A hub is a very broad concept. It is used not only in network terminology. Also, for example, there is the concept of a USB hub. This is a device that
Used to connect several different USB devices to the same port. But this is not the whole range of possibilities for using concentrators of various nature.
In any developing project in the market information segment, sooner or later the task arises to combine a certain number of disparate data processing devices. A well-built network can easily solve this problem. To implement this task, there is a fairly large number of technologies. Having started planning to build your network, you should immediately determine which devices for aggregating information flows will be used in the process of maintaining the operability of network connections. A network hub (hub) is one such device.
The main distinguishing feature of the switch that the hub possesses is its feature of broadcasting data streams. All ports have the same rights. Therefore, having received the information flow through one of them, it ensures its broadcast to all other active ports. Roughly speaking, in order to understand what a hub is, it is necessary to understand its essence. This is a repeater designed for a large number of ports and has a useful auto-segmentation function. Auto-segmentation is the process of automatically managing failed ports (the process of transferring to a failed port gives rise to another process - declaring the port inactive). Further, if the malfunction is eliminated, the port again becomes active.
This is the answer to the question of what a hub is and how it differs from a switch. The properties of a network hub can significantly increase the overall level of reliability and fault tolerance of a network. Moreover, the resolution of all collisions that have arisen and the provision of general control over the state of connected channels are assigned directly to the device itself without attracting additional capacities, both software and hardware.
Hubs can be combined with each other, which allows you to build networks of absolutely any topology and size. They also make it possible to carry out backbone connections between themselves, thereby ensuring the implementation of the bus topology. But hubs have one significant drawback: they strongly depend on the
topology of the network in which they are used, that is, they are not universal. So, for each topology its own types of hubs are produced.
In general, in order to finally understand what a hub is, you need to understand one thing - it allows you to combine the individual devices that make up the network into one global (or rather local) workgroup.
We tried to understand in general terms what a hub is and “what it is eaten with”. Multifunctionality and wide applicability make hubs widely distributed in the modern market of information technologies. With their help, it is possible to solve the most complex tasks of building computer networks and not only them.