Surely, when you use different electronic devices in your daily life, you may have a WiFi router in your own home. And it is understandable, since having an internet connection has become vital for most of the people today.
But many times we do not know what parts or functions make it possible for our router to work. That is why today we show you what are the hardware and software components of a router so that you can learn much more about the operation of your software and even improve the speed of your WiFi.
What are the hardware components of a router?
Before explaining what are the hardware parts of a router, you will surely wonder what hardware is and what its function is. And it is that knowing this will help us a lot, since this way we can easily diagnose problems in the hardware and software even of, in this case, a router.
In summary, when we refer to the hardware of a computer or electronic device, we are talking about all the physical or tangible parts of it, which make it work correctly.
Once this is clarified, we can specify what are the parts that make up a router, and what function they have in it.
What parts does the hardware of a router have?
There are several parts that the hardware of a router has, and WiFi works thanks to them. The different parts of the router are:
- RAM: or the acronym for random access memory, is the part that is in charge of storing the data of the routing table, the queues of the packets, the fast switching cache and the current configuration of the router. When you turn it off, all the information stored in RAM is lost.
- CPU: or also central processing unit, which is in some way one of the most important parts of the device, since it is responsible for executing the operating system commands.
- NVRAM: It is the non-volatile random access memory, and it works to store the router startup configuration.
- Flash memory: This memory allows a general image of the Cisco IOS software to be stored in the router. The images in question can be updated whenever necessary.
- Buses: The CPU bus and the system bus are, so to speak, communicators that carry information where it is needed.
- Interfaces: allow you to connect the router to the outside of it.
- ROM: or read-only memory, works to forever save the ROM monitor or diagnostic boot code.
- Power supply: allows the router to have the electrical power it needs to function.
- Chassis: makes it possible to install the modules necessary for the router.
- Console/AUX Ports: This makes the initial configuration of the router possible.
In addition to all these parts, a router has USB and Stack inputs that allow you to connect certain cables necessary for its operation.
What are the software components of a router?
Software is the operating system of the router and of any computer, as it makes it possible for the aforementioned parts to function properly. And like the hardware, it has different components that are:
- Internetwork Operating System: this part is responsible for managing the software and hardware resources that give life to the router.
- Configuration files: these files are the ones that save the different commands of the router’s IOS. They can be files from the current configuration of the device, or from the start, when it is loaded to start using it.
Although when saying them there are not many software components, they are actually very powerful, since without these, the router would only be a pile of inert parts. Of course, each part of the router is very important, so we encourage you to discover the types of hardware and software that exist. In this way, you will discover much more about the operation of your router.
Being very clear about the operation that you obtain will help you in a great way to configure and make the most of the router.
We hope that all this information has been useful to you and that you get to know more about the operation of your devices, such as your router, so that you can enjoy them more and get the most out of their use.