Experiment- 1

Familiarization of Network devices

Aim: Study of the following Network devices in detail:

Theory:
Network Device
Network devices are components used to connect computers or other electronic
devices together so that they can share files or resources like printers or fax machines.
Devices used to set up a local area network (LAN) are the most common types of
network devices used by the public. A LAN requires a Hub, Switch, router. Network
Devices are called Communicating Devices

LAN Adapter:- A LAN adapter is a device used to allow a computer to interface with
a network. Many computers may have some sort of LAN adapter already installed, but
others may require a special installation, which is accomplished by adding a network
interface card to the system or possibly connecting the adapter to a USB port. Most
networks that are used in an office or home environments are known as local area
networks (LANs). This type of network is one used over a limited geographic area.
LAN adapter is the most common and generic alternate name for a Network Interface
Card (NIC). However, many similar products, such as a Wireless USB LAN Adapter
is also called a LAN adapter.
Wireless USB LAN adapter:- A high-speed wireless network card that is used to
access a network through a USB port on a computer or laptop. Most wireless USB
LAN adapters look like small USB flash drives and usually are based on the 802.11g
standard which provides a data rate up to 54-Mbps in a wireless LAN environment.
Some wireless USB LAN adapters may also support the 802.11b standard. A wireless
USB LAN adapter basically enables you to share files, folders, printers, other network
resources and Internet access.

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. The
repeater then sends the refreshed signal. 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. A repeater placed on the line before the legibility of the
signal becomes lost can still read the signal well enough to determine the intended
voltages and replicate them in their original form.

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
into 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. Many network hubs available today support the Ethernet standard. Other types
including USB hubs also exist, but Ethernet is the type traditionally used in home
networking.

These are two different types of hubs exist:

Passive hubs do not amplify the electrical signal of incoming packets before
broadcasting them out to the network. Active hubs, on the other hand, do perform this
amplification, as does a different type of dedicated network device called a repeater.
Some people use the terms concentrator when referring to a passive hub and multiport
repeater when referring to an active hub.
Switch:
Switches generally have a more intelligent role than hubs. A switch is a multiport
device that improves network efficiency. The switch maintains limited routing
information about nodes in the internal network, and it allows connections to systems
like hubs or routers. Strands of LANs are usually connected using switches.
Generally, switches can read the hardware addresses of incoming packets to transmit
them to the appropriate destination.

Using switches improves network efficiency over hubs or routers because of the
virtual circuit capability. Switches also improve network security because the virtual
circuits are more difficult to examine with network monitors. You can think of a
switch as a device that has some of the best capabilities of routers and hubs combined.
A switch can work at either the Data Link layer or the Network layer of the OSI
model. A multilayer switch is one that can operate at both layers, which means that it
can operate as both a switch and a router. A multilayer switch is a high-performance
device that supports the same routing protocols as routers.

Switches can be subject to distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks; flood guards
are used to prevent malicious traffic from bringing the switch to a halt. Switch port
security is important so be sure to secure switches: Disable all unused ports and use
DHCP snooping, ARP inspection and MAC address filtering.
Bridge:
Bridges are used to connect two or more hosts or network segments together. The
basic role of bridges in network architecture is storing and forwarding frames between
the different segments that the bridge connects. They use hardware Media Access
Control (MAC) addresses for transferring frames. By looking at the MAC address of
the devices connected to each segment, bridges can forward the data or block it from
crossing. Bridges can also be used to connect two physical LANs into a larger logical
LAN. Bridges work only at the Physical and Data Link layers of the OSI model.
Bridges are used to divide larger networks into smaller sections by sitting between
two physical network segments and managing the flow of data between the two.

Bridges are like hubs in many respects, including the fact that they connect LAN
components with identical protocols. However, bridges filter incoming data packets,
known as frames, for addresses before they are forwarded. As it filters the data
packets, the bridge makes no modifications to the format or content of the incoming
data. The bridge filters and forwards frames on the network with the help of a
dynamic bridge table. The bridge table, which is initially empty, maintains the LAN
addresses for each computer in the LAN and the addresses of each bridge interface
that connects the LAN to other LANs. Bridges, like hubs, can be either simple or
multiple ports. If the frame is forwarded, then the bridge should specify the port over
which it should be forwarded.
Router:
Routers help transmit packets to their destinations by charting a path through the sea
of interconnected networking devices using different network topologies. Routers are
intelligent devices, and they store information about the networks they’re connected
to. Most routers can be configured to operate as packet-filtering firewalls and use
access control lists (ACLs). Routers, in conjunction with a channel service unit/data
service unit (CSU/DSU), are also used to translate from LAN framing to WAN
framing. This is needed because LANs and WANs use different network protocols.
Such routers are known as border routers. They serve as the outside connection of a
LAN to a WAN, and they operate at the border of your network. Routers are your first
line of defense, and they must be configured to pass only traffic that is authorised by
network administrators. The routes themselves can be configured as static or dynamic.
If they are static, they can only be configured manually and stay that way until
changed. If they are dynamic, they learn of other routers around them and use
information about those routers to build their routing tables.
Routers are multi-purpose devices that link two or more heterogeneous networks
together. They're normally reserved for special-purpose computers, having separate
input and output network interfaces for each network connected. Because routers and
gateways represent the backbone of huge computer networks such as the internet, they
have unique capabilities that allow them to adapt to changing network addressing
systems and frame sizes by segmenting large packets into smaller sizes that fit the
new network components. Each router interface has its own Address Resolution
Protocol (ARP) module, as well as its own LAN address (network card address) and
IP address.

The router knows which routes a packet can travel from its source to its destination
due to a routing table. The routing table evolves dynamically, just like the bridge and
switch. The router removes the packet headers and trailers and examines the IP header
to determine the source and destination addresses, data type, and arrival time when it
receives a packet. It also adds new addresses to the router table that aren't currently
there. In the routing table, the IP header and arrival time information are entered.
Routers generally operate at the OSI model's Network layer.

Gateway
Gateways normally work at the Transport and Session layers of the OSI model. At the
Transport layer and above, there are numerous protocols and standards from different
vendors; gateways are used to deal with them. Gateways provide translation between
networking technologies such as Open System Interconnection (OSI) and
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Because of this, gateways
connect two or more autonomous networks, each with its own routing algorithms,
protocols, topology, domain name service, and network administration procedures and
policies.

Gateways perform all of the functions of routers and more. In fact, a router with added
translation functionality is a gateway. The function that does the translation between
different network technologies is called a protocol converter.
As networks connect to a different network through gateways, these gateways are
usually hosts or end points of the network. Gateway uses packet switching techniques
to transmit data from one network to another. In this way it is similar to a router, the
only difference being that the router can transmit data only over networks that use
same protocols.
Conclusion:

Having a solid understanding of the types of network devices available can help you
design and built a network that is secure and serves your organisation well. However,
to ensure the ongoing security and availability of your network, you should carefully
monitoryournetworkdevices and activity around them, so you can quickly spot
hardware issues, configuration issues and attacks.