Network Hardware

Question 1

What does an NIC stand for and what is it?

Answer 1

network interface card

a device within a machine that allows it to connect to a network

Question 2

What is a hub?

Answer 2

a networking device that receives signals from nodes and transmits it to all connected nodes (within the network)

Question 3

What is a switch

Answer 3

• essentially a smart hub
  it is a networking device, which utlises its built in memory to form a look up table of connected nodes. When data is sent , the switch directs it to an appropriate node.

Question 4

How is a switch better than a hub?

Answer 4

It significantly cuts amount of network traffic and allows more communication

Question 5

Can a switch be more advanced?

Answer 5

yes, with managed switches

Question 6

What is a router?

Answer 6

a device which forwards packets of data between networks. it works out how to send packets to nodes within the destination address

Question 7

What do routers use to transfer packets between themselves?

Answer 7

MAC addresses, otherwise the IP destination in packet header would change

Question 8

What do routers use to communicate with other devices?

Answer 8

TCP/IP - this makes communication universal

Question 9

When do we use gateways instead of routers?

Answer 9

when we transmit packets between networks but the protocols between them differ, otherwise they work exactly the same as a router