At 12:57 PM 07/27/2000 , Ignatius Nayan D'Rozario wrote:
>I went out to buy a hub for my network and I was offered :
>
>1. A Hub
>2. A Switch
>3. A Switching Hub
>
>What are the essential differences between them and what are the speed
>and money factors involved.

In terms of networking PCs, a switch and a switching hub are the same thing.

Basically, a hub is a box or device which allows you to connect the cables
from two or more PCs into a central point so they can communicate.   A
hub is either 10Mbps or 10/100Mbps.  A hub strictly speaking moves data
across the entire network at the speed of the slowest Network card or hub
connected to it, (this is if you have other hubs connected to the first hub).
So, even if you have two PCs with 10/100Mbps network cards, a 10/100Mbps
hub and one PC with a 10Mbps network card, the data will only move across the
network at 10Mbps, the speed of the slowest device.

The switch or switching hub has the ability to allow the faster devices to continue
to connect with one and other at the higher speeds, in the above case, if the
hub was replaced with a 10/100Mbps switch, then the two PCs with 10/100Mbps
network cards could communicate at 100Mbps, though data would only move
to the PC with the 10Mbps network card at the slower speed, no matter what
machine received or sent it.

The switch in the hub increases the price.  Hubs are relatively inexpensive
today and the price of switches has dropped dramatically this year.  Personally,
I purchased a 10/100Mbps switch for my network for about $55US recently, where
they were over $150 just a year ago.

Anyway...  switches are only necessary if you have PCs on the network with
different speed network cards, a hub will do fine if they all have the same speed
card.

       Bob Wright
The NOSPIN Group

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