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MainDidYouKnowHardware&Software
TheDifferenceBetweenaRouter,SwitchandHub
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UpdatedSeptember16,2016/PostedNovember17,2006
ByRonPacchiano
RelatedTerms
hub
switchinghub
switch
routerfirmware
IPswitching
router
routingswitch
switchedEthernet
MPLSMultiprotocolLabelSwitching
EventRouter
Sometechnicianshaveatendencytousethetermsrouter,switch
andhubinterchangeably,buthaveyoueverwonderedwhatthe
differenceis?
Sometechnicianshaveatendencytousethetermsrouter,hubandswitchinterchangeably.Oneminute
they'retalkingaboutaswitchanddiscussingroutersettingsthenext.Throughouttheconversation,however,
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they'restilllookingatonlyonebox.Haveyoueverwonderedwhatthedifferenceisamongthesedevices?
RoutervsSwitchvsHub:TheDevicesDefined
Thefunctionsofthethreedevicestherouter,switchandhubareallquitedifferentfromoneanother,
evenifattimestheyareallintegratedintoasingledevice.Whichdevicedoyouusewhen?
WhatisaRouter?
Thisdeviceforwardsdatapacketsalongnetworks.Itisconnectedtoatleasttwonetworks,commonly
twoLANsorWANsoraLANanditsISP.snetwork.Routersarelocatedatgateways,theplaceswhere
twoormorenetworksconnect.Routersuseheadersandforwardingtablestodeterminethebestpathfor
forwardingthepackets,andtheyuseprotocolssuchasICMPtocommunicatewitheachotherand
configurethebestroutebetweenanytwohosts.
TheChallengesofCloudIntegration
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WhatisaSwitch?
Innetworks,adevicethatfiltersandforwardspacketsbetweenLANsegments.Switchesoperateatthe
datalinklayer(layer2)andsometimesthenetworklayer(layer3)oftheOSIReferenceModeland
thereforesupportanypacketprotocol.LANsthatuseswitchestojoinsegmentsarecalledswitched
LANsor,inthecaseofEthernetnetworks,switchedEthernetLANs.
Finally,whatisaHub?
Acommonconnectionpointfordevicesinanetwork.Hubsarecommonlyusedtoconnectsegmentsof
aLAN.Ahubcontainsmultipleports.Whenapacketarrivesatoneport,itiscopiedtotheotherports
sothatallsegmentsoftheLANcanseeallpackets.
TheDifferencesBetweenaRouter,SwitchandHubontheNetwork
TodaymostroutershavebecomesomethingofaSwissArmyknife,combiningthefeaturesandfunctionality
ofarouterandswitch/hubintoasingleunit.Soconversationsregardingthesedevicescanbeabitmisleading
especiallytosomeonenewtocomputernetworking.Thefunctionsofarouter,hubandaswitchareall
quitedifferentfromoneanother,evenifattimestheyareallintegratedintoasingledevice.
Let'sstartwiththehubandtheswitchsincethesetwodeviceshavesimilarrolesonthenetwork.
HubvsSwitch:SimilarRoles
Eachservesasacentralconnectionforallofyournetworkequipmentandhandlesadatatypeknownas
frames.Framescarryyourdata.Whenaframeisreceived,itisamplifiedandthentransmittedontotheport
ofthedestinationPC.Thebigdifferencebetweenthesetwodevicesisinthemethodinwhichframesare
beingdelivered.
Inahub,aframeispassedalongor"broadcast"toeveryoneofitsports.Itdoesn'tmatterthattheframeis
onlydestinedforoneport.Thehubhasnowayofdistinguishingwhichportaframeshouldbesentto.
Passingitalongtoeveryportensuresthatitwillreachitsintendeddestination.Thisplacesalotoftrafficon
thenetworkandcanleadtopoornetworkresponsetimes.
Additionally,a10/100Mbpshubmustshareitsbandwidthwitheachandeveryoneofitsports.Sowhenonly
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onePCisbroadcasting,itwillhaveaccesstothemaximumavailablebandwidth.If,however,multiplePCs
arebroadcasting,thenthatbandwidthwillneedtobedividedamongallofthosesystems,whichwilldegrade
performance.
