What is a Gateway and its Function on a Computer Network

In computer network technology, of course you need to know the various types of equipment components. One of them is about Gateway on a computer network. Then what is a Gateway and its function on a computer network?

Gateway has a role to connect one network to another network. Without a Gateway, you cannot send data or access the internet. So that the Gateway is a very important component in network computers.

Table of Contents

What is a Gateway in Computer Network?

what is a gateway on computer network

Maybe there are still many of you who do not really understand the term Gateway. Etymologically, Gateway comes from the words Gate and Way. In order to understand more about Gateway, you can read the following article to the end.

Gateway is a device that is used to connect the network between one computer device to another. Because each device does have a different communication protocol, so it must be connected through the gateway.

Gateway can be a liaison between one network to another network even though the network has a different architecture and topology pattern. In addition, the gateway can also connect large computer networks with large or large computer networks with small ones.

One example of an internet gateway device and network is a router and an ISP (internet service provider) that provides access to the entire www (World Wide Web) network. So you can communicate or access the internet freely from anywhere.

Generally, Gateways can also be connected to Switches to optimize their performance. If the Gateway serves to perform data handling and protocol conversion, then Switch is the actual path determinant of data going in and out of the gateway.

Gateway Functions on Computer Networks

what is a gateway function

After knowing what a Gateway is, you also need to know its function. In general, the main function of the Gateway is as a protocol conversion on a computer network. However, the Gateway also has other functions, namely as follows.

Improve Computing Performance

One of the Gateway’s functions on a computer network is to optimize the performance and stability of the company’s computing, by distributing redundant computing tasks to other computers on the network system.

The distribution of computing tasks to computer networks will increase the performance of each computer. So that heavy computing tasks can be carried out more optimally and maximally.

Hardware Sharing

The next function of the gateway is that it can be used to share hardware. Sharing Hardware will be able to save the number of devices on a particular computer network. So that every computer on the network can work more optimally and optimally.

Read: What is Network Security: Types and Functions

Often on an office network or otherwise there is a printer that people in the room want to share, so it can be done using a gateway system.

Easy Access to Information

The next Gateway function is that it can be used to facilitate access to information. Without a gateway, two computers with different protocols will not allow the exchange of data.

The existence of a Gateway will make it easier for users to get access to the information they want. Because the two computers have been connected and exchange data and information through communication that occurs on the Gateway.

Convert Protocol

Gateway is a link between two computers with different protocols. So that between one computer to another computer can be connected and related so as to allow the exchange of information.

The gateway network can be operated at every level contained in the OSI (Open System interconnection) network model. So that computer devices can communicate with each other even though they have different protocols.

Simplify the Data Management Process

The presence of a gateway will make it easier for a business or business to integrate and organize important data in which there are various divisions or departments that work separately.

That is why a gateway is needed to connect computers so that each division or department can share data or information for people who have an interest only.

How Gateways Work

All networks have a boundary that limits communication to devices that are directly connected to it. Due to this, if a network wants to communicate with devices, nodes or networks outside of that boundary, they require the functionality of a gateway.

The gateway is implemented at the edge of a network and manages all data that is directed internally or externally from that network. When one network wants to communicate with another, the data packet is passed to the gateway and then routed to the destination through the most efficient path.

In addition to routing data, a gateway will also store information about the host network’s internal paths and the paths of any additional networks that are encountered.

Types of Gateways in Computer Networks

types of gateway on computer network

After reading what a Gateway is, you also need to know about the types of Gateway on a computer network. Based on the flow direction for data and information, the gateway itself is divided into several types as follows.

Network Gateway

Network gateway is a very common type because it provides an interface or interface between two different networks that operate using different protocols. If a gateway is specified without specifying its type, it usually refers to a network gateway.

IoT Gateway

IoT Gateway is a type of Gateway that is used to connect IoT sensor device data with facts that occur in the field. This gateway also performs translation between two or more protocols before sending them to the cloud network.

Read: What is Operation System: A Complete Introduction

The existence of an IoT Gateway will allow every IoT developer to be able to create an automated network structure. So that each device can work and communicate even though they have different protocols on each device.

Cloud Storage Gateway

A cloud storage gateway is a network node or server that interprets storage requests with different cloud storage service API calls. Examples are SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) and REST (Representational State Transfer).

Using a cloud storage gateway, the integration of private cloud storage into the application can be facilitated without the need for application transfer to the public cloud or whatever, so data communication can be simplified.

VoIP Trunk Gateway

VoIP trunk gateway is a gateway that has the task of facilitating data exchange between PSTN (public switched telephone network) devices and VoIP (voice over internet protocol) networks.

The VoIP trunk gateway allows PSTN users to connect to a VoIP network without an operator. With the many services offered by this service it allows the reduction of telephone costs so that it becomes the main application.

Bidirectional Gateway

Bidirectional gateways can allow data to flow in both directions. Bidirectional gateway can also be a synchronization tool. The use of a bidirectional gateway allows each device to communicate with each other safely and comfortably.

Undirectional Gateway

Unidirectional gateway is to allow data to flow in one direction only. Unidirectional gateway is used as a tool for archiving. This type of gateway generally cannot be used for two-way communication so that each device will not be able to exchange data with each other.

Conclusion

 Gateway is one of the important components in network computers. The existence of a Gateway allows two devices with different protocols to communicate or exchange data safely and optimally.

In general, there are many types of Gateways commonly used in network technology. Starting from Network Gateway, IoT Gateway, Cloud Storage Gateway, and so on. Each type of Gateway has different functions and uses.

That’s a complete discussion of what is a Gateway on a computer network. After reading the article, we hope you can have a more complete and detailed understanding of the Gateway and its functions on network computers.

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