NIC Adapters - NIC is a Network Interface Card; this is the most important device in building network. Also known as LAN card. Communication mediums (cables) are attached to this card to build network. This device has a unique Mac address. In order to build a network a unique IP address is assigned to this LAN card to begin communication. In case of developing WLAN (wireless LAN), instead of LAN card we use wireless card. It's functionality is the same as simple LAN card; it is just wireless communication device which connects to router for communication.
Routers - Router is an intelligent device which routes data to destination computers. It helps in connecting 2 different logical and physical networks together. Small network server is connected to router along with clients for communication. Without routers network communication is not possible, since without it distribution of internet and other network data to entire network is not possible.It functions the same way in a wireless network. The router uses software known as routing table. Routing table is used to store source and destination address.
Hubs - If we talk about networks on larger scale, we must speak of hubs as they are required to build network. All computers are connected directly to the hub as it acts as the centralized device of the network. When data is sent to the hub it broadcasts the data to all the ports of the hub and then it is sent to destination computer on the network. If the hub fails to perform it's routine functions it will halt the working of the entire network until it is put back in normal condition.
Switches - The switch is another important device when we talk about computer network on broader spectrum. It is used at the same place as hub but the only difference between the two is that switch possesses switching table within it. switching tables store the MAC addresses of every computer it is connected to and send the data to only requested address unlike hub which broadcasts the data to all the ports. Switches can be considered as advanced form of hubs.
Gateways - As the name suggests it is some kind of passing through to something. Interestingly gateways can be software or it can also be a device. Gateway device connects LAN with internet. It's basic functionality is to provide security to the network. By using gateways incoming/outgoing traffic can be monitored for any malicious activity within the network which can be harmful to network integrity.
Modems - Modems can be of two types. One modem is very common in every computer which we use to connect to the internet using our telephone line by dialling to our ISP and the other one is used to connect to DSL. Functions however are the same for both types of modems; they are used to modulation and demodulation, they are used to convert analogue signals into digital and digital signals into analogue so that signals can travel along telephone lines.
Cables - Cables are obviously used to connect communication devices with each other to form network. There are different types of cables, commonly used cables are 10base T/CAT5, coaxial cable, ethernet and fibre optic cable. Fibre optic cable is the most expensive as it enables the data to be transferred at the speed of light. It is a costly solution which is mostly adopted by the corporate sector. However in recent developments fibre optic cable is now being used in home networking and also used as medium to connect to internet.
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