UNIFIED SCHOOLS

OF ARCHDIOCESE
OF LIPA SAN
GUILLERMO
ACADEMY
TALISAY, BATANGAS

MODULE IN COMPUTER GRADE 8

Module No. : 3 – 2nd QUARTER Date : Bus topologies are easy to install and don't require
much cabling. However, too many devices in a bus
Title : Network Topology and Area Networks
network will result in performance problems. In
Objectives : At the end of the lesson, student will be able to:
• illustrate communication paths in common physical topologies
• describe media access in logical topologies
• differentiate a local area network (LAN) from a wide area network (WAN)

Network Topology and Area Networks

If you live in the province, you are familiar with the data.
feeling of knowing almost everyone living in the
vicinity, including the pets. In the story, the addition, a problem in the backbone cable will put
households were connected because of the the whole network down.
people's employment in the cotton mills. Networks
are like that. The previous lessons have given us Ring Topology
enough background about how the Internet works
and the components of a network that may link to
the Internet. How exactly are we going to connect
the components--the hosts and network devices?

Network Topologies

Physical topology defines the structure of the

network. It is the actual layout of wire or media.
Common network topologies include the bus, ring,
star, tree, and mesh.

Bus Topology

Ring network connects one host to the next and

the last host to the first. forming a ring. All
messages travel through a ring in one direction. A
failure in any cable or device break the loop and
makes the network unusable. To ensure
connectivity in a ring network, a double ring is
used, like in Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI).
This technology uses fiber optic cable to connect
the network
A bus topology uses a single cable that is devices and uses two rings, the second ring being
terminated at both ends. All the hosts connect to the backup
this cable. When a device sends a message to
another device on the network, all other devices
see the message, but only the intended recipient
accepts and processes the message. The ends are Star Topology
terminated to prevent reflection of signals and UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF ARCHDIOCESE
therefore, interference, which results in corrupted OF LIPA
SAN GUILLERMO ACADEMY switches together, the system is linked to a
TALISAY, BATANGAS computer that controls the traffic on the topology.

Mesh Topology

Mesh topologies may be full-mesh or partial mesh.

A full mesh
topology
requires that
a host be
connected to
all the other
hosts in the
network. A How would you know what topology best fits your
partial mesh network? The following items need to be
connects considered when choosing a topology:
some devices
or hosts only • Cable Type - some topologies require a
indirectly to specific kind of cable
others. Mesh topologies are
• Length of Cable - depends on the cable type
implemented to prevent interruption of service.
and the distance between network devices •
Security depends on how critical the data
Unlike each of the previous topologies, messages
sent on a mesh network can take any of several routed in the network is
possible paths from source to destination. • Applications - high-volume traffic will
Networks that require great reliability, like require a specific kind of media
networks of nuclear power plants and the Internet, • Future Growth - the star topology is the
would implement mesh topology. most scalable
• Budget - some topologies may require
A star network features a central connection point additional equipment like hubs and
called a "hub" or "concentrator" that may be any of switches
the following network devices: hub, switch, or
router. Compared to the bus topology, a star
network generally requires more cable, but a failure Area Networks
in any star network cable will only take down one
computer's network access and not the entire LAN. Networks can be categorized in several different
However, if the concentrator fails, all devices ways. One approach defines the type of network
connected to it also fail. according to the geographical area it spans. This
method results in classifying networks as a local
area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN).
Tree Topology A LAN is a network controlled by one
administrative authority and covers a small
geographic area, like a home, office, or building. At
other times, a network for a specific domain such as
a school which covers more than one building, is
also categorized as a LAN. Aside from having a
smaller geographic range, LANs have higher data
transfer rates than WANs, of up to 1 trillion bits per
second (10 Gbps) and support such popular
applications as multimedia and videoconferencing.
Another name for this is hierarchical topology. It is
A LAN also does not need leased
like an extended star topology that links individual
stars together by connecting the hubs or switches. telecommunication lines. Examples of LANs are
In a tree topology, instead Biking the hubs or school networks, small business networks, and
home networks.

UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF
ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
 SAN GUILLERMO ACADEMY
TALISAY, BATANGAS

protocol for the nondeterministic topology, while

A WAN is a network that covers a relatively broad protocol for deterministic media access. CSMA/CD
geographic area, such as countries and continents. It specifications are given in IEEE 802.3 while token
also often uses transmission facilities provided by ring is discussed in IEEE 802.5. IEEE is short for
common carriers, such as telephone companies. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers and
Internet is the largest WAN and spans the whole is one among several standard bodies that create
world. WANS interconnect LANS with geographically protocols for computers and the electronics
dispersed users, enabling connectivity. Some of the industry.
technologies used for connecting LANs include
asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL), radio For deterministic topology, a token, which is a
links, dial-up, and cable. special bit pattern, is passed along the network such
that the host with the token can access the media.
LAN and WAN were the original categories of area A host must wait for the token before it can send
networks. However, due to the evolution of data. 'The transmitting station then sends its signal
technology, new area networks have emerged. and holds the token until the signal returns after
"These networks are different forms of LAN but are making a complete pass along the ring. In this way,
given different names because of the special collision is avoided. Token ring is said to be best for
functions they perform. high-volume traffic like multimedia and video
Other examples of area network types are: • conferencing data. However, this method is
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) - spans a considered slow and more expensive because of
physical area larger than a LAN but smaller than a large overhead due to the processing done by each
WAN, such as a city or a large host in keeping the network healthy and free of
corporation. errors.

On the other hand, any host can access the media

• Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) - a LAN
anytime in non-deterministic topology. A host
based on wireless network technology.
wanting to send must listen if the media has been
taken. If not, it can start data transmission.
• Campus Area Network (CAN) – a network that However, when another host sends before the
connects several LANS in a university or a large media is freed of signal, collision of signals will
campus but is smaller than MAN occur, and the data being transmitted gets
corrupted. In this case, a jam signal will ne to all
• Storage Area Network (SAN) - a network of hosts indicating a collision. Then catch host,
dedicated storage devices configured such that a through a pre-programmed algorithm. will
client does not have to go to a server to connect to implement a back-off period. The host whose back
a storage device bur goes directly to the SAN; due off time finishes first can now access the media.
to its cost and complexity, this is usually found in CSMA/CD. Ring networks and
large enterprises Personal Area Network (PAN) - a
network of about a few meters in radius consisting The Ethernet is a common technology application
of PDAs, telephones, and other gadgets close to a for FDDI implement the token ring access method.
person; most of us use this every day, e.g., when
transferring pictures from phone to computer WAN Technologies
(common tools for this are Bluetooth, USB, and
Firewire) We will discuss only the WAN technologies that
home networks shall likely encounter, namely: dial
Logical Topologies up, ADSL, and cable data networks (.e., networks
comprised of CATV subscribers that connect to the
In connection with LAN technologies, we shall Internet through a cable modem).
discuss logical topology, or the methods by which
the media is accessed for data transmission. Dial-up is a form of Internet access using a
dedicated telephone line. A modem connects the
Two common logical topologies are deterministic user to the ISP's node which connects him to the
and non-deterministic. Carrier Sense Multiple Internet. Most computers have built-in modems
Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD) is the and all that is needed is a four-wire UTP cable
the deterministic topology implements token ring, a
 UNIFIED SCHOOLS OF
ARCHDIOCESE OF LIPA
SAN GUILLERMO ACADEMY
TALISAY, BATANGAS

terminated with a connector called RJ-11. This

cable connects the modem to the telephone jack

and data is transmitted through this cable. Dial-up
connections, however, are given a limited amount
of access time and have a maximum bandwidth of
56 kbps. This form of Internet access is therefore
not suited for high-volume traffic like
videoconferencing and online gaming.
ADSL is asymmetric, which means bandwidth for
download is different from upload, which is usually
higher. In this form of Internet access, a user may
use one telephone line for both voice and data
transmissions at the same time. Downstream rate
is normally from 8 24 Mbps while upstream rate is
from 1.0-3.5 Mbps. In an ADSL setup, a UTP patch
cable is attached to the ADSL modem that connects
to a splitter which divides voice channel from data
transmission channel. The splitter connects to the
telephone jack.

Cable data network subscribers connect to the

Internet by being a part of community access
television (CATV) or cable TV system. They connect
to this system via a cable modem. A cable modem
is normally an external device that allows a
computer to connect to the Internet by connecting
to the outlet for cable TV A cable data network can
stretch to over 100 km and bas data rates as high
as 50 Mbps.
Physical topologies define the structure of
networking devices and hosts attached to the
media. Logical topologies define the methods A by
which the media is accessed for data transmission.
Common physical topologies include bus, star, ring,
tree and mesh. Logical topologies are li cither
deterministic or non-deterministic. Deterministic
access method uses token ring and is defined in
IEEE 802.5. Non-deterministic access method uses
CSMA-CD and is defined in IEEE 802.3. Area
networks are defined according to the geographical
area they cover, the biggest being WAN and the
smallest, PAN. Other area networks include the
LAN, SAN, MAN, WLAN, and PAN. LAN technologies
include the Ethernet, token ring, and FDDI, WAN
technologies include dial-up. ADSL, and cable data
network.

Reference:
Computer Networking Basics – 3rd Edition page 30-
39