INTERMEDIATE DEVICES

LECTURE TWO
Intermediate Devices
• Intermediate Devices – Is a device that directly connects to end users or provides
end user routing to other networks.
• Roles of the Intermediate devices.
• Networks will rely on these devices to provide connectivity. These devices
connect the individual hosts to the network and can connect multiple individual
networks to form an internetwork.
• Intermediate devices manage the data as it flows through the network. These
devices use the destination host address, together with the information about the
network connections, to determine the path the data should take through the
network.
Intermediate Devices Cont’d
• Examples of intermediate devices
 Network Access Devices (Hubs, switches, and wireless access points)
 Internetworking Devices (routers)
Hubs
• Hubs were created as intermediary network devices that enable more nodes to
connect to the shared media. Also known as multi-port repeaters, hubs retransmit
received data signals to all connected devices, except the one from which it received
the signals. Hubs do not perform network functions such as directing data based on
addresses.
• Hubs and repeaters are intermediary devices that extend the distance that Ethernet
cables can reach. Because hubs operate at the Physical layer, dealing only with the
signals on the media, collisions can occur between the devices they connect and
within the hubs themselves.
Hubs Cont’d
• Further, using hubs to provide network access to more users reduces
the performance for each user because the fixed capacity of the media
has to be shared between more and more devices.
• The connected devices that access a common media via a hub or series
of directly connected hubs make up what is known as a collision
domain. Hubs and repeaters therefore have the effect of increasing the
size of the collision domain.
• Hubs are less expensive than switches
Hubs Cont’d
• CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection)
helps hosts to decide when to send packets on a shared network
segment and how to detect collisions if they occur. CSMA/CD enables
devices to “sense” the wire to ensure that no other device is currently
transmitting packets. But, if two devices “sense” that the wire is clear
and send packets at the same time, a collision can occur. If the
collision occur, packets have to be resent after a random period of time
Hubs Cont’d
• Host A is trying to communicate with host B. Host A “senses” the wire
and decides to send packets. But, in the same time, host C sends its
packets to host D and the collision occurs. The sending devices (host A
and host C) detect the collision and resend the packet after a random
period of time.
Bridge
• A bridge is a device used more commonly in the early days of LAN to
connect - or bridge - two physical network segments.
• A bridge operates using the physical addresses of the machines. In reality,
the bridge is linked to several local area networks, called segments. The
bridge creates a function table with the machines' addresses and the segments
they belong to, and "listens" to the data running through the segments.
• When data is transmitted, the bridge checks the function table for the
segment the sending and receiving computers belong to (using their physical
address, called the MAC address, and not their IP address). If they belong to
the same segment, the bridge does nothing; otherwise, it switches the data
over to the destination computer's segment.
Bridge Cont’d
• In the diagram, communication between the three computers on top
will not obstruct the lines running between the three computers on the
bottom. The information will only pass through when a computer on
one side of the bridge sends data to a computer on the other side.
Switches
• In a LAN where all nodes are connected directly to the switch, the
throughput of the network increases dramatically. The three primary
reasons for this increase are:
 Dedicated bandwidth to each port
 Collision-free environment
 Full-duplex operation
Switches Cont’d
1. Dedicated Bandwidth
• Each node has the full media bandwidth available in the connection
between the node and the switch. With switches, each device
effectively has a dedicated point-to-point connection between the
device and the switch, without media contention
Switches Cont’d
2. Collision-Free Environment
• A dedicated point-to-point connection to a switch also removes any media
contention between devices, allowing a node to operate with few or no
collisions. In a moderately-sized classic Ethernet network using hubs,
approximately 40% to 50% of the bandwidth is consumed by collision
recovery. In a switched Ethernet network - where there are virtually no
collisions - the overhead devoted to collision recovery is virtually eliminated.
This provides the switched network with significantly better throughput rates.
Switches Cont’d
3. Full-Duplex Operation
• Switching also allows a network to operate as a full-duplex Ethernet
environment. Before switching existed, Ethernet was half-duplex only.
This meant that at any given time, a node could either transmit or
receive. With full-duplex enabled in a switched Ethernet network, the
devices connected directly to the switch ports can transmit and receive
simultaneously, at the full media bandwidth
Switches Cont’d
• The switch maintains a table, called a MAC table that matches a
destination MAC address with the port used to connect to a node. For
each incoming frame, the destination MAC address in the frame
header is compared to the list of addresses in the MAC table. If a
match is found, the port number in the table that is paired with the
MAC address is used as the exit port for the frame
Router
• Routing is the process of forwarding IP packets from one network to
another. A router is a device that joins networks together
and routes traffic between them. A router will have at least two
network cards (NICs), one physically connected to one network and
the other physically connected to another network. A router can
connect any number of networks together providing it has a dedicated
NIC for each network
Router Cont’d
Router Cont’d
• Having two networks with one router is extremely simple and easy to
configure. Once we move onto bigger networks with multiple routers
however, things get a little more complicated.
Examples of the processes that run on the router
1. Classify and direct messages according to QoS
priorities
2. Maintain information about what pathways exist through the
network and internetwork
3. Notify other devices of errors
Routing table

• A routing table contains the information necessary to forward a packet

along the best path toward its destination. Each packet contains
information about its origin and destination. When a packet is
received, a network device examines the packet and matches it to the
routing table entry providing the best match for its destination. The
table then provides the device with instructions for sending the packet
to the next hop on its route across the network.
Routing table Cont’d
• A basic routing table includes the following information:
1. Destination: The IP address of the packet's final destination
2. Next hop: The IP address to which the packet is forwarded
3. Interface: The outgoing network interface the device should use when forwarding the
packet to the next hop or final destination
4. Metric: Assigns a cost to each available route so that the most cost-effective path can
be chosen
5. Routes: Includes directly-attached subnets, indirect subnets that are not attached to the
device but can be accessed through one or more hops, and default routes to use for
certain types of traffic or when information is lacking.
Modem

• Short for modulator demodulator. A modem is a device that enables a

computer to transmit data over, for example, telephone or cable lines.
Computer information is stored digitally, whereas information
transmitted over telephone lines is transmitted in the form of analog
waves. A modem converts between these two forms.
Modem Cont’d
Modem Cont’d
• Suppose you want to connect your computer to an Internet Service
Provider (ISP) using an ordinary phone line. The computer at your end
needs a modem to modulate its digital signals (add them on top of an
analog telephone signal) so they can travel down the phone line just
like the sound of your voice. Once the signals have reached the other
end, they have to pass through a second modem, which demodulates
them (separates them out from the telephone signal and turns them
back into digital form) so the ISP computer can understand them.
When the ISP computer replies, it sends its signals through a
modulator back down the line to you. Then a demodulator at your end
turns the signals back into digital form that your computer can
understand.