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Network Hardware
Hosts
Hosts are the actual clients/devices on a network. Examples: Computers, printers, servers, etc....
Hubs / Repeaters
Hubs connect hosts in Network Types#Broadcast network networks, they forward all messages in all possible directions. This means that hubs are non-intelligent.
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Switches
Switches like hubs also connect hosts in broadcast networks. Switches however forward messages in the direction of their intended receivers. This makes the switches intelligent.
This property of a switch is called filtering.
Switches contain a table that stores all MAC-Address of connected devices (of each port) in a table.
They read the frame of a incoming message, extract the destination MAC Address and forward it to the corresponding port on the switch.
Bridges
Routers
Router is a member of multiple networks.
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For each connection to a network a routers uses a network interface card (NIC) and a IP address.
This way a router can have multiple IP addresses.
Each connection is identified by a interface, label or an address.
Example of a routing table:
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Updating router tables
Routers are responsible for updating routing tables themselves.
When a router detects a change in connections, it immedia