The Bridge/Router

By: James Thao

 Description of the Router

• A router is a networking device that sends

information between multiple networks. Routers
are commonly used for home networking, local
area network (LAN), and connecting to the
Internet using a single Internet connection.
 How the router works
• The router “directs traffic” or sends and revises
information sent within a network. In order to do so, a
router uses a configuration table. A configuration table is a
collection of information including: information on
specific connections leading to groups of addresses,
priority connections, and rules for managing routine and
special types of traffic. The complexity of a configuration
table depends on how large the router is (large routers
having to handle much more traffic than small routers).
 How the router works (cont.)
• A router has two key jobs for a network:
making sure information does not go to
unnecessary destinations, as that slows
down the network because of continuous
transferring of data, and making sure
information goes to the right destination.
 How the router works (cont.)
• When two computer networks exist, the
router performs translations of various
protocols between the two networks. This
protects the networks from overlapping
each other. As the number of networks
increases, the configuration table for
handling traffic grows, as does the
processing power.
 How the router works (cont.)
• Internet data, such as e-mail messages,
downloaded files, web pages, travels
through a packet-switching network. The
data in a message or file is broken up into
packages. Each package includes:
information on the sender’s address, the
receiver’s address, and how the receiver can
be sure that the right package arrived
correctly.
 How the router works (cont.)
• Each data package, or packet, is sent in the
most efficient route. This network allows
for this to occur: the network balances the
load across pieces of data at quick speeds,
and if an error occurs, packets can be routed
around that error to reach its destination.
 How the router works (cont.)
• As the router is guiding data, it must know the
addresses and network structure. Every computer
connecting to a network or the Internet has a
physical address or media access control address
(MAC). With the physical address, comes the
logical address, describing how information can
be transferred.
 How the router works (cont.)
• In short, the router scans the destination address
and matches the IP address according to the rules
in the configuration table. Then, the router checks
the performance of the primary connection in that
direction according to another set of rules. If the
connection is stable, the packet of data is sent and
the next packet is dealt with. If the connection is
unstable, then an alternative path is chosen and
checked for errors. Finally, the packet is sent
through the best connection in order to reach its
destination.
 Types of Routers
• Access routers: provides protocol conversions,
meaning transferring data between LAN, the
internal network, and WAN, the external network.
• Core routers: made for high bandwidth use and
used in large networks; the center of the LAN
network.
• Distribution routers: guides data from many access
routers to designated areas; responsible for
maintaining a good connection in WAN in order
for processing efficiency.
 Other types of networks
• WLAN- Wireless Local Area Network
• WAN- Wide Area Network
• MAN- Metropolitan Area Network
• SAN- Storage Area Network, System Area Network,
Server Area Network, or sometimes Small Area Network
• CAN- Campus Area Network, Controller Area Network,
or sometimes Cluster Area Network
• PAN- Personal Area Network
 History of the router
• In the late 1960s to 1989
the Interface Message
Processor (IMP) was the
predecessor of the router.
The IMP was the first
generation of gateways.
Leonard Kleinrock
contributed to computer
networking and helped in
the development of
ARPANET.
 History of the router
• In the early stage of networking (from the
mid-1970s through the 1980s), general-
purpose computers could perform as
routers.
 History of the router
• The first IP router was developed by
Virginia Strazisar at BBN Technologies
during 1975-1976.
• The first multi-protocol routers were
created by William Yeager and Noel
Chiappa.
 History of the router
• ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects
Agency Network) was created by ARPA of
the United States Dept. of Defense during
the Cold War. It was the world’s first
packet switching network.
• The International Network Working Group
(INWG) inspired the idea of the router in
1972.
 Diagram of a Router
http://www.usr.com/education/net7.asp
http://www.howstuffworks.com/router.h
tm/printable
• The Internet is one giant network
composed of thousands of smaller
networks, so the use of routers are
needed for faster communication.
 Description of the Bridge
• The network bridge connects local area network
(LAN) segments. A LAN segment is what
connects computers together through a section of
network media. (Ex. Computer 1 has two Ethernet
adapters and Computer 2 and 3 have one Ethernet
adapter each. An Ethernet cable connecting C1 to
C2 is one LAN segment and another Ethernet
cable connecting C1 to C3 is another LAN
segment.)
 Description of the Bridge
• It connects multiple network segments at the data
link layer, which provides functional and
procedural rules to transfer data from one network
to another. These rules are responsible for
detecting and correcting errors that may occur
within the network segments. Traffic from one
network is managed, instead of being set to
another network segment.
 Description of the Bridge
• Bridges analyze incoming data packets on a
network to determine if the bridge is able to
send the given packet to another segment of
that same network.
 How the bridge works
• The network bridge transmits data in
multiple directions in networks through
ports. Then, it monitors packets of data
transferred over LAN and to move through
one network to another according to the
address on the data packets.
 How the bridge works
• Then, the bridge confirms that the packet has the
correct address to cross the bridge in order to
reach the designated network.
• A LAN bridge connects a LAN with one or more
other LANs through links in order to form a larger
network.
• Network bridges are usually connected to a hub by
a separate LAN segment which requires two port
circuits, such as network interfaces and LAN
controllers with drivers for the data used in the
bridge-hub LAN segment.
 Types of Bridging
• Transparent Bridging- This method involves a forwarding
database to send frames of data across network segments.
Initially, the forwarding database is empty and entries in
the database are built as it receives frames. If there is no
address entry in the forwarding database, the frame will
forwarded to all segments except the source address. The
destination network will respond, thus creating a route. In
order to avoid looping when there are other paths
available, bridges record the bandwidth for transfer
efficiency. This is used for Ethernet networks.
 Types of Bridging
• Source Route Bridging- In source route bridging, two
frame types are used in order to find the route to the
destination network segment. Single-Route (SR) frames
have set destinations. All-Route (AR) frames are used to
find routes. Bridges send AR frames through all networks
involved to provide specific routes for frames. The first
AR frame defines the best route for incoming frames;
other frames are discarded. This method balances frames
on multiple bridges connecting two networks. This
provides for efficient forwarding of packets. A new AR
packet will find the best route if one exists. This is used for
Token Ring networks.
 Transparent bridge route vs. Source Route Bridge

