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Router, Hub, Switch
Name: Scott Date: September 22, 2002 at 16:19:57 Pacific OS: Windows CPU/Ram: P III
Comment:
What is the difference between a router, a hub, and a switch?
Name: bryguy Date: September 22, 2002 at 16:29:35 Pacific
Reply:
Each operates at a different layer of the OSI-Open Systems Interconnect model. Hub-Layer 1, Switch-Layer 2, Router-Layer 3. There are some exceptions (BRouters for example) but those are the basic differences.
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Response Number 2
Name: RoyBoy Date: September 22, 2002 at 21:17:04 Pacific
Reply:
Hub's forward the signal in the cable to all of the ports on the hub without any attention to who the data is intended for.
Switches forward packets based on their MAC address(Layer 2 address). MAC is the hardcoded address of your NIC. This is a "smart" device being that it only forwards a packet(or frame) to the port that can reach your MAC address. This cuts down on traffic.
Routers forward packets based on IP address (Layer 3 addresses). Routers keep logs of what addresses they can get to and what other Routers can get to. This allows path determination which gives you the best route to the end user. They are very smart devices that do much more that just forward packets(more than I care to write). Routers allow communication over the internet based on IP(why you need a DSL Router, not a DSL switch).
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