Network connectivity devices:

Network connectivity devices do exactly what the name implies: They connect two or more segments of
cable. Complex connectivity devices can serve two seemingly opposite purposes: They are used to
divide large networks into smaller parts (called subnets or segments, depending on the device type), and
they are used to combine small networks into a larger network called an internetwork or internet. Less
complex connectivity devices do neither; they are used merely as connection points for the computers on
a network (or network segment) or to amplify the signals of networked computers, which extends the
distance over which transmissions can be sent. They can also:
Connect network segments that use different media types (for instance, thin coax and unshielded
twisted pair [UTP])
Segment the network to reduce traffic without dividing the network into separate IP subnets.

Network Devices (NICs, Hub, Repeater, Bridge, Switch, Router, Gateways and
Brouter) Network interface card (NIC):
1. A network interface card (NIC), also called as network interface controller is a hardware component,
typically a circuit board or chip, which is installed on a computer so that it can connect to a network.
Modern NICs provide functionality to computers such as support for I/O interrupt, direct memory access
(DMA) interfaces, data transmission, network traffic engineering and partitioning.
A NIC provides a computer with a dedicated, full-time connection to a network by implementing
the physical layer circuitry necessary for communicating with a data link layer standard, such
as Ethernet or Wi-Fi. Each card represents a device and can prepare, transmit and control the flow of
data on the network. The NIC uses the OSI model to send signals at the physical layer, transmit data
packets at the network layer and operate as an interface at the TCP/IP layer.
The network card operates as a middleman between a computer and a data network. For example, when
a user requests a web page, the computer will pass the request to the network card which converts it into
electrical impulses. Those impulses are received by a web server on the internet and responds by
sending the web page back to the network card as electrical signals. The card gets these signals and
translates them into the data that the computer displays.

Types of network interface cards

While the standard NIC is a plastic circuit board that slides into a computer to connect with the
motherboard, there are multiple ways this connection can occur:
• Wireless - These are NICs that use an antenna to provide wireless reception through radio
frequency waves. Wireless NICs are designed for Wi-Fi connection.
• Wired - These are NICs that have input jacks made for cables. The most popular wired LAN
technology is Ethernet.
• USB - These are NICs that provide network connections through a device plugged into the USB
port.
• Fiber optics - These are expensive and more complex NICs that are used as a high-speed
support system for network traffic handling on server computers. This could also be accomplished by
combining multiple NICs.

Components of network interface cards:

Network interface card components include the following:
Speed - All NICs have a speed rating in terms of Mbps that suggests the general performance of the card
when implemented in a computer network with ample bandwidth. If the bandwidth is lower than the
NIC or multiple computers are connected with the same controller, this will slow down the labeled
speed. The average Ethernet NICs are offered in 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, 1000 Mbps and 1 Gbps varieties.
Driver - This is the required software that passes data between the computer's operating system (OS)
and the NIC. When a NIC is installed on a computer, the corresponding driver software is also
downloaded. Drivers must stay updated and uncorrupted to ensure optimal performance from the NIC.
MAC address - Unique, unchangeable MAC addresses, also known as a physical network
address, are assigned to NICs that is used to deliver Ethernet packets to the computer.
Connectivity LED - Most NICs have an LED indicator integrated into the connector to notify the user
of when the network is connected and data is being transmitted.
Router - A router is also sometimes needed to allow communication between a computer and other
devices. In this case, the NIC connects to the router which is connected to the internet.

2. Repeater – A repeater operates at the physical layer. Its job is to regenerate the signal over the
same network before the signal becomes too weak or corrupted so as to extend the length to which the
signal can be transmitted over the same network. An important point to be noted about repeaters is
that they do not amplify the signal. When the signal becomes weak, they copy the signal bit by bit and
regenerate it at the original strength. It is a 2 port device.

3. Hub – A hub is basically a multiport repeater. A hub connects multiple wires coming from different
branches, for example, the connector in star topology which connects different stations. Hubs cannot
filter data, so data packets are sent to all connected devices. In other words, collision domain of all
hosts connected through Hub remains one. Also, they do not have the intelligence to find out best
path for data packets which leads to inefficiencies and wastage.

Types of Hub
• Active Hub:- These are the hubs which have their own power supply and can clean, boost, and
relay the signal along with the network. It serves both as a repeater as well as wiring centre. These are
used to extend the maximum distance between nodes.
• Passive Hub: - These are the hubs which collect wiring from nodes and power supply from
active hub. These hubs relay signals onto the network without cleaning and boosting them and can’t
be used to extend the distance between nodes.
• Intelligent Hub :- It work like active hubs and include remote management capabilities. They
also provide flexible data rates to network devices. It also enables an administrator to monitor the
traffic passing through the hub and to configure each port in the hub.

4. Bridge – A bridge operates at data link layer. A bridge is a repeater, with add on the functionality
of filtering content by reading the MAC addresses of source and destination. It is also used for
interconnecting two LANs working on the same protocol. It has a single input and single output port,
thus making it a 2 port device.
Types of Bridges

• Transparent Bridges:- These are the bridge in which the stations are completely unaware of
the bridge’s existence i.e. whether or not a bridge is added or deleted from the network,
reconfiguration of the stations is unnecessary. These bridges make use of two processes i.e. bridge
forwarding and bridge learning.
• Source Routing Bridges:- In these bridges, routing operation is performed by source station
and the frame specifies which route to follow. The host can discover frame by sending a special frame
called discovery frame, which spreads through the entire network using all possible paths to
destination.

5. Switch – A switch is a multiport bridge with a buffer and a design that can boost its efficiency (a
large number of ports imply less traffic) and performance. A switch is a data link layer device. The
switch can perform error checking before forwarding data that makes it very efficient as it does not
forward packets that have errors and forward good packets selectively to correct port only. In other
words, switch divides collision domain of hosts, but broadcast domain remains same.

6. Routers – A router is a device like a switch that routes data packets based on their IP addresses.
Router is mainly a Network Layer device. Routers normally connect LANs and WANs together and
have a dynamically updating routing table based on which they make decisions on routing the data
packets. Router divide broadcast domains of hosts connected through it.

7. Gateway – A gateway, as the name suggests, is a passage to connect two networks together that
may work upon different networking models. They basically work as the messenger agents that take
data from one system, interpret it, and transfer it to another system. Gateways are also called protocol
converters and can operate at any network layer. Gateways are generally more complex than switch or
router.

8. Brouter – It is also known as bridging router is a device which combines features of both bridge
and router. It can work either at data link layer or at network layer. Working as router, it is capable of
routing packets across networks and working as bridge, it is capable of filtering local area network
traffic.