On Thu, 13 Jun 2002, Andrew Perrin wrote: > Well, saying "a router is basically a hub or a switch on steroids" is > somewhat akin to saying a car is basically a child's wagon on steroids; it > misses the central point of a router. Yes, a router will (often) have > several network ports built in (although technically I think that's just a > router and a hub in the same box); but what makes it a router is the > ability to program it to read packets and send them in the right direction > -- something neither hubs nor switches can do. in general hubs only broadcast all traffic to all ports siwthces select on hardware-addressing to see what needs to go where routers select on IP-packet level to deside on which goes where and are indeed programmable. I think a rounter wiht mroe network-ports still is a router cause it still will decide on ip-level info.
> Furthermore, there's no requirement that a router have multiple (e.g., > >2) network ports; to be a router it only needs to have one network > connection per network being routed (generally, for home use, one for your > DSL or cable modem and the other for your private network). yep, the router needs to do network-address-translation for that to work and possibly ppp-over-ethernet as well. YOu've got those new fancy swithces with linux-routing project build inside (basicly becoming a router) that do that job nicely. > You're right that you don't need a separate router if you've got a machine > masquerading. Essentially what's happening is the masquerading machine is > acting as a router. There's no conceptual difference between a router and > a computer with two (or more) network cards, each plugged into a different > network; a dedicated router is cheaper and more secure than a computer > doing the job, but technologically speaking it's essentially the same > thing. your masq-box becomes router. YOu need a switch or hub behind it and a local ip-range or so > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > Andrew J Perrin - http://www.unc.edu/~aperrin > Assistant Professor of Sociology, U of North Carolina, Chapel Hill > [EMAIL PROTECTED] * andrew_perrin (at) unc.edu > > > On Wed, 12 Jun 2002, Tony Firecloud wrote: > > > > > > a router is basically a hub or a switch on steroids. it usually does > > > the same job as hubs and switches, but it also allows you the ability > > > to connect *all* the computers it manages to the internet, if you have > > > an internet connection like cable modem or DSL. routers tend to be > > > more expensive though (pushing $100)...if you can afford it, then it > > > might be good for the possibility of a future internet connection, but > > > it's overkill for the job you've described in your email. > > > > > > good luck! > > > > > > -alan > > > > Well yes, I had planned on having my network connected to the internet. > > Kinda the whole idea of this was being able to use my new cable inter- > > net connection between a) the server, and then b) the two laptops, and > > for a final trick, c) my wife's win98 machine which would replace one > > of the laptops when necessary, as the windows machine doesn't need much > > network/internet time. > > But i'm pretty sure i don't _need_ a router for that, do i? Couldn't > > i send everything to the server (via the hub now) and have that box then > > send everything over the cable pipe? Masquerading, i think one calls it. > > Or packet forwarding? Or maybe i can't do such a thing if i want to use > > a hub(?); this is a new facet to my non-hubbed 5-NIC, 3-host, 1-internet > > connection idea, will take some figuring/reading i guess. But i'll > > definitely take your advice and get a hub or switch. > > > > Thanks for the link, looks like a good one; just what i need. > > Tony > > > > > > -- > > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > -- > To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > ----------- Andor Demarteau [EMAIL PROTECTED] ----------- -- To UNSUBSCRIBE, email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with a subject of "unsubscribe". Trouble? Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED]
