What is a Router?
A Router is a networking device that forwards data packets between computer networks. One or more packet-switched networks or subnetworks can be connected using a router. By sending data packets to their intended IP addresses, it manages traffic between different networks and permits several devices to share an Internet connection.
Let us understand this by a very general example, suppose you search for www.google.com in your web browser then this will be a request that will be sent from your system to Google`s server to serve that webpage, now your request which is nothing but a stream of packets don`t just go to the google`s server straightaway they go through a series of networking devices known as a router which accepts this packets and forwards them to correct path and hence it reaches to the destination server. A router has several interfaces by which it can connect to several host systems. Routers are the devices that are operated on the Network Layer of the OSI Model, these are the most common devices used in networking.
Introduction of a Router
Network devices are physical devices that allow hardware on a computer network to communicate and interact with one another. For example Repeater, Hub, Bridge, Switch, Routers, Gateway, Router, and NIC, etc.