I missed a statement about the transition between internal and external scaling. In the beginning of the article it is all about internal computer architecture, later more about deployment.
> In the beginning, routers were simply generic computers, with Network Interface Cards (NICs) attached to a bus.
I'm a total network noob, but I do want to know more about how they work. Your article could help me, I think. But this statement already puts me off: what is a bus? I just can't picture what that's supposed to mean. Sorry if that's a stupid question. Maybe the article is just not for me and I need some primer first.
It’s a physical data highway that allows devices to communicate with each other.
Early routers were ‘normal’ computers with lots of network cards plugged into a bus. Data arrived on one card, and was routed to another by the operating system.
Your home router is still a computer, but miniaturises everything to a much simpler circuit board with the network connectors directly soldered on.
"Early computer buses were parallel electrical wires with multiple hardware connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement that provides the same logical function as a parallel electrical bus. Modern computer buses can use both parallel and bit serial connections, and can be wired in either a multidrop (electrical parallel) or daisy chain topology, or connected by switched hubs, as in the case of USB. "