• The main difference between these to types

of bridging is that Source Route Bridging is
more efficient in finding routes and it
eliminates ineffective bridges, but it takes
more energy to do this, as more space is
used to store routes in the frames.
 Bridge vs. Router
• Bridging and routing are both ways of data
control, but they each use there own
method. Bridges direct frames according to
media access control (MAC) addresses
assigned to hardware. A router functions by
using internet protocol (IP) addresses,
assigned to particular devices within the
computer network, by communicating
through nodes.
 History of the bridge
• The bridge was created before the router.
• Bridges were popular in the late 1980s
through the 1990s, but was replaced by the
network switch.
 Bridge/Router Manufacturers
• 3Com
• Alcatel
• Cisco Systems, Inc.
• D-Link Systems
• Enterasys Networks
• Juniper Networks
• Linksys
• Mikrotik
• NETGEAR
• Nortel
• Pivotal Networking
• SMC Networks
• Tellabs
• MRV Communications
• Belkin
 Prices
• Wired Routers: Linksys BEFSR81
10/100Mbps EtherFas Cable/DSL Router
$77.99
• Wireless Routers: TrendNet Wireless N
Home Router $34.99
• Wireless Bridges: D-Link DAP-1522
Xtreme N Duo Wireless Bridge/Access
Point $85.99
 Sources Cited
• http://www.usr.com/education/net7.asp
• http://kb.iu.edu/data/axfn.html
• http://compnetworking.about.com/cs/routers/g/bldef_router.htm
• http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Networking-Hardware/Router-Over
view/1/
• http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/windows/xp/all/pr
oddocs/en-us/hnw_understanding_bridge.mspx?mfr=true
• http://ecommerce.insightin.com/network/router.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Router#Types_of_routers
• http://www.howstuffworks.com/router.htm/printable
• http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc781097(WS.10).aspx
• http://www.ipnetworksystems.co.uk/technical-advice.php
 Sources Cited (cont.)
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBN_Technologies
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_line
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BBN_Technologies
• http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory
=28&name=Wired-Routers
• http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx
?Item=N82E16833156242
• http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?
Item=N82E16833127256
• http://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia_term/0,2542,t=remote+access+r
outer&i=50400,00.asp
 Sources Cited
• http://www.electronicsmanufacturers.com/products/computer-
networking/network-bridge/
• http://www.ehow.com/facts_5022880_definition-network-bridge.html
• http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Network_bridge
• http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Data_link_layer
• http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/MAC_address
• http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/IP_address
The End