IT273: Networking Concepts

Prof: Marcus Allen

Unit 5: Network HardwareRichard Brown

Static is a technique in which a network administrator programs a router to use specific paths between

nodes

True or False: Bridges are protocol independent.

True or False: Repeaters operate in the Physical layer of the OSI model.

Firmware is a set of data or instructions that has been saved to a ROM.

True or False: A NIC has no room for a

Hubs Switches Routers BridgesConnecting multiple Ethernet

devices together and making them

act as a single network segment.

A network switch is a small hardwaredevice that joins multiple computerstogether within one local area network (LAN). Technically, network switchesoperate at layer two (Data Link Layer) of the OSI model. 

Routers are physical devices that joinmultiple wired or wireless networkstogether. Technically, a wired or wirelessrouter is a Layer 3 gateway, meaning thatthe wired/wireless router connectsnetworks (as gateways do), and that therouter operates at the network layer of 

the OSI model.

A bridge device filters data traffic

at a network boundary. Bridges

reduce the amount of traffic on a

LAN by dividing it into two

segments. 

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.

As with hubs, Ethernet

implementations of network 

switches are the most common.

Mainstream Ethernet network 

switches support either 10/100

Mbps Fast Ethernet or Gigabit

Ethernet (10/100/1000) standards. 

Home networkers often use an

Internet Protocol (IP) wired or 

wireless router, IP being the most

common OSI network layer 

 protocol. An IP router such as a

DSL or cable modem broadband

router joins the home's local area

network (LAN) to the wide-area

network (WAN) of the Internet.

Bridges operate at the datalink layer (Layer 2) of theOSI model. Bridges inspect

incoming traffic and decidewhether to forward or discard it. 

Ethernet hubs vary in the speed

(network data rate or bandwidth)

they support. Some years ago,

Ethernet hubs offered only 10

Mbps rated speeds. Newer types of 

hubs offer 100 Mbps Ethernet.

Some support both 10 Mbps and

100 Mbps (so-called dual-speed or 

10/100 hubs). 

Switches can be connectedto each other, a so-called

daisy chaining method toadd progressively larger number of devices to aLAN. 

Maintaining

configuration

information in a piece of 

storage called the

routing table, wired or 

wireless routers also

have the ability to filter 

traffic, either incoming

or outgoing, based on

the IP addresses of 

senders and receivers.

Ethernet bridge, for 

example, inspects each

incoming Ethernet

frame - including the

source and destination

MAC addresses, and

sometimes the frame

size - in making

individual forwarding

decisions.

After looking at the comparison chart I think I would have to go with a Switch. It seemsthat a switch is more of a higher-performance and would be beneficial if I was setting up

a office network. If I’m going to have multiple computers set up on a network I have to

consider network traffic, applications, file sharing and downloads. A switch seems that itwould have the ability to distribute the data better.