HUB:
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Hubs are typically 10Mbps or 100Mbps, and usually half duplex. Hubs use shared
bandwidth, meaning that they must share their speed across the total number of
ports on the device. As an example, a 10Mbps 5-port hub shares its 10Mbps
speed across the 5 ports. So, if 5 computers are connected to the 5 ports,
each port can only transfer data at a rate of 2Mbps, because 10 divided by 5
equals 2. A 100Mbps 10-port hub with 10 computers connected to it, shares
the 100Mbps across the 10 ports for a speed of 10Mbps per port. Some hubs can
auto-sense 10/100Mbps.
SWITCH:
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A switch can stop traffic jam problems by ensuring that data goes straight to
the destination's IP address. Switches remember the IP address of every node
on the network. Without a switch installed, a network can get bogged down
quickly as traffic rises. Traffic jams happen because data is forced to wander
the entire network in search of the destination's IP address.
Switches use dedicated bandwidth and often auto negotiate a connection.
Each port on a switch is given the full speed of the switch. So a 100Mbps
5-port switch with 5 computers attached would transfer data at 100Mbps over
every port. Switches can operate in full or half duplex.
A switch is also used to connect two devices running at different speeds.
For example, a computer with a Nic running at 100Mbps and the Audiotron
running at 10Mbps. Switches can usually auto-sense 10/100Mbps and half or
full duplex. They can also be manually set.
NOTE:
The Audiotron needs a 10Mbps half duplex connection in order to work.
Normally, you shouldn't have to set this up as it is automatically configured,
but if you changed it accidentally, you can manually set a Nic to 10Mbps
half duplex in Win 2K as follows:
- Control Panel
- Network and Dial-up Connections
- Select Local Area Connection (1, 2 or 3 for the NIC card, Router, Switch)
- Properties
- Configure
- Advanced
- Select Media Type
- From the Value tab drop-down menu you may select 10 Mb, Half Duplex or
Hardware default
- Click OK to save the settings
ROUTER:
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A Router will route one IP address to another. It can also be used to connect
two networks with different subnet masks.
BRIDGE:
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A Bridge connects different network topologies together. For example, it can
connect a Token Ring network to Bus topology.
IP Address Classes:
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The class is determined by the first number in the address.
For example, 122.xxx.xxx.xxx is a Class A address.
1-126 Class A
128-191 Class B
192-223 Class C
127 (troubleshooting address) For example, if the Nic card does not
receive an IP address from the DHCP server then it will give itself
127.xxx.xxx.xxx.
Subnet Mask determines what set of numbers in the IP address are the Network
ID and the address available for the nodes.
255.0.0.0 Class A - The first number in the address is the Network ID and the
last set of 3 is how many IP Addresses you can have. You can have 16,777,214
IP addresses.
255.255.0.0 Class B - The first and second numbers in the address are the
Network ID and the last set of two is how many IP Addresses you can have.
You can have 65534 IP addresses.
255.255.255.0 Class C - The first, second and third numbers in the address are
the Network ID and the last set is how many IP Addresses you can have. You can
have 256 IP addresses.
NOTE:
IP Address Classes should not be confused with FCC Classes. They are two
completely different things.
For more basic Info on Networking:
http://www.lantronix.com/learning/tutorials/etntba.html
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