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Network hardware

3. Hub

Hubs are a piece of hardware used to connect computers on the same network together. Every device gets plugged into the hub via cables. The hub has a socket, or 'port' available for each device. Larger networks might need a bigger hub with more ports.

 

hub

To communicate across the network, devices send data in chunks called 'packets'. When a hub receives a data packet from any computer, it immediately copies it and broadcasts it to all connected devices. The packet includes a destination address, so the receiving computer knows to open it and all other computers discard it.

This is a cheap and effective way of transmitting data, but it is a little inefficient. Even if the data is meant to go to only a single computer, the hub will send it to all of them at once.

challenge see if you can find out one extra fact on this topic that we haven't already told you

Click on this link: What is a network hub