Bridges & Routers: Understanding the Backbone of Network Communication
Bridges & Routers play a crucial role in ensuring smooth, secure, and efficient communication across computer networks. Although people often confuse the two, each device has a distinct purpose that contributes to seamless data flow.
A Bridge operates at the Data Link Layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model. Its main function is to divide a large network into smaller segments, reducing traffic and improving overall performance. Bridges analyze MAC addresses to determine whether data should be forwarded, filtered, or blocked within network segments. This helps prevent unnecessary congestion and ensures that data reaches the correct destination within a local network.
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