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How do you explain "router/switch/firewall" to your wife?

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lambent

Vendor
Dec 28, 2003
463
A2
Assuming your wife knows nothing about networking, how are you going to explain to her what a router/switch/firewall is?
 
HA HA HA HA HA...are you trying to convince her that you need one? Just buy it...that's what I concluded I had to do...she thinks all my routers and switches are there to build a service center for internet porn...lol.
Actually, do you do billing online? Cherish the family pictures? Want to be hidden from everyone on the internet, including would-be thieves? Do you lock your front door at night, or trust that nobody will break in and leave it unlocked? If you live in Canada, you can't use that one...lol.

Burt
 
firewall = dishwasher
router = oven
switch = sink

Ok, not really. I'm with Burt, just buy it. Easier to ask forgiveness than permission. :)
 
lol...actually she just wants to understand what I'm working with :)
 
That's real easy.

Firewall = Sun Block because it protects you.
Router = Visa because it takes you places.
Switch = Airline reservations because it gives different options of where you want to travel!!!

kumputirgeek, CHDP, Network +
 
Oh man---don't let her see this post then...in fact, will the Tek-Tips Admin King Dude remove this post?lol

Burt
 
Not that I even like baseball, but I find it the easiest analogy.

The internet, it's full of puny little baseball players. They want to throw from say outfield to home base, but they just can't make it that far on their own. They have to throw it to a middle man, and sometimes several, to get it to the end destination. What does the internet version of this is a router.

Haven't come up with a good one for firewall or switch yet.
 
I stopped trying to explain what they are.

Now, any time a story hits the news about hackers, viruses, and trogans, I just tell her that is why we have these things.

I tell her no protection is fool proof, but the more difficult we make it, the more likely it is someone will look for easier prey.
 
A router is like a roundabout. Three stores with the roundabout between them. YOu gotta go through the roundabout (router) to get to the any one of the stores from the other.

A firewall is like a bank vault door. If you got permission, you can go in. No permission, they shoot you down at the door :)

A switch is like the queue at a stadium. ALl the FRAMES (layer two, remember?) hit the ticket booths (any frame inbound on any port), buys a ticket and then goes to a specific exit port (box seats, bathroom, food etc) or gets flooded to the main deck (all ports) until they find where it is they want to be.



Home of the book "Network Security Using Linux"
 
I would say that the last analogy with the switches work very well for VLANs as well, as the tickets would be the VLAN tags. Very good.

Burt
 
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