91. What is Protocol Data Unit?
The data unit in the LLC level is called the protocol data unit (PDU). The PDU contains
of four fields a destination service access point (DSAP), a source service access point
(SSAP), a control field and an information field. DSAP, SSAP are addresses used by the
LLC to identify the protocol stacks on the receiving and sending machines that are
generating and using the data. The control field specifies whether the PDU frame is a
information frame (I - frame) or a supervisory frame (S - frame) or a unnumbered frame
(U - frame).
What are the different type of networking / internetworking devices?
1. Repeater: Also called a regenerator, it is an electronic device that operates only at
physical layer. It receives the signal in the network before it becomes weak, regenerates
the original bit pattern and puts the refreshed copy back in to the link.
2. Bridges: These operate both in the physical and data link layers of LANs of same type.
They divide a larger network in to smaller segments. They contain logic that allow them
to keep the traffic for each segment separate and thus are repeaters that relay a frame only
the side of the segment containing the intended recipent and control congestion.
3. Routers: They relay packets among multiple interconnected networks (i.e. LANs of
different type). They operate in the physical, data link and network layers. They contain
software that enable them to determine which of the several possible paths is the best for
a particular transmission.
4. Gateways: They relay packets among networks that have different protocols (e.g.
between a LAN and a WAN). They accept a packet formatted for one protocol and
convert it to a packet formatted for another protocol before forwarding it. They operate in
all seven layers of the OSI model.