Hubs

Hubs

Hubs, or repeaters, are
simple devices that interconnect
groups of users.
Hubs forward any data
packets they receive over
one port from one workstation—
including e-mail, word processing documents,
spreadsheets, graphics, or print requests—to all of their
remaining ports. All users connected to a single hub or
stack of connected hubs are in the same “segment,” sharing
the hub’s bandwidth or data-carrying capacity. As more
users are added to a segment, they compete for a finite
amount of bandwidth devoted to that segment.
Examples of Cisco hub products:
Cisco Micro Hub series
Cisco FastHub® series
For example...To understand how a hub serves your campus
network, imagine a hotel with just one phone line available
to all guests. Let’s say one guest wants to call another. She
picks up her phone and the phone rings in all rooms. All
the other guests have to answer the phone and determine
whether or not the call is intended for them. Then, as long
as the conversation lasts, no one else can use the line. With
only a few guests, this system is marginally acceptable.
However, at peak times of the day—say, when everyone
returns to their rooms at 6 p.m.—it becomes difficult to
communicate. The phone line is always busy.