Gateway or gateway (of the English Gateway ) is a device, often a computer , that allows to interconnect networks with protocols different architectures and all levels of communication . Its purpose is to translate the information from the protocol used in a network to the protocol used in the destination network.
Summary
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- 1 Operation
- 2 Way of working
- 3 Types of Gateways
- 1 Board And Software Devices
- 2 Box Level Devices
- 4 Source
Functioning
A Gateway is not like a bridge , which simply transfers information between two systems without conversion. This modifies the packaging of the information or its syntax to suit the target system. Gateways work at the highest level of the OSI model (the Application). They are the most sophisticated method of interconnecting networks. Networks with completely different architectures can be connected; for example, a Novell PC network with a network with SNA or TCP / IP architecture , or with an Ethernet network. The gates do not perform routing functions in the network, they simply transmit packets so that they can be read. When a gateway receives a packet from a network, it translates the packet from the format used in the network to a common format between gateways, and then sends it to another gateway, which after receiving it translates it from the common format to the format used in the destination network, and finally sends it to it.
Way of working
The gateway is normally a computer equipment configured to provide the machines of a local area network connected to it with access to an external network, generally carrying out IP address translation operations ( Network Address Translation ). This capacity of address translation allows to apply a technique called ” IP masking “, very often used to give Internet access to computers on a local area network by sharing a single Internet connection, and therefore a single IP address.external. The IP address of a gateway usually looks like 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1 and uses some predefined ranges, 127.xxx, 10.xxx, 172.16.xx to 172.31.xx, 192.168.xx, which encompasses or is reserved to local area networks. It should also be noted that a computer that fulfills the role of gateway in a network must necessarily have 2 network cards . The default gateway, or better known by its name in English as “Default Gateway”, is the default route assigned to a computer and its function is to send any packet that does not know which interface to send it to and is not defined in the routes of the equipment, sending the packet through the default route.
Gateways types
There are two variants:
- Board and software Devices.
- Box Level Devices.
Board And Software Devices
These devices have been computers equipped with communication adapters of different protocols corresponding to the segments of the different types of network to be interconnected. In addition, the software that allows us to translate the different elements of the protocols to be communicated. They are usually dedicated computers. In most cases a file server can be enabled as such a gateway.
Box Level Devices
They are dedicated smart devices that allow us not only the translation of protocols but also communication between devices of different architectures and even under different operating environments.
