Unit 6

Lesson 2 - Bridges

   Types of Bridges

Bridges come in many shapes and sizes. The simplest bridges are adapter cards (NICs) in a personal computer (PC) that attach to small LAN segments. The most elaborate bridges convert frames from one type to another, and/or deliver frames over long distances at very high speeds.

Bridges offer many advantages and are still commonly found in computer networks. However, they can form traffic bottlenecks, because they can only forward traffic between one pair of ports at a time. Also, their operation is software-intensive and fairly slow. Thus, bridges are largely being replaced by a faster and more efficient Layer 2 device, the switch.

   Activities

See the Activities and Extended Activities section in Unit 6 Lesson 2 in your textbook Introduction to Networking to test what you have learned so far.

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