Network devices

Connectivity devices
Early talk
Network topologies, particularly LANs are two : logical and physical
The logical topology of LAN refers to the relationship between nodes or
devices
The physical topology of LAN identifies how the nodes and devices are
connected
Star topology Bus topology Ring topology
 To improve performance and reliability, networks are often separated into
smaller segments called domains
There are two basic types of network addressing domains: collision domains
and broadcast domains
Collision domain : collisions take place when transmissions sent from two or
more sources occur on the same network at same time.
When devices compete for the same transmission medium such state is
called as contention
A section of transmission medium common to more than one device is
called as shared medium

Shared transmission media

One collision domain

 Broadcast domains : data transmission can be from single source to a single
destination or from single source to more than one destination, thus, data
transmissions can be categorized as unicast, multicast and broadcast
Factors that are to be considered while
establishing a network

Number of devices on the network

Local operating systems
Network operating system
Network size (physical length and area covered)
Type of traffic and traffic patterns
Topography or physical layout
Addressing mechanism (protocol layer)
Wait for a frame to transmit format
frame for transmission

Carrier sense signal ON?

Wait interframe gap time and start

transmission

Y
Collision detected
N
Complete transmission and set transmit jam sequence increment
status transmission done attempt limit

Set status attempt limit exceeded Attempt limit reached

Compute and wait backoff time

Connectivity devices
Liking devices and networks together, and separating collision and
broadcast domains require special components called connectivity
devices
Connectivity devices are divided as networking devices and
internetworking devices

Layer 7 Layer 7
Application layer Application layer

Layer 6 Layer 6
Presentation layer Presentation layer

Layer 5 Layer 5
Session layer Session layer

Layer 4 Layer 4
Transport layer Transport layer

Layer 3 Internetworking devices Layer 3

Network layer Network layer

Layer 2 Layer 2
Data link layer Data link layer
Networking devices
Layer 1 Layer 1
Physical layer Physical layer
 Routers and gateways are internetworking devices, where bridges,
switches, repeaters and hubs are networking devices

Layer 7 Layer 7
Application layer Application layer

Layer 6 Layer 6
Presentation layer Presentation layer

Layer 5 Layer 5
Session layer Session layer

Layer 4 Layer 4
Transport layer Transport layer

Layer 3 Routers and gateways Layer 3

Network layer Network layer

Layer 2 Bridges and switches Layer 2

Data link layer Data link layer

Layer 1 Repeaters and hubs Layer 1

Physical layer Physical layer
 Physical layer connectivity devices: networking
devices: repeaters and hubs

The data signal in the connectivity cable keeps losing its strength with
respect to the length of the cable. Different types of cables have max.
segment length dimension.
To connect beyond the dimension repeater came into existence
Detecting cable breaks, excessive length, loose connecters, need of more
number of connections are the challenges ahead now.
The next solution are hubs.
In my perception hubs are just a different kind of wiring pattern.
 Repeaters
A repeater is a connectivity device that is used to extend the physical
length of the network.
it is a transceiver which is an analog device that simply receives weak
signals and retransmits them at higher power

Attenuated signal plus Reconstructed signal

noise without noise
Repeater as signal regenerator

Repeater as logical short

 Repeater should not be confused with amplifiers, as amplifiers are linear devices that
amplify both input signal and any noise present with the signal.

Repeaters regenerate digital signals. Regeneration prevents noise and reproduce

original signals without noise.

Repeaters do not translate data from one form to another form and does not filter
data, they do not change functionality of the network.

They are dumb devices which just reconstruct the signals.

The maximum number of repeaters is always one less than maximum number of
segments.

Typical networks are limited to five segments interconnected with four repeaters this
is sometimes called as four- repeater rule.
HUBS
Data frames arriving on any of the lines are sent out on all the others.
All the lines coming into a hub must operate at the same speed.
They form a single collision domain
They are same dumb devices like repeaters with more number of ports. Hubs
can be called as multipoint repeaters.
They do not regenerate signals like repeaters. So they are unlike repeaters.
They can be connected between different types cables.
Data link layer connectivity devices: internetworking
devices: bridges and switches
Firstly, these devices deliver data frames to specified addresses.
They can connect between two different types of LAN networks*
They do not separate broadcast domains
They separate collision domains
Memorize data link layer protocols, particularly the cases in which devices
addresses are given. It gives a better understanding why bridges and switches
being categorized as connectivity devices in data link layer
bridges

Segment 1 Segment 2

When data frames are released from the source device bridge reads hardware
addresses of the data frames and compares the with the data table
Once the device address is determined bridge finds out in which segment that
particular device lies in.
If the destination device is not in the same segment as the source device,
bridge forwards it to the next segment.
This phenomena avoids traffic in the network. Collisions can be reduced.
They extend broadcast domains
Track
Segment 1 Segment 2

Segment 1 Segment 2
Switches

The function of a switch is similar to that of a bridge. Added it also filters the
data frames
While bridges compare the addresses of the data frames, switches do not
have predefined table of addresses to compare with
As it receives data frames, it learns where devices are located
 When switch receives a frame destination
that is not listed in forwarding address table,
it sends a broadcast frame to every device
connected to it.
The device in response responds to switch
and enables to add it to the forwarding
table.
Especially these devices can isolate
transmissions to only two segments of
network i.e from segment of source to
segment of destination.
A switch has memory unit which stores data
frames in buffer area and retransmits them
to specified destination segment
Network layer connectivity devices:
internetworking devices: routers and gateways

They can be called as multisite interconnection devices

The hierarchy itself defines these devices are associated with the LANs
located at different sites which are interconnected to form a new
enterprise wide network.
Which means these devices connects not segments of networks but
networks.
routers
Connected between two networks.
Therefore data transfer is dependent on the network addresses.
They can be used to interconnect different types of networks.
Through switches they can also be used to connect two devices.
The identification of the hardware from such high level * is done by giving
appropriate IP: internet protocol (network addresses)
The purpose of a router is to examine the source and destination addresses
of data packets and direct them to the best path available at the time
They can separate broadcast domains
The network domains connected by routers is called as an router interface.
Since routers can interconnect between two different networks the can be
used at places where the change of type of LAN is needed.
The extension of the router interface is not stipulated.
Gateways
Special purpose router that allows networks to access internet
A gateway is an intelligent device which can understand and perform
protocol conversations.
It is the main device to establish broadcast the internet in a network : a
gateway is a doorway into and out of a LAN
They can link different programs or protocols by examining the entire data
packet and perform any necessary translation
For example , a gateway can receive an Ethernet frame from a device on
a local network, decapsulate the frame, remove the Ethernet heading and
then forward only IP portion of the frame