You are the network administrator for your company. The network at the company’s office is due to be
upgraded, and you have been assigned the responsibility of identifying the requirements for designing the
network. You need to provide network connectivity to 200 client computers that will reside in the same sub
network, and each client computer must be allocated dedicated bandwidth.
Which device should you use to accomplish the task?

A.
router

B.
hub

C.
switch

D.
firewall

Explanation:
You should use a switch to accomplish the task in this scenario. A switch is used to provide dedicated
bandwidth to each node by eliminating the possibility of collisions on the switch port where the node resides.
Switches work at Layer 2 in the Open System Interconnection (OSI) model and perform the function of
separating collision domains. When a node resides in its own collision domain, the possibility of collisions
(which slow throughput due to the subsequent but necessary retransmission) is eliminated. The advantage of
using a switch instead of a hub is that a switch provides dedicated bandwidth to each client, while all connected
clients share the bandwidth on a hub.
A router will not be a suitable device in this scenario. Routers are Network layer devices that are used to
separate broadcast domains and connect two or more different subnets or network types. There is only a single
subnet in the scenario so a router is not required.
A hub will not be a suitable device in this scenario. Hubs are Physical layer (Layer 1) devices that are used to
connect clients to the network. A hub simply broadcasts data to all its ports; it does not create separate collision
domains. All clients connected to a hub are a member of a single collision domain. In a scenario where a
number of devices connected to a hub are experiencing network slowdowns, especially when using networkbased applications, replacing the hub with a switch is almost always the best solution.
A firewall will not be a suitable device in this scenario. A firewall is a device used to secure the network against
unauthorized intrusions and malicious attacks.
Objective:
Network Fundamentals
Sub-Objective:
Describe the impact of infrastructure components in an enterprise network

Cisco Documentation > Internetwork Design Guide > Internetworking Design Basics