hub

A communications infrastructure device to which nodes on a multi-point bus or loop are physically connected. A hub is commonly used in Ethernet and Fibre Channel networks to improve the manageability of physical cables. Hubs maintain the logical loop topology of the network of which they are a part, while creating a hub-and-spoke physical star layout. Unlike switches, hubs do not aggregate bandwidth. Hubs typically support the addition or removal of nodes from the bus while the bus is operating. (The Dictionary of Storage Networking Terminology)