These devices include hub, switch, router and network cables. In a network all the devices must be compatible with each other. While installing the computer network make sure that you have purchased and the devices from the same vendor. All the devices in the LAN should communicate on the basis IEEE 802 standards and specifications. Following is the description of all these network devices.
Hub broadcast the data to every computer in the network and the LAN card of the destined compute picks the data and all the computers discard the data. There are different vendors of the hub like D-Link, Baynet, Baylan and others.
Switch
A switch is LAN communication device and it is more intelligent than the hub. It builds and maintains the switching table that contains the IP addresses and the MAC addresses of every computer and it sends the data only to the destined computer and not broadcast the data to all the computers like the hub.
Every computer is directly attached with the switch and the failure of any computer does not affect the other computers in the network. The major manufacturers of the switches are Cisco, D-Link, Baynet, Lucent and Gigabyte. Before buying a switch make sure to check the compatibility, speed, warranty and other technical specifications.
NIC
NIC stands for Network Interface Card and it is an integral part of every communication system in a network. Different LAN cards offer different communication speed that ranges from 10/100 mbps, 100 mbps and 100/1000 mbps. LAN cards are of two types wired and wireless. The common manufacturers are RealTel, Intel and D-Link etc.
LAN cards work on the physical and data link layers of the OSI layers model.
It usually has the twisted pair, AUI and BNC socket where the network cables like UTP/STP, Coaxial and fiber optics are connected. Modern motherboards have build-in chip of the LAN cards and they can be inserted into the PCI expansion slots of the motherboard.
Ethernet Cables
Ethernet cables are the communication mediums that are used to transmit the data in the LAN. There are different types of the cables such as UTP, STP, Coaxial and fiber optic. UPT/STP (Unshielded twisted pair and shielded twisted pair) are the most popular cables in the Ethernet-based network.
However due to the exceptional data communication speed, greater bandwidth, easy installation, lightweight and other great features of the fiber optic cables, they are rapidly replacing the other network cables. Soon Fiber optic cable will be the standard communication medium for the local area network.