Experts often talk about Hub and Switch devices, referring to them as devices that do much the same thing. And then you have the Routers, which among other functions can cover those that these other two also do. Therefore, what are the differences between Hub, Switch and Router?
For understand this we must first examine each of these and what each one does.
Switch
The switch is a device very similar to the hub, but it has a big difference: the data from the source computer is only sent to the destination computer. This is because switches create a kind of dedicated communication channel between source and destination. In this way, the network is not “limited” to a single computer in sending information.
This increases the performance of the network since communication is always available, except when two or more computers try to send data simultaneously to the same machine. This feature also reduces errors (data packet collisions, for example).
Hub
The Hub is a simple device with a single mission, to interconnect the computers on a local network. Its operation is simple, when any of the computers on the local network that are connected to it sends data, the Hub replicates it and transmits it instantly to the rest of the computers on this local network.
It is a tool used for the analysis of networks. As it only repeats and distributes the same data among all the computers, it is possible to easily analyze this traffic and how the information flows through the network in search of possible errors. However, these devices have some disadvantages. The first is that it uses up excessive bandwidth, since if you want to send data to a single computer, you will not be able to do it without each bit being replicated and also sent to the rest that make up the network.
Router
The router is a device used in larger networks. It is more “intelligent” than the switch, since, in addition to fulfilling the same function, it also has the ability to choose the best route that a certain data packet must follow to reach its destination. It is as if the network were a big city and the router chooses the shortest and least congested path. Hence the router name.
Differences between those Devices
Basically, the main difference between a hub, also called a “concentrator”, and a switch, also known as a “switch”, is the method used by both devices to distribute and deliver Ethernet data packets to each of the computers and others. peripherals that make up a network.
While the hub is limited only to copying the packets that are delivered to all the other devices that are connected to it, the switch knows the specific address of each device in the network connected to it, so it is capable of transmitting said data packets to a specific computer or peripheral within the network.
