How are the following the same or different in function:hubs,switches,routers,bridges, and gateways?

Answer 1

Different

A router is a computer networking device that forwards data packets across a network toward their destinations, through a process known as routing.

An Ethernet hub or concentrator is a device for connecting multiple twisted pair or fibre optic Ethernet devices together, making them act as a single segment. The device is thus a form of multiport repeater.

Gateway, in networking technology, is a node that serves as an entrance to another network, and vice-versa. This is, in fact, an earlier name for Routers and both acutally focus on the same concept - that is, hardware or software that routes (and filters) data coming through it. This retronym, however, now describes the same hardware or software technology that are mostly implemented in corporate enterprises that not only does routing and filtering of data, but also can include added routing, proxy functionality, as well as being advanced as to have Antivirus software scanning and filtering capabilities.

A network switch (or just switch) is a networking device that performs transparent bridging (connection of multiple network segments with forwarding based on MAC addresses) at full wire speed in hardware. The use of specially designed hardware also makes it possible to have large numbers of ports (unlike a PC based bridge which is very limited by expansion slot count).

If a network has only switches and no hubs then the collision domains are either reduced to a single link or, if both ends support full duplex, eliminated altogether. The principle of a fast hardware forwarding device with many ports can be extended to higher layers giving the multilayer switch.

Answer 2

Hubs: Hubs look like a rectangular box and made up off plastic. these are used to join mulitiple comuters together to form a network so that computers can communicate with each other
ex: Ethernet HUB

to get more info on hubs please visit the following link.

http://compnetworking.about.com/od/hardwarenetworkgear/l/aa012801a.htm

Switch: switch is used to network multiple computers together. Switches made for the consumer market are typically small, flat boxes with 4 to 8 Ethernet ports. These ports can connect to computers, cable or DSL modems, and other switches. High-end switches can have more than 50 ports and often are rack mounted.

Switches are more advanced than hubs and less capable than routers. Unlike hubs, switches can limit the traffic to and from each port so that each device connected to the switch has a sufficient amount of bandwidth. For this reason, you can think of a switch as a "smart hub." However, switches don't provide the firewall and logging capabilities that routers do. Routers can often be configured by software (typically via a Web interface), while switches only work the way the hardware was designed.

Router: A network device that forwards packets from one network to another. Based on internal routing tables, routers read each incoming packet and decide how to forward it. The destination address in the packets determines which interface on the router outgoing packets are directed to. In large-scale enterprise routers, the current traffic load, congestion, line costs and other factors determine which outgoing line to forward to.

Answer 3

google it