hub+proxy, gateway, router?

[capybara]

pls forgive the newbie ?, but please xplain
what I can do with a gateway that i cant do
with a hub+ proxy server? what additional
abilities would a router have? pls do
not give an answer like my networking
class book does, such as "operates at
osi level 3." I need a simpler explanation.

[DVNT1]

It depends...these products are often used in combinations.

The following is not 100% true 100% of the time. Meaning things change.

Like gateway - a computer server acting as a gateway node is often also acting as a proxy server and a firewall server. A gateway is often associated with both a router too. So gateway is more of a general term than Router, Bridge, Switch, Proxy, etc..

proxy - acts as a gatekeeper between networks. Helps ensure security, administrative control, and often has a caching service. It is often called a gateway too.

hub is basically a dumb repeater, it receives a packet and then retransmits it to all it's ports regardless of the destination.

A switch is like a hub but smarter, it tries to route traffic in relation to it's own ports. Generally it is not to connect different networks like a Router does. That usually works at different OSI layers but I won't mention those terms. http://sysopt.earthweb.com/forum/wink.gif Note - some switches can direct data based on IP addresses like a [i]Router[i/].

Router - an item more unique to a router is the ability to send traffic out different interfaces (like network cards and other ports) depending on the packet's destination (like IP address). Especially useful when the Router is connected to 3 or more networks and/or different network media.


Hopefully this helps, if you'd like more of a pro & con list then specify a particular application and I'll give it a shot.

[This message has been edited by DVNT1 (edited 01-05-2001).]

[capybara]

okay, heres what i mean. advantages/dis.
of a hub + software gateway such as
Windows proxy server or winproxy
www.winproxy.com (http://www.winproxy.com) . as compared to
a hardware gateway such as sohoware ngb600
www.sohoware.com (http://www.sohoware.com)
compared to the above two possibilities, would a router give me any
xtra functions? intended use: networking
4 home computers together to use one cable
modem connection. in the future, one of the computers could be the "gateway" (in the loose sense of the word) of a beowulf
cluster. thanx! =) *_* David

[DVNT1]

Note: I haven't used Winproxy nor that Router. The following is my conclusions based on the information at the respective websites and my own experience with similar products.


compared to the above two possibilities, would a router give me any
xtra functions

Yes, but may be minor, just depends on needs.

Router PROs...
- No dependency on a host computer to have access to Internet connection.
- NAT is used at the Router so no single computer is exposed directly to Internet port scans and the like. It is generally more secure that way. Note: many Routers (including this one) let you designate incoming traffic to go to a PC (or more) on the LAN, this NULLS one of the "NAT at Router" benefits but allow Internet Gaming.
- Reduces CPU usage at the "would have been" host computer...this may be very noticeable if you were doing CPU intensive tasks while Internet access was done. Packets may have been passed without being checked or more likely, just be dropped which would slow down Internet access...depends on the design.
- Client PC configuration is simpler (auto IP, DNS, and Gateway setup from the Router).

Router CONS...
- this Router (Broadband Internet Gateway) will ONLY allow you to share up to four computers simultaneously* Per their website! But I'm not sure if you could add a hub to it and then use more.
- a VPN client (or server) is generally not possible when going through NAT.


WinProxy Pros...
- a VPN client will work from the HOST computer.
- a VPN server will also work on the HOST
- Internet game hosting will work on the HOST computer.
- utilizes more Parental controls
- has a proxy which is *generally* better because of reductions in WAN usage
- base version will allow simultaneous Internet connections from three different computers but for more $ you can increase that limit

WinProxy Cons...
- must have two NICs on the HOST computer which can be difficult to setup for various reasons
- has a proxy that will probably introduce new annoyances (like old content in place of the new, failed page indexing which results in no web access at times); At least I've seen those same issues on three different proxies.
- may require more setup to allow some software to access the Internet.


After researching/writing this I wouldn't want either products for myself. Primarily because of the understood limit of computers being able to access the Internet simultaneously. Otherwise, I'd go with the router do to "always on" and no reliance on a HOST PC.

I'm sure others can give additional Pros/CONS as well (and I hope they do!).

(man, where does the time go, I started on this reply nearly an hour ago!)

[This message has been edited by DVNT1 (edited 01-06-2001).]

[capybara]

DVNT1: okay, the router i mentioned
[sohoware) wasnt a good choice because
of the limit of only 4 ports. But it
is only $120. Do you recommend other
routers under $200 that you like better?
Used would be ok! Where is a good place to
look for used routers?

[DVNT1]

I don't, but I'm sure others here do. I have a Prestige 310 that is good but somewhat complicated and over $200.

Many people within this forum have suggested Linksys routers.

[Surrational]

I have a Netgear router that I believe is similar to SoHoWare one you were looking at.
It does everything that I want it to do.

Netgear has two versions of the router--one that is designed to plug into an existing hub, and one that comes with a 4 port hub built in (I have the one with the hub). It supports up to 253 clients, or so it claims on their web site (http://www.netgear.com/product_view.asp?xrp=4&yrp=12&zrp=55 and http://www.netgear.com/product_view.asp?xrp=4&yrp=12&zrp=54).

I hope this is of some use.

BTW, I chose the RT314 over the RT311 because for they were the same price. I wend with it for convenience.