Unit 8

Lesson 3 - Connecting Networks

   Introduction

As an organization grows, it may need to connect several small networks over local or wide area links. A company may also choose to divide a single LAN into several subnetworks to provide greater traffic isolation and security.

For all of these reasons, routers are the most common tool used to connect individual networks to each other. This lesson shows how routers are used to connect networks, and how information flows between routers and network boundaries.

   Objectives

At the end of this lesson you will be able to:

1.

Describe how routers isolate traffic in a network

2.

Explain why routers are used to connect LANs to other LANs

3.

Describe the configuration of a typical home Internet connection

Key Point
Routers divide networks at Layer 3 and offer more features than simpler devices.


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