Net

wor
kTopol
ogy
Networktopol
ogyrefer
stohowv ari
ousnodes,
devi
ces,andconnecti
onsonyournetworkare
physi
call
yorlogi
cal
lyarr
angedi
nr el
ati
onto
eachother.
Therear enumerousway sanet workcanbe
arranged,al
lwithdif
ferentprosandcons, and
somear emoreusefulincertai
ncircumstances
thanot her
s.Thelayoutofyournetwor kis
i
mpor t
antfori
tplaysanessent i
alroleinhow
andhowwel lyournetworkfuncti
ons.
Ty
pesofNet
wor
kTopol
ogy
1.St
arTopol
ogy
2.BusTopol
ogy
3.Ri
ngTopol
ogy
4.Tr
eeTopol
ogy
5.MeshTopol
ogy
6.Hy
bri
dTopol
ogy
Ty
peofNet
wor
kTopol
ogy

1.St
arTopol
ogy
Ast artopology ,t
hemostcommonnet work
topology,islaidoutsoev er
ynodeinthe
networki sdirectlyconnectedtoonecentral
hub
viacoaxial,twisted-pair
,orfi
ber-
opti
ccable.
Acti
ngasaser ver,thiscentr
alnodemanages
datatransmi ssion—asi nformati
onsentfr
om
anynodeont henet workhast opassthr
ough
thecentral
onetoreachit
sdesti
nati
on—and
funct
ionsasarepeater
,whichhel
psprevent
dataloss.

Adv
ant
agesofSt
arTopol
ogy
Eachofthenodesisindependentl
yconnected
tothecentr
alhub,i
fonegodown, ther
estof
thenetworkwil
lcont
inuefuncti
oning
unaff
ected,maki
ngthestartopologyastabl
e
andsecurenetworkl
ayout.
Addit
ional
ly,
dev
icescanbeadded,
removed,
andmodi f
iedwi
thoutt
aki
ngtheent
irenet
work
off
li
ne.
Str
aight
for
wardset
upandmanagementov er
ti
meast henet
workexpandsorcont
ract
s.

Di
sadv
ant
agesofSt
arTopol
ogy
I
fthecent
ral
hubgoesdown,
ther
estoft
he
net
wor
kcan’
tfunct
ion.
Theoveral
l bandwi
dt handperfor
manceofthe
networkar
eal soli
mi t
edbythecentral
node’
s
confi
gurat
ionsandt echni
calspeci
fi
cati
ons.

2.BusTopol
ogy
Abust opologyorient
sallthedev icesona
net workalongasi ngl
ecabler unninginasingl
e
directi
onf rom oneendoft henet worktothe
other—whi chiswhyi t’
ssomet i
mescal l
eda
“l
inet opology”or“backbonet opology.
”Data
fl
owont henetworkalsofollowst herouteof
thecabl e,mov i
nginonedi recti
on.

Adv
ant
agesofBusTopol
ogy
Bustopol
ogi
esareagood,cost
-ef
fect
ive
choi
ceforsmal
l
ernetwor
ksbecausethelay
out
i
ssimple
Di
sadv
ant
agesofBusTopol
ogy
Becausebust opol
ogiesuseasingl
ecableto
transmi
tdata,they
’resomewhatvul
nerabl
e.I
f
thecableexperi
encesafail
ure,
thewhole
networkgoesdown.
Bustopologiesar
ebestsuitedforsmal
l
networ
ksbecauset her
e’sonlysomuch
bandwidt
h, andever
yaddit
ionalnodewi
llsl
ow
tr
ansmissionspeeds.

3.Ri
ngTopol
ogy(
Singl
evs.Dual
)
Ringtopologyiswherenodesarear
rangedina
ci
rcle(orri
ng).Thedatacantrav
elt
hroughthe
ri
ngnet workineit
heronedir
ecti
onorboth
di
r ect
ions,wi
theachdevicehavi
ngexactl
ytwo
neighbors.
Adv
ant
agesofRi
ngTopol
ogy
Sinceeachdev icei
sonlyconnectedtotheones
onei t
herside,
whendat aistransmit
ted,
the
packetsalsotravelal
ongthecircl
e,moving
througheachoft heint
ermediatenodesunti
l
theyarri
veattheirdesti
nat
ion.
Onlyonestat
ionont henet
wor kispermi t
tedto
senddataatatime,whichgreatl
yr educesthe
ri
skofpacketcoll
i
sions,makingringtopologi
es
eff
ici
entattr
ansmitt
ingdatawithouter r
ors.

Di
sdv
ant
agesofRi
ngTopol
ogy
Sincethefl
owofdatat
ransmi
ssi
onmov es
unidi
rect
ional
l
ybet
weennodesal
ongeachr i
ng,
i
fonenodegoesdown, i
tcant
aketheenti
re
networkwithi
t.
Theaddit
ionofmoredevicescancont
ri
but
eto
over
all
communi cat
iondelay
s.
WhatI
sDual
-Ri
ngTopol
ogy
?
Anetworkwithringtopol
ogyishal
f-duplex,
meaningdatacanonl ymoveinonedir ecti
onat
ati
me.Ri ngtopologi
escanbemadef ull
-dupl
ex
byaddingasecondconnectionbetween
net
wor knodes,creat
ingadualr
ingtopol ogy.

