Which device facilitates network connectivity by managing data paths?

The correct answer is the router, which plays a crucial role in facilitating network connectivity by managing data paths. A router connects multiple networks and directs data packets between them, determining the most efficient path for data transmission based on current network conditions. This ability to analyze and forward data ensures that information reaches its destination quickly and reliably.

In converting the information from one network technology to another, routers also handle the data packets, allowing devices from different networks to communicate. This includes routing traffic on the internet and managing data flow between your local devices and external networks, making routers essential for both home and enterprise networking.

While gateways, switches, and servers have distinct functions within a network, they do not primarily focus on managing data paths between different network segments. Gateways often serve as points of entry and exit for data between different networks, switches primarily connect devices within the same local area network and manage data flow at the data link layer, and servers provide resources, data, services, or programs to other computers, but they don't perform path management like routers do.