Network Connecting Points
The all-important connecting points of networks are handled by various kinds of hardware known as switches, hubs, routers, and bridges. The following is a brief description of each.
Passive Devices: Hubs and Repeaters
A hub is a passive device, one that connects the disparate elements of a network (normally the rays of a star). When the hub receives a signal from a computer on one ray, it sends the signal out onto all of the other rays. In other words, it repeats the signal. In fact, there is a class of device known as repeaters that are very similar to hubs, with the exception that, while a hub repeats a signal out to all of the points to which it is connected, a repeater simply amplifies a signal in order to send it ...
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