NETWORK

DEVICES
Modem
A modem is a computer peripheral that allows us to
connect and communicate with other computers via
telephone lines.

In other words, Modem (Modulator-Demodulator) is a

communication device that converts binary signal into
analog signals (Modulation) for transmission over the
telephone lines and converts these analog signals back
into binary form ( Demodulation) at the receiving end.
WORKING OF MODEM
TWO BASIC PHYSICAL TYPES OF MODEM:
1. INTERNAL MODEM: 2. EXTERNAL MODEM:
Modems that are fixed Modems connected externally to
within the computers. The the computer. External modems
advantage of an internal require a power source and extra
modem is the lack of extra wires to connect to the computer.
wires required for The advantage of external
installation. Internal modems is that they feature lights
modems get their power on the front so you can monitor
from the computer's power the connection status. Internal
supply. modems cannot be viewed from
outside the computer except in the
back of the unit.
(NETWORK INTERFACE CARD)
A network interface card is a piece of computer hardware designed
to allow computers to communicate over a computer network.
The computers that are part of Ethernet have to install a special
card called Ethernet Card.
An Ethernet supports two types of connections:
1. RJ-45 connection, if it is designed for twisted pair
2. BNC Connector, if it is designed for coaxial cable
 INTERNAL LAN CARD

Wired Wireless
HUB

A Hub is a hardware device used to connect several

computers together. A hub contains multiple ports.
Hubs forward any data packets including e-mail, word
documents, spreadsheets, graphics- they receive over one
port to all of the remaining ports. All users connected to a
single hub are in the same segment.
 FUNCTIONING OF A HUB:

Allows the signal to pass from one computer to

another without any change.
Electrically amplifies the signal as it moves from one
connected device to the other.
SWITCH
Switches are the linkage points of an Ethernet network. Just as
in hub, devices in switches are connected to them through
twisted pair cabling. But the difference is that:
Hub works by sending the data to all the ports on the device,
whereas
A Switch transfers it only to that port which is connected to
the destination device. A switch does so by looking at the
MAC address of the devices connected to it. Since the
transmission of data signals are well defined in a switch hence
the network performance is consequently enhanced.
Switch is Layer 2 (Data Link Layer) device
 Comparison Hub Vs Switch
Hub Switch

Layer Physical layer. Hubs are classified as Data Link Layer. Network switches operate at
Layer 1 devices per the OSI model. Layer 2 of the OSI model.

Function To connect a network of personal Allow to connect multiple device and port can be
computers together, they can be joined manage, Vlan can create security also can apply
through a central hub.

Data Transmission form Electrical signal or bits Frame (L2 Switch) Frame & Packet (L3 switch)

Ports 4/12 ports Switch is multi port Bridge. 24/48 ports

Transmission Type Hubs always perform frame flooding; First broadcast; then unicast & multicast as needed.
may be unicast, multicast or broadcast

Device Type Passive Device (Without Software) Active Device (With Software) & Networking
device
Table A network hub cannot learn or store Switches use content accessible memory CAM
MAC address. table which is typically accessed by ASIC
(Application Specific integrated chips).
Transmission Mode Half duplex Half/Full duplex
Speed 10Mbps 10/100 Mbps, 1 Gbps
Collisions Collisions occur commonly in setups No collisions occur in a full-duplex switch.
using hubs.
 Bridges
A bridge is a computer networking device that builds the
connection with the other bridge networks which use the same
protocol. It works at the Data Link layer of the OSI Model and
connects the different networks together and develops
communication between them. It connects two local-area
networks; two physical LANs into larger logical LAN or
twosegmentsof the same LAN that use the same protocol.

Bridges nominate to forward the data after inspecting into the

MAC address of the devices connected to every segment. The
forwarding of the data is dependent on the acknowledgement
of the fact that the destination address resides on some other
interface. It has the capacity to block the incoming flow of
data as well.
Bridge
 Router
Routers are network layer devices and are particularly identified as
Layer- 3 devices of the OSI Model. They processlogicaladdressing
information in the Network header of a packet such as IP
Addresses. Router is used to create larger complex networks by
complex traffic routing. It has the ability to connect dissimilar LANs
on the same protocol. It also has the ability to limit the flow of
broadcasts. A router primarily comprises of a hardware device or a
system of the computer which has more than one network
interface and routing software
 Router Operation
Router involves in two main functions:
Forwarding Function
Filtering Function

Forwarding Function:
When packets need to be sent to a host or hosts on
another network, they are forwarded to a router that
is connected to that particular local network. The
router to which the packet is forwarded will then
check its routing tables to determine the path the
packet should take. Packets are usually sent along
the path with lowest cost value or metric.
 Router function
Cont
Filtering Function:
Filtering is the process of controlling the flow of
packets based on attributes such as source address,
destination address, type, length, and port number.
Filtering is done to protect the network from
unauthorized traffic.
Network administrators can create rules for filtering
out unwanted packets.
Packets filtering can be implemented is two ways:
Static Filtering: Ports are configured as either permanently open
or permanently closed.
Dynamic Filtering: Selected ports can be opened for authorized
access and closed for others.
 The routing metric includes the
following

Hop Count: The number of intermediate routers between a

given network and local router.
Latency: The time delay in processing a packet through the
router or over a given route.
Congestion: The length of packet queue at the incoming port
of the router.
Load: The processor used at the router or the number of
packets per second that is currently processing.
Bandwidth: The available capacity of a route to support
network traffic.
Reliability: The relative amount of downtime that a particular
route might experience because of malfunctions.
Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU): The largest packet size
that the router can forward without needing to fragment the
packet.
 Routing Methods
Static Routing
1. Routing tables are manually
configured by network
administrators
2. Used in smaller networks
where security is the major
concern.
3. Routers that use static routing
are called static routers.
4. Each static router must be
configured and maintained
separately because static routers
do not exchange routing
information with each other
Dynamic Routing
1. It uses routing protocol such as
Routing Information Protocol
(RIP), Open Shortest Path First
(OSPF) protocol etc.
2. Used in larger networks
3. Routers that use dynamic
routing are called dynamic
routers.
4. These protocols dynamically
exchange routing information
among routers on an
internetwork.
 How do routers differ from bridges?
Routers differ from bridges in several respects.
First, bridging occurs at the data link layer or layer
2,while routing occurs at the network layer or layer
3 of the OSI model.
Second, bridges use physical or MAC addresses to
make data forwarding decisions. Routers use a
logical addressing scheme that occurs at layer 3.
 Brouters
Brouters are the combination of both the bridge and
routers. They take up the functionality of the both
networking devices serving as abridgewhen forwarding
data between networks, and serving as arouterwhen
routing data to individual systems. Brouter functions as
a filter that allows some data into the local network and
redirects unknown data to the other network.
 Gateways
Gateway is a device which is used to connect
multiple networks and passes packets from one
packet to the other network. Acting as the
gateway between different networking systems
or computer programs, a gateway is a device
which forms a link between them. It allows the
computer programs, either on the same
computer or on different computers to share
information across the network through protocols.
A router is also a gateway, since it interprets data
from one network protocol to another.
 Repeaters
In digital communication systems, a repeater is a device
that receives adigitalsignalon an electromagnetic or
optical transmission medium and regenerates the signal
along the next leg of the medium. In electromagnetic
media, repeaters overcome theattenuationcaused by free-
space electromagnetic-field divergence or cable loss. A
series of repeaters make possible the extension of a signal
over a distance.