PRACTICAL NO.

4
Aim: Study and Test various Network devices available at Department.
(Repeater, Hub, Switch, Bridge, Router and Gateway).

Competency and Practical Skills

Identify need of connecting two computer networks

Internetworking devices identification skills.

Prerequisite Theory:

When two or more separate networks are connected for exchanging data or resources, they
become an internetworking (or internet). Linking number of LANs into an internet requires
additional devices which are called as internetworking devices. Routers and Gateways
these devices are designed to overcome obstacles to interconnection without disrupting the
independent functioning of the networks. Figure given below shows various
internetworking devices.

Networking device

Repeater Bridge

Repeaters:
 Repeaters are network devices operating at the physical layer of the OSI model that amplify
or regenerate an incoming signal before retransmitting it.
 They are incorporated in networks to expand its coverage area. They are also known as
signal boosters.
 Signals that carry information within a network can travel a fixed distance before
attenuation endangers the integrity of the data.
 A repeater receives a signal and, before it becomes too weak or corrupted, regenerates the
original bit pattern.
 A repeater can extend the physical length of a LAN.
 The location of a repeater on a link is vital. A repeater must be placed so that a signal
reaches it before any noise changes the meaning of any of its bits.
 If the corrupted bit travels much farther, however, accumulated noise can change its
meaning completely. At that point, the original voltage is not recoverable, and the error
needs to be corrected.
 Types of Repeaters: According to the types of signals that they regenerate, repeaters
can be classified into two categories:
− Analog Repeaters − can only amplify the analog signal.
− Digital Repeaters − can reconstruct a distorted signal.
According to the types of networks that they connect, repeaters can be categorized into
two types:
− Wired Repeaters are used in wired LANs.
− Wireless Repeaters are used in wireless LANs and cellular networks.
According to the domain of LANs they connect, repeaters can be divided into two
categories:
− Local Repeaters − They connect LAN segments separated by small distance.
− Remote Repeaters − They connect LANs that are far from each other.

Advantages of Repeaters:
• Repeaters are simple to install and can easily extend the length or the coverage area of
networks.
• They are cost effective.
• Repeaters don’t require any processing overhead. The only time they need to be
investigated is in case of degradation of performance.
• They can connect signals using different types of cables.

Disadvantages of Repeaters:
• Repeaters cannot connect dissimilar networks.
• They cannot differentiate between actual signal and noise.
• They cannot reduce network traffic or congestion.
• Most networks have limitations upon the number of repeaters that can be deployed.

Hub:
 A hub is a physical layer networking device which is used to connect multiple devices in a
network. They are generally used to connect computers in a LAN.
 A hub has many ports in it. A computer which intends to be connected to the network is
plugged in to one of these ports.
 When a data frame arrives at a port, it is broadcast to every other port, without
considering whether it is destined for a particular destination or not.
 Types of Hubs:
Passive Hubs: A passive hub is just a connector. It connects the wires coming from
different branches. In a star-topology Ethernet LAN, a passive hub is just a point where
the signals coming from different stations collide; the hub is the collision point.
This type of a hub is part of the media; its location in the Internet model is below the
physical layer.

Active Hubs: An active hub is actually a multipart repeater. It is normally used to create
connections between stations in a physical star topology. However, hubs can also be used
to create multiple levels of hierarchy, as shown in Figure. The hierarchical use of hubs
removes the length limitation of 10Base-T (100 m).

Intelligent Hubs: Intelligent hubs are active hubs that provide additional network
management facilities. They can perform a variety of functions of more intelligent
network devices like network management, switching, providing flexible data rates etc

Bridges:
 A bridge operates in the physical layer as well as in the data link layer. It can regenerate
the signal that it receives and as a data link layer device, it can check the physical
addresses of source and destination contained in the frame.
 The major difference between the bridge and the repeater is that the bridge and the
repeater is that the bridge has a filtering capability.
 That means it can check the destination address of a frame and decide if the frame should
be forwarded or dropped.
 If the frame is forwarded, then the bridge should specify the port over which it should be
forwarded.
 Types of Bridges :
Transparent Bridges:- These are the bridges 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 are 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 frames by
sending a special frame called discovery frame, which spreads through the entire network
using all possible paths to destination.

