Department of computer science and engineering

Experiment-6
Aim: - Creation of Simple Networking topologies using hubs and switches.
Hub: An Ethernet hub, active hub, network hub, repeater hub, hub or concentrator is a device
for connecting multiple twisted pair or fiber optic Ethernet devices together and making them
act as a single network segment. Hubs work at the physical layer (layer 1) of the OSI model.
The device is a form of multiport repeater. Repeater hubs also participate in collision detection,
forwarding a jam signal to all ports if it detects a collision.

Switch : A network switch or switching hub is a computer networking device that connects
network segments. The term commonly refers to a network bridge that processes and routes
data at the data link layer (layer 2) of the OSI model. Switches that additionally process data at
the network layer (layer 3 and above) are often referred to as Layer 3 switches or multilayer
switches.

Router: A router is an electronic device that interconnects two or more computer networks,
and lectively interchanges packets of data between them. Each data packet contains address
information that a router can use to determine if the source and destination are on the same
network, or if the data packet must be transferred from one network to another. Where multiple
routers are used in a large collection of interconnected networks, the routers exchange
information about target system addresses, so that each router can build up a table showing the
preferred paths between any two systems on the interconnected networks.

Cables: The first type of cable, known as the straight-through cable, connects two different
types of end devices; such as PC to Switch. The second type of cable, known as the cross-
over cable, connects two same type of end devices such as PC to PC or Switch to Switch.

Steps to create a network:

Step 1: Connect the switch to the LAN. a. Using the proper cable, connect the FastEthernet0/0
on Customer Router to the FastEthernet0/1 on Customer Switch. b.
Using the proper cable, connect the Customer PC to the Customer Switch on port
FastEthernet0/2. c. Using the proper cable, connect the Local Server to the Customer Switch
on port FastEthernet0/3.

Step 2: Verify the switch configuration. a. From the Customer PC, use the terminal emulation
software to connect to the console of the customer Cisco Catalyst 2960 switch.
b. Use the console connection and terminal utility on the Customer PC to verify the
configurations. Use cisco as the console password. c. Enter privileged EXEC mode and use the
show running- config command to verify the following configurations.
The password is cisco123.
a. VLAN1 IP address = 192.168.1.5
b. Subnet mask = 255.255.255.0

2236971
 Department of computer science and engineering

c. Password required for console access

d. Password required for vty access
e. Password enabled for privileged EXEC mode f. Secret enabled for privileged
EXEC mode
f. Verify IP connectivity between the Cisco Catalyst 2960 switch and the Cisco
1841 router by initiating a ping to 192.168.1.1 from the switch CLI.
g. Click the Check Results button at the bottom of this instruction window to check
your work.

Fig 6.1

Different topologies :
• Star Topology
In Star Topology, all the devices are connected to a single hub through a cable. This hub is the
central node and all other nodes are connected to the central node. The hub can be passive in
nature i.e., not an intelligent hub such as broadcasting devices, at the same time the hub can be
intelligent known as an active hub. Active hubs have repeaters in them. Coaxial cables or RJ-
45 cables are used to connect the computers. In Star Topology, many popular Ethernet LAN
protocols are used as CD(Collision Detection), CSMA (Carrier Sense Multiple Access), etc
A common example of star topology is a local area network (LAN) in an office where all
computers are connected to a central hub. This topology is also used in wireless networks where
all devices are connected to a wireless access point .

2236971
 Department of computer science and engineering

Fig 6.2

Bus topology: Bus Topology is a network type in which every computer and network device
is connected to a single cable. It is bi-directional. It is a multi-point connection and a non-robust
topology because if the backbone fails the topology crashes. In Bus Topology, various MAC
(Media Access Control) protocols are followed by LAN ethernet connections like TDMA , Pure
Aloha , CDMA, Slotted Aloha , etc

Fig 6.3

Ring Topology : In a Ring Topology, it forms a ring connecting devices with exactly two
neighboring devices. A number of repeaters are used for Ring topology with a large number of
nodes, because if someone wants to send some data to the last node in the ring topology with
100 nodes, then the data will have to pass through 99 nodes to reach the 100th node. Hence to
prevent data loss repeaters are used in the network. The data flows in one direction, i.e. it is
unidirectional, but it can be made bidirectional by having 2 connections between each Network
Node, it is called Dual Ring Topology. In-Ring Topology, the Token Ring Passing protocol is
used by the workstations to transmit the data.

2236971
 Department of computer science and engineering

Fig 6.4

Tree Topology :This topology is the variation of the Star topology. This topology has a
hierarchical flow of data. In Tree Topology, protocols like DHCP and SAC (Standard
Automatic Configuration ) are used. A common example of a tree topology is the hierarchy in
a large organization. At the top of the tree is the CEO, who is connected to the different
departments or divisions (child nodes) of the company. Each department has its own hierarchy,
with managers overseeing different teams (grandchild nodes). The team members (leaf nodes)
are at the bottom of the hierarchy, connected to their respective managers and departments.

Fig 6.5

• Hybrid Topology :This topological technology is the combination of all the various types
of topologies we have studied above. Hybrid Topology is used when the nodes are free to take
any form. It means these can be individuals such as Ring or Star topology or can be a
combination of various types of topologies seen above. Each individual topology uses the
protocol that has been discussed earlier.

2236971
 Department of computer science and engineering

A common example of a hybrid topology is a university campus network. The network may
have a backbone of a star topology, with each building connected to the backbone through a
switch or router.
Within each building, there may be a bus or ring topology connecting the different rooms and
offices. The wireless access points also create a mesh topology for wireless devices. This hybrid
topology allows for efficient communication between different buildings while providing
flexibility and redundancy within each building.

Fig 6.6

2236971