Digital Router Question:

At first glance it may be difficult to judge the difference between a hub and a switch since both look roughly the same. They both have a large number of potential connections and are used for the same basic purpose- to create a network. However the biggest difference is not on the outside, but on the inside in the way that they handle connections. In the case of a hub, it broadcasts all data to every port. This can make for serious security and reliability concerns, as well as cause a number of collisions to occur on the network. Old style hubs and present-day wireless access points use this technique. Switches on the other hand create connections dynamically, so that usually only the requesting port can receive the information destined for it. An exception to this rule is that if the switch has its maintenance port turned on for an NIDS implementation, it may copy all data going across the switch to a particular port in order to scan it for problems. The easiest way to make sense of it all is by thinking about it in the case of old style phone connections. A hub would be a 'party line' where everybody is talking all at the same time. It is possible to transmit on such a system, but it can be very hectic and potentially release information to people that you don't want to have access to it. A switch on the other hand is like a phone operator- creating connections between ports on an as-needed basis.