Common Physical Components of a Network

This topic describes the physical components of a network, including PCs, interconnections, switches, and routers.
These are the four major categories of physical components in a computer network:

• Personal computers (PCs): The computers serve as end points in the network, sending and receiving data.
• Interconnections: The interconnections consist of components that provide a means for data to travel from one point to another point in the network. This category includes components such as the following:

1. Network interface cards (NICs) that translate the data produced by the computer into a format that can be transmitted over the local network
2. Network media, such as cable or wireless media, that provide the means by which the signals are transmitted from one networked device to another
3. Connectors that provide the connection points for media

• Switches: Switches are device that provide network attachment to the end systems and intelligent switching of the data within the local network.
• Routers: Routers interconnect networks and choose the best paths between netwroks.