Router:
 Routers are networking devices operating at layer 3 or a network layer of the OSI model.
 They are responsible for receiving, analysing, and forwarding data packets among the
connected computer networks.
 When a data packet arrives, the router inspects the destination address, consults its routing
tables to decide the optimal route and then transfers the packet along this route.
 A router is a three-layer device that routes packets based on their logical addresses (host-
to-host addressing).
 A router normally connects LANs and WANs in the Internet and has a routing table that is
used for making decisions about the route.
 The routing tables are normally dynamic and are updated using routing protocols. Data is
grouped into packets, or blocks of data.
 Each packet has a physical device address as well as logical network address. The network
address allows routers to calculate the optimal path to a workstation or computer.
 The functioning of a router depends largely upon the routing table stored in it. The routing
table stores the available routes for all destinations. The router consults the routing table
to determine the optimal route through which the data packets can be sent
 A routing table typically contains the following entities −
− IP addresses and subnet mask of the nodes in the network
− IP addresses of the routers in the network
− Interface information among the network devices and channels
 Routing tables are of two types –
Static Routing Table − Here, the routes are fed manually and are not refreshed
automatically. It is suitable for small networks containing 2-3 routers.
Dynamic Routing Table − Here, the router communicates with other routers using
routing protocols to determine the available routes. It is suited for larger networks having
large numbers of routers.
 Types of Routers:
A variety of routers are available depending upon their usages. The main types of routers
are as follows :-
• Wireless Router − They provide WiFi connection WiFi devices like laptops, smartphones
etc. They can also provide standard Ethernet routing. For indoor connections, the range is
150 feet while it's 300 feet for outdoor connections.
• Broadband Routers − They are used to connect to the Internet through telephone and to
use voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology for providing high-speed Internet
access. They are configured and provided by the Internet Service Provider (ISP).
• Core Routers − They can route data packets within a given network, but cannot route the
packets between the networks. They help to link all devices within a network thus
forming the backbone of the network. It is used by ISP and communication interfaces.
• Edge Routers − They are low-capacity routers placed at the periphery of the networks.
They connect the internal network to the external networks, and are suitable for
transferring data packets across networks. They use the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)
for connectivity. There are two types of edge routers, subscriber edge routers and label
edge routers.
• Brouters − Brouters are specialised routers that can provide the functionalities of bridges
as well. Like a bridge, brouters help to transfer data between networks. And like a router,
they route the data within the devices of a network.

Gateway:
 A gateway is a network node that forms a passage between two networks operating with
different transmission protocols.
 The most common type of gateways, the network gateway operates at layer 3, i.e. network
layer of the OSI (open systems interconnection) model.
 However, depending upon the functionality, a gateway can operate at any of the seven
layers of OSI model.
 It acts as the entry – exit point for a network since all traffic that flows across the networks
should pass through the gateway.
 Only the internal traffic between the nodes of a LAN does not pass through the gateway.
 Gateway is located at the boundary of a network and manages all data that inflows or
outflows from that network.
 It forms a passage between two different networks operating with different transmission
protocols.
 A gateway operates as a protocol converter, providing compatibility between the different
protocols used in the two different networks.
 The feature that differentiates a gateway from other network devices is that it can operate
at any layer of the OSI model.
 It also stores information about the routing paths of the communicating networks.
 When used in enterprise scenarios, a gateway node may be supplemented as a proxy
server or firewall.
 A gateway is generally implemented as a node with multiple NICs (network interface
cards) connected to different networks. However, it can also be configured using
software.
 It uses a packet switching technique to transmit data across the networks.

