Networking Devices
Results 1 to 7 of 7

Thread: Networking Devices

  1. #1
    Senior Member PacketThirst's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2004

    Networking Devices

    Hey all !

    This is my first Tutorial ... well..actually my second attempt to write one .The first one didn't

    turn out to be a tutorial and i had to move it to the General Discussions Forum .I

    guess it will help newbies to get a basic understanding of the various networking devices...

    [glowpurple]NETWORKING DEVICES[/glowpurple]

    [gloworange]Network Interface Card [/gloworange]

    This is a device with many names like LAN adapter,Network Interface Unit,Network Card.It is

    commonly referred to as NIC. An NIC helps a computer to communicate with the Network with

    the help of drivers and the computer's OS. So if u want to create a network of pcs, you

    should purchase NICs for every pc connected .They usually fit into the expansion slots.

    Sometimes they come Onboard with the motherboard.It is also important to note that NICs

    differ with the network architecture they support.


    When the physical distance of a network topology has to be increased, a device called

    repeater operating at the physical layer is used.A repeater takes the input signal and

    regenerates it by amplifying it.In thisway it overcomes the distance limitation.When a signal is

    regenerated,there is also a possibility of "noise" being regenerated.It also increases the

    latency thereby increasing the chances for timeouts.


    Hubs are multiport repeaters operating at the physical layer.It amplifies the input signal and

    sends it to all the nodes connected to the hub without looking at the data.It has therfore only

    a single collision domain.Hubs create a physical star network where the hub is the device is

    central device.But unlike a star network the hub does not forward data only to the destination

    node but sends it to all the nodes.


    Bridges are used to breakup collision domains,combine two different networks or to

    regenerate the input signal(like a repeater).They operate at the Data Link Layer of the OSI

    layer.They can also be used to filter out specific types os traffic like ARP,SAP etc.Bridges are

    software based and therefore increase the latency to a great extend( i guess about 30%).

    Therefore there is a good chance for TIMEOUTS.So its better to use combinations of hubs and

    switches to break up collision domains.


    They devices operate at the Network layer of the OSI model.They are used to breakup

    broadcast domains,control multicast traffic,connect between different topologies.Their

    decisions are based on logical addressing rather then physical.


    Similar to bridges they break up collision domains.Because of the fact that the decisions are

    hardware based they reduce the latency.They are in effect like multiport bridges.The

    forwarding decisions are based on the physical address.By using ASICS (Application specified

    integrated circuits) higher speeds can be achieved.


    Firewalls are software based,hardware based or a combination of both .A hardware firewall

    is made up of a router or access servers.There are several types of firewall techniques:

    Packet filter->It checks every packet that comes in.

    Application gateway-> application specific security mechanisms

    Proxy server->This hides the true network address.All the transmitted data is intercepted


    Throughout this tutorial i have talked about different devices operating at certain layers.

    Networking is very complex and inorder to make it simpler, each networking operation

    is divided into different layers.The ISO OSI has divided these tasks into seven layers.

    Application Layer : Interface between user and the network eg.Browser,Ftp client

    Presentation Layer : Presents data and does operations like encryption

    Session Layer : Keeps different applications data separate

    Transport Layer: Error correction as well as reliable or unreliable delivery

    Network Layer: Routing and logical addressing

    Data Layer: Converts packets to bits and bits to frames,error detection(no correction)

    Physical Layer: Moves bits over the transmission medium,specifies voltage etc.

    Each device operating at a specified layer performs its own specified tasks

    [pong]Happy Networking ![/pong]

  2. #2
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Is english not your first language? Or are you just not trying on grammar? The info is "ok", and could be greatly improved, but your grammar sucks. If english isn't your first language you should still know "you" instead of "u". You also need spaces between your periods and the begining of the next sentences. Your tutorial looks like crapola from a grammar standpoint... That is certainly the biggest problem... Following that with a close second is the lack of information... All you did (it looks like at any rate) is go to webopedia or the likes and copy the definition of each of those words... VERY lacking definitions, go into a little more detail, throw a light review of the layers so people who don't know about them can figure out what you are talking about.

  3. #3
    Senior Member PacketThirst's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    True grunt... english is not my first language and also not my second.I wasn't writting a novel here and i think the grammar is good enough for a technical tutorial.Anyway i'll add more info on the layer part ...

  4. #4
    Senior Member PacketThirst's Avatar
    Join Date
    Aug 2004
    Sorry folks if this tutorial was not too deep. Told you this is my first tutorial.Anyways i learned this lesson

    When you write a tutorial , make it really deep and always read it over again to correct

    the grammatical errors because grammar does make a difference !

    Until Next time


  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2004
    imthink its fine other readers. The important thing here is that
    he tried to write a tutorials so others would have a view of what a
    networking is.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2003
    San Diego
    No. I think the important thing is for him to put a good amount of effort into it. Not just throw something together and call it a tutorial.
    When death sleeps it dreams of you...

  7. #7
    Senior Member DeadAddict's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    For Nic's I would of went into more detail about the different types of cards and the different slots Isa/Pci and would include information about ethernet cable standards

    10base2 is 1 Mbps thin coaxial cable
    10base5 is 10 Mbps thick coaxial network cable
    10 baseT 10 Mbps unshielded twisted pair
    100 baseT 100 Mbps shielded twisted pair
    100BaseF 100 Mbps fiberoptic network cable
    1000BaseT 1Gbps Copper cable
    1000BaseF 1Gbps fiberoptic cable
    And more information about the OSI layers would be very helpful for those people who are new to networking. I would also include the definitions of the acronyms used such as ARP(address resolution protocol) SAP (Service Advertising Protocol).

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts