Networking Components

Networking Components To establish wired networking in a group of computers, you require some additional components that are as follows: ➢ Network Card A network card is used to physically attach a computer to network, so that it can participate in network communication. Ethernet Network Card is the most commonly used network card. (Nowadays, most computer motherboards have an inbuilt network card.) Network card ➢ Networking Cable Modern Ethernet networks use twisted pair cable, containing eight wires. These wires are arranged in a special order, and an RJ-45 connector (similar in design, but bigger than the connector used with the telephone wire) is crimped at both ends of the cable. Networking Cable ➢ Modem A modem enables you to connect your computer to the available internet connection over the existing telephone lines. It converts the digital signals of a computer into analog signals to enable their transmission via phone lines. At the destination, the receiving modem further

converts the analog signal into digital signals so that the data can be understood at the receiving end. It comes as a separate part that can be installed on the Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) slots found on the motherboard. Modem ➢ Hub A hub is a network device that is used to connect all the computers in a network with each other. When a computer sends a request in a network, it is first sent to the hub by the cable. The hub then transmits whether the message belongs to them or not. If not, then the message is dropped. This process is called broadcasting. Hub ➢ Switch A switch works similar to a hub. However, unlike a hub, the switch does not broadcast the message on the entire network. It transmits the message from the source computer to the destination computer only by using the physical address. This way, the switch provides a direct connection between the source and destination. As a result the speed of the network increases.

Switch ➢ Router A router is a device that connects two different types of network with each other, for example, a LAN with WAN. Apart from transmitting the message on the network from a source computer to the destination computer, a router also provides the best suitable route to deliver that message. It, therefore, helps to decrease the time of transmitting the message. Router