Types of Gateways :
On basis of direction of data flow, gateways are broadly divided into two categories −
• Unidirectional Gateways − They allow data to flow in only one direction. Changes made in
the source node are replicated in the destination node, but not vice versa. They can be
used as archiving tools.
• Bidirectional Gateways − They allow data to flow in both directions. They can be used as
synchronization tools.
On basis of functionalities, there can be a variety of gateways, the prominent among them
are as follows −
• Network Gateway − This is the most common type of gateway that provides an interface
between two dissimilar networks operating with different protocols. Whenever the term
gateway is mentioned without specifying the type, it indicates a network gateway.
• Cloud Storage Gateway − It is a network node or server that translates storage requests
with different cloud storage service API calls, such as SOAP (Simple Object Access
Protocol) or REST (REpresentational State Transfer).It facilitates integration of private
cloud storage into applications without necessitating transfer of the applications into any
public cloud, thus simplifying data communication.
• Internet-To-Orbit Gateway (I2O) − It connects devices on the Internet to satellites and
spacecraft orbiting the earth. Two prominent I2O gateways are Project HERMES and
Global Educational Network for Satellite Operations (GENSO).
• IoT Gateway − IoT gateways assimilates sensor data from IoT (Internet of Things) devices
in the field and translates between sensor protocols before sending it to the cloud
network. They connect IoT devices, cloud networks and user applications.
• VoiP Trunk Gateway − It facilitates data transmission between plain old telephone service
(POTS) devices like landline phones and fax machines, with VoIP (voice over Internet
Protocol) network.

Switch:
 A switch is a data link layer networking device which connects devices in a network and
uses packet switching to send and receive data over the network.
 Like a hub, a switch also has many ports, to which computers are plugged in.

 However, when a data frame arrives at any port of a network switch, it examines the
destination address and sends the frame to the corresponding device(s).
 Thus, it supports both unicast and multicast communications.
 We can have a two-layer switch or a three-layer switch.
 A three-layer switch is used at the network layer; it is a kind of router.
 The two-layer switch performs at the physical and data link layers.
 A two-layer switch is a bridge, a bridge with many ports and a design that allows better
(faster) performance.
 A bridge with a few ports can connect a few LANs together. A bridge with many ports may
be able to allocate a unique port to each station, with each station on its own independent
entity.
 This means no competing traffic (no collision, as we saw in Ethernet).
 A two-layer switch, as a bridge does, makes a filtering decision based on the MAC Address
of the frame it received.
 However, a two-layer switch can be more sophisticated. It can have a buffer to hold the
frames for processing.
 It can have a switching factor that forwards the frames faster. Some new two-layer
switches, called cut-through switches, have been designed to forward the frame as soon
as they check the MAC addresses in the header of the frame.
 Procedure
1. Teacher shall explain all internetworking devices
2. Teacher will give demo of testing various internetworking devices available in institute.

Actual procedure followed

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Conclusion

1. ____________ (Gateway/ Switch)device connects networks with different protocols.

2. ___________ (Hub/Router) is used to connect a number of LANs.

3. Which networking device connect one LAN to other LAN using same protocol?
(Switch/Router)
 Practical related Quiz.

1. Why we need internetworking devices?

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2. List out various internetworking devices.

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3. How can you manage a network using a router?

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 Assessment-Rubrics

Rubric Criteria Mark Good (2) Satisfactor Need

Improveme Mark
s ID s y (1) nt (0) Scored

RB1 Regularity 2 High Moderate Poor (0-

(>70%) (40-70%) 40%)
RB2 Problem 2 Apt & Full Limited Very Less
Analysis Identificati Identificati Identification
on of the on of the of the
Problem Problem Problem
RB3 Development 2 Complete Incomplet Very Less
of the Solution e Solution Solution for
Solution for the for the the Problem
Problem Problem
RB4 Testing of the 2 Correct Partially Very less
Solution Solution as Correct correct
required Solution for solution for
the the problem
Problem
RB5 Mock viva 2 All Delayed & Very few
test questions partially questions
respond correct answere
ed response d
Correctly correctly

Signature with Date