Hub is a networking device and presents a shared path to the devices connected on it. All devices connected to hub use the same path for communication and this occurs lag if some devices want to communicate at the same time, that is why hubs are known as “stupid” devices. Basicly if a network device wants to communicate with another one through a hub, packet of the sender is flooded to all ports.
Network devices connected to a hub use the bandwith of the media. All hubs work on the Layer – 1 of the OSI Model. Generally, hubs consist of 4, 8, 16, 24 or 32 ports. Network devices are connected to these ports and communicate each other. It is not recommended to use hubs because they increase the traffic so much and may occur some security problems too. Also hubs can not be managed via telnet,or ssh. They work with plug and play logic. It is logical that using hubs in a very small sized networks such as home, small offices and etc. It is not recommended to use hubs on large scale networks.
As it is told above, hubs are “stupid” devices. But who is the “clever” ? Answer is : Switch.
What Is The Difference Between Switches And Hubs ?
- Switches can forward to packets to the related destination ports, they don’t flood all the ports like a hub.
- Switches have MAC address table which they use for data forwarding.
- Some switches can be managed via telnet or SSH.
- Port speeds can be optimized.
- Switches are more expensive because of they have more properties.
- Some switches can carry gigabit /terabit ethernet speed too while hubs can carry just fast ethernet.