What are devices on the network that are responsible for forwarding data from one device to another?
The devices on a network that are responsible for forwarding data from one device to another are typically called network switches or routers. These devices receive data packets from one device and then determine the most efficient path to forward the packets to the intended destination.
Devices on a network that are responsible for forwarding data from one device to another are called routers. Routers are network devices that operate at the network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI model. They receive incoming data packets, examine the destination IP address, and determine the best path for forwarding the packets to their intended destinations. Routers use routing tables to make these decisions, which contain information about network addresses and the next hop for forwarding packets.
The devices on a network that are responsible for forwarding data from one device to another are called switches.
To understand this, let's go through the process of how data is forwarded in a network:
1. When a device on a network wants to send data to another device, it will encapsulate the data into packets.
2. Each packet contains the source and destination IP addresses, among other information.
3. The device will then send the packet onto the network.
4. The packet travels through the network, passing through various devices until it reaches its destination.
5. The responsibility of forwarding the packet from one device to another is handled by switches.
Switches are network devices that operate at the data link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model. They maintain a table, known as a MAC address table, which maps the MAC addresses of connected devices to the corresponding ports on the switch.
When a packet arrives at a switch, it examines the destination MAC address in the packet's header. It then looks up this address in its MAC address table to determine which port the destination device is connected to. The switch then forwards the packet only to the appropriate port, rather than broadcasting it to every connected device. This process is called "switching" because it selects the correct path for a packet to take within a network.
By forwarding data packets only to the necessary destination, switches reduce network congestion and increase efficiency. They play a crucial role in providing reliable connectivity within a local area network (LAN) or even a larger network environment.