Network devices' structure and components
In this section, we talk about the functional and physical structure of communications devices. We start with the functional structure.
The functional structure of communications devices
As we saw in Chapter 1, Data Centers and the Enterprise Network Architecture and its Components, in the Data, control, and management planes section, a communications device's structure comprises three planes, categorized by the function they perform, as follows:
- A management plane that enables the administrator or the management system to give commands and read information from the device
- A control plane that makes decisions as to where to forward the data
- A forwarding or data plane that is responsible for forwarding the data
As there are three different functions, there are also three different ways to attack a device, as outlined here:
- Attacks on the management plane will be attacks trying to breach passwords...
