ITHELPDESK

Routers Router is a Layer 3 device used to connect two or more logically separate networks. Routers forward packet based on IP address. All ports in a router are individual broadcast domain & individual collision domain. More on Routers Brouters Brouters are basically routers that can also bridge. A Brouter will first check to look if it supports the routing protocol being used by the packet. If not, instead of dropping the packet, the packet is bridged using hardware address information. Brouters act as routers to connect different networks both LAN & WAN and also act as a bridge to share files between computers connected to the same brouter. Bridges Bridge is a Layer 2 device used to connect two LANs which are using same protocols like Ethernet or Token Ring. Wireless access point is an example of bridge. Bridges create multiple collision domains and single broadcast domain. More on Bridges Switches Switches are multi-port bridges. A switch can operate in La...

BRIDGES Bridge is a Layer 2 device. It works in Datalink layer of OSI layer model. Bridges forward frames based on MAC address. Bridges have a single incoming and outgoing port. Bridges create multiple collision domain and single broadcast domain. Bridge is a software based device. Bridges maintains a MAC address table for both of the connected LAN segments. Bridges usually divide an overloaded network into separate segments. So, it is used to separate parts of a network that do not not need to communicate frequently but need to be connected.   SWITCHES Switches can work in Layer 2 or Layer 3 depending upon the selection of the switch model. Hence switch is a multilayer device. Layer 2 switches forward frames based on MAC address. But Layer 3 switches forward data based on IP address. Switches have many ports differs according to the model. Switches can create multiple collision domains as well as multiple broadcast domain(VLANs). Switch is a hardware based devic...