts of networks are often depicted using a cloud because the exact routes of travel are unknown.

The three main types of packet switching technologies we will discuss are in the following list.

X.25 Frame Relay ATM - Asynchronous Transfer Mode

In telecommunications, message switching was the precursor of packet switching, where messages were routed in their entirety, one hop at a time. It was first introduced by Leonard Kleinrock in 1961. Message switching systems are nowadays mostly implemented over packet-switched or circuit-switched data networks. Each message is treated as a separate entity. Each message contains addressing information, and at each switch this information is read and the transfer path to the next switch is decided. Depending on network conditions, a conversation of several messages may not be transferred over the same path. Each message is stored (usually on hard drive due to RAM limitations) before being transmitted to the next switch. Because of this it is also known as a 'store-and-forward' network. Email is a common application for Message Switching. A delay in delivering email is allowed unlike real time data transfer between two computers.

6. ROUTERS

WHAT IS A ROUTER ? Routers take information that arrives through your broadband signal via a modem, decipher it, and deliver it to your computer. A modem is what you use to actually receive your internet connection through phone line or cable. A router splits that connection up so you can use it on multiple computers. The router will also choose the best route for the data packet so that you receive the information quickly. Many different types of routers have been developed so that the information coming over your broadband connection can be sent to a variety of different receivers including your computer, your phone, and others. TYPES OF ROUTERS: Routers provide connectivity inside enterprises, between enterprises and the Internet, and within an Internet Service Provider (ISP) One of the largest routers e.g. the Cisco CRS-1 or Juniper T1600 interconnects internet Service Providers (ISPs), they are used within ISPs, or may be used in very large enterprise networks. The smallest routers provide connectivity for small and home offices. Edge Router This type of router are placed at the edge of the ISP network, they are normally configured to external protocol like BGP (Border gateway protocol) to another BGP of other ISP or large organization. Inter-provider Border Router This type of router is for Interconnecting ISPs, this is a BGP speaking router that maintains BGP sessions with other BGP speaking routers in other providers' ASes. Core Router A router that resides within the middle or backbone of the LAN network rather than at its periphery. In some instances, a core router provides a stepdown backbone, interconnecting the distribution routers from multiple building of a campus ( LAN), or Large enterprise Location (WAN). They tend to be optimized for a high bandwidth.

Wired and Wireless Routers. Home and small office networking is becoming popular by day by the use of IP wired and router. Wired and wireless router are able to maintain routing and configuration information in their routing table. They also provide the service of filtering traffic of incoming and outgoing packets based on IP addresses. Some wireless routers combines the functions of router with those of a network switch and that of a firewall in one. LAYER ON WHICH ROUTER WORKS IN THE OSI MODEL Routers work in the network layer of the OSI model and choose the best, shortest and optimized path to route the packets received from data link layer and requested by transport layer. ADVANTAGES A router can work on both LAN and WAN. It is able to define the best way the information or data have to follow. A router is able to filter the broadcasts while leading them between two interfaces. A router can be connected to many media and architectures and this facilitates the work in some companies. DISADVANTAGES The most important one is that it costs more than any other device that can play a similar role like Hub, Bridge and Switch. A router functions only according to a routing protocol. The more data it has to filter, the slower the routers function gets.

COMPARISON OF ROUTER AND SWITCH Router Layer: Technical Specifications: Transmission Type: Switch Network Layer (Layer 3 devices) Routers operate at Layer 3 (Network) of the OSI model.

Data Link Layer (Layer 2 devices)

Table: Used in (LAN/MAN/WAN): Ports: Device Type: Transmission Mode: Data Transmission form: Device Category: Broadcast Domain: Speed: Routing Decision:

Network switches operate at layer two (Data Link Layer) of the OSI model. At Initial Level Broadcast then At Initial Level Broadcast then Uni-cast & Multicast Uni-cast & Multicast Store MAC address in lookup Store IP address in Routing table and maintain address at its table and maintain address at own, Switch can Learn MAC its own. address. LAN . WAN 2/4/8 Networking device Full duplex Packet Intelligent Device In Router, every port has its own Broadcast domain. 1-10 Mbps(Wireless) 100 Mbps (Wired) Take faster Routing Decision LAN Switch is multi port Bridge. 24/48 ports Active Device (With Software) & Networking device Full duplex Frame (L2 Switch) Frame & Packet (L3 switch) Intelligent Device Switch has one broadcast domain [unless VLAN implemented] 10/100Mbps, 1Gbps Take more time for complicated routing Decision Switches can Not perform NAT In a LAN environment L3 switch is faster than Router (built in switching hardware)

NAT (Network Can Perform NAT Address Translation): In a different network environment (MAN/ WAN) Faster: Router is faster than L3 Switch.