A gateway is a network point that acts as
an entrance to another network. On the Internet, a node
or stopping point can be either a gateway node or a host
(end-point) node. Both the computers of Internet users and
the computers that serve pages to users are host nodes.
The computers that control traffic within your company's
network or at your local Internet service provider (ISP)
are gateway nodes.
In the network for an enterprise, a computer server acting
as a gateway node is often also acting as a proxy server
and a firewall server. A gateway is often associated with
both a router, which knows where to direct a given packet
of data that arrives at the gateway, and a switch, which
furnishes the actual path in and out of the gateway for
a given packet.
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