Brief Introduction of Network Hardware
The hardware inlucded in this post are Hub, Switch, Router, Modem, AP
Hub and Switch#
The purpose of both is to connect the internal network (LAN), they do not know IP
Hub#
- It is not intelligent, what it knows is only the ports and the devices that is connected to the ports
- It does not filter any data or has intelligence as to where the data is supposed to be sent
- When a data packet comes into one port, it will rebroadcast the data to every port that has a device connected to it
- It operates at the Physical Layer of OSI
Switch#
- It’s intelligent and able to learn physical(MAC) address of devices that are connected to it
- When a data packet is sent to a switch, it’s only directed to the intended destination port
- It operates at the Data Link Layer of OSI (not including the multilayer switch)
Router#
It routes or forwards data from network to another base on IP address
It’s the Gateway of a network, it detemines if the packet was meant for it’s own network
It normally works at the Network layer of OSI
Modem#
Modems (modulators-demodulators) are used to transmit digital signals over analog telephone lines
Modulators: it modulates outgoing digital signals into an analog signal
Demodulator: it demodulate incoming analog signals into a digital signal
Modems work on both the Physical and Data Link layers.
Access Point#
A Wireless AP relays data a wired network and wireless devices
It’s basically wireless hub or bridge that’s used by wireless device to connect to an existing wired network
A Wireless AP connects directly to an organization’s router where the router is connected directly to a modem, which gives the wireless device access to the internet
An AP works at the second OSI layer, the Data Link layer
