Networking II: Network Hardware and Software

Networking II
Network Hardware and Software

Networking hardware includes all computers, peripherals, interface cards and

other equipment needed to perform data-processing and communications within
the network.

Networks are composed of hardware and software components. Each hardware and software
component has a different function to perform. However, network operating system (NOS)
software makes all the different components work together as a single network. NetWare,
Solaris, Linux, AIX, MacOS, and Windows are examples of NOS software. The figure 1 below
is a diagram of a simple physical components of a network.

Figure 1. Physical Components of a network

WLAN devices
These devices connect wireless devices such as computers, printers, and tablets to the network.
Since pretty much every device manufactured today has a wireless NIC, you just need to
configure a basic access point (AP) to connect to a traditional wired network.

Access Points or APs

These devices allow wireless devices to connect to a wired network and extend a collision
domain from a switch, and are typically in their own broadcast domain or what we’ll refer to
as a Virtual LAN (VLAN). An AP can be a simple standalone device, but today they are usually
managed by wireless controllers either in house or through the internet.

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 Networking II: Network Hardware and Software

WLAN Controllers
These are the devices that network administrators or network operations centers use to manage
access points in medium to large to extremely large quantities. The WLAN controller
automatically handles the configuration of wireless access points and was typically used only
in larger enterprise systems. However, with Cisco’s acquisition of Meraki systems, you can
easily manage a small to medium sized wireless network via the cloud using their simple to
configure web controller system.

Firewalls
These devices are network security systems that monitor and control the incoming and
outgoing network traffic based on predetermined security rules, and is usually an Intrusion
Protection System (IPS). Cisco Adaptive Security Appliance (ASA) firewall typically
establishes a barrier between a trusted, secure internal network and the Internet, which is not
secure or trusted. Cisco’s new acquisition of Sourcefire put them in the top of the market with
Next Generation Firewalls (NGFW) and Next Generation IPS (NGIPS), which Cisco now just
calls Firepower. Cisco new Firepower runs on dedicated appliances, Cisco’s ASA’s, ISR
routers and even on Meraki products.

Bridge
A bridge is a network device that's used to segment one network into two segments. Isolating
the traffic into separate segments eases network traffic congestion. The bridge accomplishes
this by reading the unique hardware address (called the Media Access Control) of each network
device to determine the appropriate segment. It performs the same functions as a repeater.

Gateway
A gateway comprises hardware and software that acts as a translator between networks using
incompatible communications protocols.

Gateways are commonly used to connect networks of personal computers to minicomputer or

mainframe based hosts.

A gateway is a node on a network that serves as an entrance to another network. In enterprises,

the gateway is the computer that routes the traffic from a workstation to the outside network
that is serving the Web pages. In homes, the gateway is the ISP that connects the user to the
internet.

The gateway is also associated with both a router, which use headers and forwarding tables to
determine where packets are sent, and a switch, which provides the actual path for the packet
in and out of the gateway.

Hub
A hub (or concentrator) interconnects multiple devices in a network.
Hubs enable distribution of information among connected devices.

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 Networking II: Network Hardware and Software

Switch
An ethernet switch is a device that provides a central connection point for cables from
workstations, servers, and peripherals.

In a star topology, twisted-pair wire is run from each workstation to a central switch/hub.

Most switches are active, that is they electrically amplify the signal as it moves from one device
to another. The predecessor of the switch was the hub, which broadcasted all inbound packets
out all ports of the device, creating huge amounts of unnecessary network traffic.

Modern switches build a port map of all IP address which respond on each port, and only
broadcasts on all ports when it doesn't have a packet's target IP address already in its port map.

A switch can break up collision domains.

You can see that the hub used in above figure just extended the one collision domain from the
switch port. The result is that John received the data from Bob but, happily, Sally did not. This
is good because Bob intended to talk with John directly, and if he had needed to send a
broadcast instead, everyone, including Sally, would have received it, possibly causing
unnecessary congestion.

Here’s a list of some of the things that commonly cause LAN traffic congestion:
o Too many hosts in a collision or broadcast domain
o Broadcast storms
o Too much multicast traffic
o Low bandwidth

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 Networking II: Network Hardware and Software

o Adding hubs for connectivity to the network

o A bunch of ARP broadcasts

Routers
Routers are the traffic directors of the global internet. All routers maintain complex routing
tables which allow them to determine appropriate paths for packets destined for any address.
Routers communicate with each other, and forward network packets out of or into a network.

The network in above Figure is actually a pretty cool little network. Each host is connected to
its own collision domain because of the switch, and the router has created two broadcast
domains. So now our Sally is happily living in peace in a completely different neighborhood,
no longer subjected to Bob’s incessant shouting! If Bob wants to talk with Sally, he has to send
a packet with a destination address using his IP address!

There are two advantages to using routers in your network:

1. They don’t forward broadcasts by default.

2. They can filter the network based on layer 3 (Network layer) information such as an IP
address.

Here are four ways a router functions in your network:

1. Packet switching
2. Packet filtering
3. Internetwork communication
4. Path selection

Repeater
A repeater receives and transmits signals and duplicates them onto another network segment.
Repeaters extend the maximum length of a segment and increase the number of possible
connected devices.

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