1.1 Recognize the
purpose and functions of various network devices such as routers, switches,
bridges and hubs.
REPEATER:
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Repeater is transceiver which basically amplifies the power of the signal.
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When the signal is received by the repeater, then it amplifies the signal and
retransmits it.
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Repeater is Physical Layer device.
HUB:
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A hub nothing but a multiple port repeater.
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When the data is received by the hub, then it retransmits that data to all the
other ports in the hub.
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A hub is having single broadcast domain and single collision domain
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A hub is a physical layer device.
BRIDGE:
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Hub and Repeater is used to interconnect network devices, where as Bridge is
used to segment the network.
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Bridges uses the software applications to forward the frames.
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Bridge is having one broadcast domain and one port per collision domain.
SWITCH:
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Switches are multi port bridges and having the same functionality of bridges.
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The basic difference between switch and bridge is, Bridge uses the Software
application to forward frames where as Switch uses the hardware ASIC to forward
the frames.
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A switch is having one broadcast domain and one port per collision domain.
Both Switches and
Bridges perform the below functionalities.
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Both Switches and Bridges learn addresses from Source MAC address of the frame.
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Frames forwarded or filtered depending upon destination MAC address of the
frame.
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Both Switch and Bridges eliminates the loops with the help of STP.
ROUTER:
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Router is a network layer device which interconnects more than one network.
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A Router is having one broadcast domain and one collision domain.
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Router basically performs path determination and logical addressing.
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Routers provide internetwork communication, packet switching and packet
filtering.
LAYER 3 SWITCH
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Layer 3 switches also known as multilayer switch which performs similar
functionalities router.
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Layer 3 Switches does not have WAN interfaces compared to router.
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Layer 3 Switch is good for LAN and Router is good for LAN.
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Packet Switching takes place in the Router using a microprocessor, where as in
the Layer 3 Switch it is done with the help of ASIC.