Advertisement
If you have a new account but are having problems posting or verifying your account, please email us on hello@boards.ie for help. Thanks :)
Hello all! Please ensure that you are posting a new thread or question in the appropriate forum. The Feedback forum is overwhelmed with questions that are having to be moved elsewhere. If you need help to verify your account contact hello@boards.ie

Difference between routers & gateways

  • 29-09-2000 3:13am
    #1
    satchmo
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,481 ✭✭✭


    Can someone please explain to me the difference between a router and a gateway? Every so often I think I have it sussed, and then I realise I'm even more confused than I was.

    Are they machines in their own right? Are they processes running on some network machine? Can a router also be a gateway or vice-versa?

    I've tried looking them up on www.pcwebopedia.com but it's not much help (for once - usually it's a great site to go to for that sort of thing).

    cheers

    THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MORALE IMPROVES


Comments

  • #2
    _CreeD_
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 4,151 ✭✭✭_CreeD_


    As I understand it:

    Both can be hardware or software based (For instance NT servr4 has a Gateway service for Netware). Also, you can build a routing table in WinNT,Win9x, Netware etc. Pretty much anything that has a proper implementation of TCP/IP as far as I know. Just look up help on the ROUTE command for options.


    A router simply routes (Duh...) protocol packets along the most efficient path on/between networks. They can be preset or can be intelligent and actually learn the best routes as time goes on - really dinky ones can actually learn from each other.

    A Gateway can do the same, except it also serves to change the protocols for incompatible network types. Eg. You have TCP/IP coming in one side but want to transmit to an Apple-Talk network on the other. Or Netbios from an NT machine to a fully fledged Netware server (in this case NT Server's Netware Gateway service will make it's own NT clients think the Novell serber is also an NT machine).


    It's been quite a while since I read up on this so this mightn't be exact, but it is the general jist of it.


    [This message has been edited by _CreeD_ (edited 29-09-2000).]


Advertisement