Aswitch,however,keepsarecordoftheMACaddressesofallthedevicesconnectedtoit.Withthis
information,aswitchcanidentifywhichsystemissittingonwhichport.Sowhenaframeisreceived,it
knowsexactlywhichporttosenditto,withoutsignificantlyincreasingnetworkresponsetimes.And,unlike
ahub,a10/100Mbpsswitchwillallocateafull10/100Mbpstoeachofitsports.Soregardlessofthenumber
ofPCstransmitting,userswillalwayshaveaccesstothemaximumamountofbandwidth.It'sforthese
reasonsaswitchisconsideredtobeamuchbetterchoicethanahub.
RoutersareCompletelyDifferentDevices
Routersarecompletelydifferentdevices.Whereahuborswitchisconcernedwithtransmittingframes,a
router'sjob,asitsnameimplies,istoroutepacketstoothernetworksuntilthatpacketultimatelyreachesits
destination.Oneofthekeyfeaturesofapacketisthatitnotonlycontainsdata,butthedestinationaddressof
whereit'sgoing.
Arouteristypicallyconnectedtoatleasttwonetworks,commonlytwoLocalAreaNetworks(LANs)or
WideAreaNetworks(WAN)oraLANanditsISP'snetwork.forexample,yourPCorworkgroupand
EarthLink.Routersarelocatedatgateways,theplaceswheretwoormorenetworksconnect.Usingheaders
andforwardingtables,routersdeterminethebestpathforforwardingthepackets.Routeruseprotocolssuch
asICMPtocommunicatewitheachotherandconfigurethebestroutebetweenanytwohosts.
FeaturesofIntegratedRouters
Today,awidevarietyofservicesareintegratedintomostbroadbandrouters.Arouterwilltypicallyincludea
48portEthernetswitch(orhub)andaNetworkAddressTranslator(NAT).Inaddition,theyusually
includeaDynamicHostConfigurationProtocol(DHCP)server,DomainNameService(DNS)proxyserver
andahardwarefirewalltoprotecttheLANfrommaliciousintrusionfromtheInternet.
AllroutershaveaWANPortthatconnectstoaDSLorcablemodemforbroadbandInternetserviceandthe
integratedswitchallowsuserstoeasilycreateaLAN.ThisallowsallthePCsontheLANtohaveaccessto
theInternetandWindowsfileandprintersharingservices.
RoutersmighthaveasingleWANportandasingleLANportandaredesignedtoconnectanexistingLAN
huborswitchtoaWAN.EthernetswitchesandhubscanbeconnectedtoarouterwithmultiplePCportsto
expandaLAN.Dependingonthecapabilities(kindsofavailableports)oftherouterandtheswitchesor
hubs,theconnectionbetweentherouterandswitches/hubsmayrequireeitherstraightthruorcrossover
(nullmodem)cables.SomeroutersevenhaveUSBports,andmorecommonly,wirelessaccesspointsbuilt
intothem.
Someofthemorehighendorbusinessclassrouterswillalsoincorporateaserialportthatcanbeconnected
toanexternaldialupmodem,whichisusefulasabackupintheeventthattheprimarybroadband
connectiongoesdown,aswellasabuiltinLANprinterserverandprinterport.
BesidestheinherentprotectionfeaturesprovidedbytheNAT,manyrouterswillalsohaveabuiltin,
configurable,hardwarebasedfirewall.Firewallcapabilitiescanrangefromtheverybasictoquite
sophisticateddevices.Amongthecapabilitiesfoundonleadingroutersarethosethatpermitconfiguring
TCP/UDPportsforgames,chatservices,andthelike,ontheLANbehindthefirewall.
So,inshort,ahubgluestogetheranEthernetnetworksegment,aswitchcanconnectmultipleEthernet
segmentsmoreefficientlyandaroutercandothosefunctionsplusrouteTCP/IPpacketsbetweenmultiple
LANsand/orWANsandmuchmoreofcourse.
DidYouKnow...RoutersaretheonlyoneofthesethreedevicesthatwillallowyoutoshareasingleIP
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addressamongmultiplenetworkclients.
RonaldPacchianoisacontributingwriterforSmallBusinessComputing.comandPracticallyNetworked.com,
bothareInternet.comsites..
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