alex02
New Member
In the bustling digital landscape, data constantly flows like traffic in a metropolis. Getting this information to the right destination efficiently requires intelligent guidance. Two fundamental devices that perform this crucial task are bridges & routers. While they both connect parts of a network, they operate at different levels of sophistication, acting as local and global navigators for our data packets.
The Local Lane Manager: The Network Bridge
Imagine a bridge connecting two identical neighborhoods. This is the role of a network bridge. It operates at the Data Link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model, dealing with physical addresses known as MAC addresses. A bridge’s primary function is to connect two separate segments of the same local area network (LAN). Its key skill is traffic filtering. It listens to all the data passing through it and examines the MAC addresses of the sending and receiving devices.
The Local Lane Manager: The Network Bridge
Imagine a bridge connecting two identical neighborhoods. This is the role of a network bridge. It operates at the Data Link layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model, dealing with physical addresses known as MAC addresses. A bridge’s primary function is to connect two separate segments of the same local area network (LAN). Its key skill is traffic filtering. It listens to all the data passing through it and examines the MAC addresses of the sending and receiving devices.