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Network Topology Perf

A network topology describes how devices on a computer network are physically and logically connected. There are two types of topologies: physical, which is the actual layout of devices and cables; and logical, which refers to the paths signals follow between nodes. Common network topologies include bus, ring, mesh, star, and tree - each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Hybrid topologies combine two or more standard topologies to gain benefits while reducing weaknesses.

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54 views3 pages

Network Topology Perf

A network topology describes how devices on a computer network are physically and logically connected. There are two types of topologies: physical, which is the actual layout of devices and cables; and logical, which refers to the paths signals follow between nodes. Common network topologies include bus, ring, mesh, star, and tree - each with their own advantages and disadvantages. Hybrid topologies combine two or more standard topologies to gain benefits while reducing weaknesses.

Uploaded by

abhi1211p
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Network Topology

MEANING: A network topology describes the arrangement of systems on a computer network.


It defines how the computers, or nodes, within the network are arranged and connected to
each other. There are two ways of defining network geometry: the physical topology and the
logical (or signal) topology.

Physical topology: The physical layout of devices on a network. Every LAN has a topology, or the
way that the devices on a network are arranged and how they communicate with each other.
The way that the workstations are connected to the network through the actual cables that
transmits data. The physical structure of the network is called the physical topology.

Logical (or signal) topology: It refers to the nature of the paths the signals follow from node to
node. In many instances, the logical topology is the same as the physical topology. But this is
not always the case. For example, some networks are physically laid out in a star configuration,
but they operate logically as bus or ring networks.

Types of Network Topologies:

Bus Topology: In this type of network topology, all the nodes of a network are connected to a
common transmission medium having two endpoints. All the data that travels over the network
is transmitted through a common transmission medium known as the bus or the backbone of
the network. When the transmission medium has exactly two endpoints, the network topology
is known by the name, ‘linear bus topology'. In case the transmission medium, also called as the
network backbone, has more than two endpoints, the network is said to have a distributed bus
topology. Bus topology is easy to handle and implement and is best suited for small networks.
But the downside of this topology is that the limited cable length limits the number of stations,
thus limiting the performance to a less number of nodes.

Ring Topology: In a ring topology, every node in the network is connected to two other nodes
and the first and the last nodes are connected to each other. The data that are transmitted over
the network pass through each of the nodes in the ring until they reach the destination node. In
a ring network, the data and the signals that pass over the network travel in a single direction.
The dual ring topology varies in having two connections between each of the network nodes.
The data flow along two directions in the two rings formed thereby. The ring topology does not
require a central server to manage connectivity between the nodes and facilitates an orderly
network operation. But, the failure of a single station in the network can render the entire
network inoperable. Changes and moves in the stations forming the network affect the network
operation.

Mesh Topology: In a full mesh network, each network node is connected to every other node in
the network. Due to this arrangement of nodes, it becomes possible for a simultaneous
transmission of signals from one node to several other nodes. In a partially connected mesh
network, only some of the network nodes are connected to more than one node. This is
beneficial over a fully connected mesh in terms of redundancy caused by the point-to-point
links between all the nodes. The nodes of a mesh network require possessing some kind of
routing logic so that the signals and the data traveling over the network take the shortest path
during each of the transmissions.

Star Topology: In this type of network topology, each node of the network is connected to a
central node, which is known as a hub. The data that is transmitted between the network nodes
passes across the central hub. A distributed star is formed by the interconnection of two or
more individual star networks. The centralized nature of a star network provides a certain
amount of simplicity while also achieving isolation of each device in the network. However, the
disadvantage of a star topology is that the network transmission is largely dependent on the
central hub. The failure of the central hub results in total network inoperability.

Tree Topology: It is also known as a hierarchical topology and has a central root node that is
connected to one or more nodes of a lower hierarchy. In a symmetrical hierarchy, each node in
the network has a specific fixed number of nodes connected to those at a lower level.

Apart from these basic types of network topologies, there are hybrid network topologies, which
are composed of a combination of two or more basic topologies. These network mappings aim
at harnessing the advantages of each of the basic topologies used in them. Network topologies
are the physical arrangements of network nodes and wires. What is interesting is that the
inanimate nodes and wires turn 'live' for the transmission of information!
Hybrids: Hybrid networks use a combination of any two or more topologies in such a way that
the resulting network does not exhibit one of the standard topologies (e.g., bus, star, ring, etc.).
For example, a tree network connected to a tree network is still a tree network, but two star
networks connected together exhibit a hybrid network topology. A hybrid topology is always
produced when two different basic network topologies are connected. Two common examples
for Hybrid network are: star ring network and star bus network.

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