Lecture 6

Network Hardware
 MAC vs IP Address

• MAC Address or Media Access Control Address is

hardware or physical address associated with the Network
Adapter of a host and is assigned by the Manufacturer of
the NIC (Network Interface Card).
• The Internet Protocol address is an address bound to the
network device, via software.
• In a Windows-powered computer, the Windows operating
system allows the user to configure the IP address the
specific workstation will have. This IP address is used to
allow all network aware programs, i.e., Internet Explorer,
Outlook, etc. to use this address when communicating
with other hosts.
 What is the difference between IP Address
and MAC Address
• Though IP address and MAC Address both serve
the purpose of giving hosts a unique
Identification in a Network, depending on the
status and function, these two have several
differences.
• When the functioning Layer of Addressing is
considered, while MAC Address functions in
Data Link Layer (2), IP address operates in
Network Layer (3).
 What is the difference between IP Address
and MAC Address

• MAC address gives a unique identification to the

hardware interface of network, whereas the IP
Address gives a unique identification to the software
interface of the Network.

• Furthermore, if the assignment of address is

considered, MAC addresses are assigned permanently
to adapters and cannot be changed as they are
Physical addresses. In contrast, IP addresses can be
modified depending on the requirements as they are
logical addresses.
 Connecting
Devices

Networking Internetworking
Devices Devices

Switches Hubs Bridges Routers Gateways

 1- Hub

• A hub, also called a network hub, is a common

connection point for devices in a network.
• Hubs are devices commonly used to connect
segments of a LAN. The hub contains multiple
ports.
• When a packet arrives at one port, it is copied
to the other ports so that all segments of the
LAN can see all packets.
 2- Switches
• Switch is a central connecting point in a star
topology network.
• A Switch look like hub , with several ports for
connecting workstations.
• A Switch has the capability of handling several
conversation at one time by determining to
which port the destination device is connected
and forward the message to only that port
 Types of Switches
There are three types of switches :
1- store-and-forward switch :
 As its name shows, store-and-forward switching will wait until
the entire frame has arrived before forwarding it. Then the
switch will store each complete frame into switch memory
buffers and check errors before making a forwarding decision.
 CRC (cyclic redundancy check) check the received frame.
 If no errors are present, the frame will be forwarded to the
destination address. Otherwise the corrupted frame will be
discarded. This process ensures high level of error-free
network traffic, because the destination network will not be
affected by the corrupted frames.
 CRC is calculated for each frame so this may cause delay.
 Types of Switches
2- cut–through switch:
• The switch copies into its memory only the destination
Media Access Control( MAC) address (first 6 bytes of
the frame) before making switching decision.
• Reduce delay because the switch starts to forward
frame as soon as it reads the destination MAC address
and determine the outgoing switch port.
• The problem with that switch :
 may forward bad framed because switch is not
able to check the CRC prior to retransmission.
 Types of Switches
3- fragment-free Switching :
• Is an advanced form of cut-through switching.
• the switch read at least 64 bytes of the frame
before switching it to avoid forwarding runt
frames( frames smaller than 64 bytes)
 3- Bridges
 Connects similar LANs with identical physical and link
layer protocols
 Divide a big network in to smaller sub networks.
 It send frames only to the connected destination.
 Minimize unwanted traffic.
 Act as a filter so error links can be identified and then
isolated.
 Types of bridges
Bridge

Simple Learning Multiport

 Switch vs. Bridges
Bridge

Frame handling done in software

Analyzes and forwards one frame at a

time

Uses store-and-forward operation

 4- Router
• A router is a networking device that forwards
data packets between computer networks. Routers
perform the traffic directing functions on the Internet.
• Is a device that enables multiple LANs to communicate
with one another by forwarding packets from one LAN
to another.
• The router has many of the same components as
computer :
• CPU
• Memory
• I/O interfaces
• Operating system
 The core function of router is interconnecting
networks and data forwarding.

• Routing table indicates next router to which datagram is sent

• Can be static or dynamic

routers maintain routing tables

 Wireless Router
Devices connected to home networks
• Smartphones
• Tablets
• Smart TV
• Computers
• Printers
 5- Gateway

• To connect two networks with different

protocols.
• unlike a router a gateway can forward packets
across different networks that may also use
different protocols.
 Functions of gateways
• Has the ability to translate between different
frame formats /protocols.
• it is a very powerful computer system
compared to a bridge.
• it is used to connect huge and incompatible
networks.
 The differences between gateways and
routers
• Gateways regulate traffic between two dissimilar
networks, while routers regulate traffic between
similar networks. The easiest way to illustrate this
point is through an example.
• Suppose you have a Windows 2000 network that’s
using TCP/IP as its primary protocol. Because TCP/IP is
also the primary protocol of the Internet, you could
use a router to connect your network to the Internet.
• The best example of a gateway would be a device that
allows a Windows NT network to communicate with a
NetWare network.
 What is difference between?
• Bridge: device to interconnect two LANs that use
the SAME logical link control protocol but may use
different medium access control protocols.

• Router: device to interconnect SIMILAR networks,

e.g. similar protocols and workstations and servers

• Gateway: device to interconnect DISSIMILAR

protocols and servers, like Macintosh and IBM
LANs and equipment