4.Tr
eeTopol
ogy
Thetreetopol ogystructureget si
tsnamef rom
howthecent r alnodef uncti
onsasasor tof
tr
unkf orthenet work,wi t
hnodesext ending
outwardinabr anch-l
ikefashion.Howev er,
whereeachnodei nast artopologyisdi
rectl
y
connectedtot hecentralhub,at r
eetopology
hasapar ent-childhi
er ar
chyt ohowt henodes
areconnected.Thoseconnect edtothecentral
hubareconnect edli
near l
ytoot hernodes,so
twoconnect ednodesonl yshar eonemut ual
connecti
on.Becauset
hetreetopologystruct
ure
i
sbot hextr
emelyfl
exi
bleandscalable,i
t’
soften
usedforwideareanet
workstosuppor tmany
spread-
outdevi
ces.

Adv
ant
agesofTr
eeTopol
ogy
Combi ningelement softhest arandbus
topologi
esal lowsfortheeasyaddi ti
onofnodes
andnet wor kexpansion.Troubleshoot
ingerror
s
onthenet workisalsoastraightfor
ward
process, aseachoft hebranchescanbe
i
ndividuallyassessedforper f
ormancei ssues.

Di
sadv
ant
agesofTr
eeTopol
ogy
Aswi ththest artopology,
theent i
renetwor
k
dependsont heheal t
hoft herootnodeinat r
ee
topologystructure.Shouldthecentralhubfai
l,
thev ar
iousnodebr ancheswil
l become
disconnected, t
houghconnect ivi
tywit
hin—but
notbet
ween—br
anchsy
stemswi
l
lremai
n.

Becauseoft hehi
erarchicalcomplexi
tyand
l
inearstr
uctureofthenet worklay
out,addi
ng
mor enodest oatr
eet opologycanquickl
ymake
propermanagementanunwi el
dy

5.MeshTopol
ogy
Amesht opologyisani ntri
cat eandelaborate
structureofpoi nt-
to-pointconnectionswher e
thenodesar einterconnected.Meshnet works
canbef ullorparti
almesh.Par ti
almesh
topologiesar emost lyinter
connected, wi
tha
fewnodeswi t
honl ytwoort hreeconnecti
ons,
whi l
ef ul
l-
mesht opologiesar eful
ly
i
nterconnect ed.

Theweb-
li
kest
ruct
ureofmesht
opol
ogi
es
off
erst
wodif
ferentmethodsofdat
a
tr
ansmi
ssi
on:routi
ngandfloodi
ng.

Adv
ant
agesofMeshTopol
ogy
Mesht opol
ogiesar
er el
i
ableandst abl
e,andthe
complexdegreeofint
erconnect
ivit
ybetween
nodesmakest henetworkresi
stanttofail
ure.

Di
sadv
ant
agesofMeshTopol
ogy
Mesht opol ogi
esar ei
ncredi
blyl
abor
-intensi
ve.
Eachinterconnectionbetweennodesr equir
esa
cableandconf i
gurati
ononcedeploy
ed.The
costofcabl ingaddsupf ast
,andtosaymesh
networksr equir
eal otofcabl
ingi
san
understat
ement .

6.Hy
bri
dTopol
ogy
Hy
bri
dtopol
ogi
escombi
net
woormor
e
dif
ferenttopologystr
uctures—thetr
eetopol
ogy
i
sagoodexampl e,i
ntegrati
ngthebusandstar
l
ay outs.Hybri
dstruct
uresar emostcommonly
foundi nlar
gercompani eswhereindi
vi
dual
department shavepersonali
zednetwork
topologiesadaptedtosuitthei
rneedsand
networ kusage.

Adv
ant
agesofHy
bri
dTopol
ogy
Themai nadvantageofhybri
dstruct
uresisthe
degreeoffl
exibi
l
itytheyprov
ide,
asther eare
fewlimi
tati
onsont henetworkst
ructureit
self
thatahybri
dsetupcan’taccommodat e.

Di
sadv
ant
agesofHy
bri
dTopol
ogy
Howev er
,eacht y
peofnet worktopol
ogycomes
withi
tsowndi sadvantages,andasanetwork
growsincompl exi
ty,sotoodoest he
exper
ienceandknow- howrequi
redonthepart
oft
headmi
nst
okeepev
ery
thi
ngf
unct
ioni
ng
opt
imal
l
y.

Whi
chTopol
ogyI
sBest
?
Nonetwor ktopologyisperfect
,oreven
i
nherent
lybet t
erthantheot her
s,sodetermini
ng
theri
ghtstructureforyourbusi
nesswi l
ldepend
ontheneedsandsi zeofyournetwork.Hereare
thekeyelement stoconsider:

Lengt
hofcabl
eneeded
Cabl
ety
pe
Cost
Scal
abi
l
ity