Network Topologies

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Introduction to Computer Networks

Network Topology
• The network topology defines the way in which computers,
printers, and other devices are connected. A network topology
describes the layout of the wire and devices as well as the paths
used by data transmissions.
• Physical topology refers to arrangement of cabling
• Logical topology refers to how data travels between computers
on the network.

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 Network topology (cont.)
• Bus (can be both logical and physical)
• Star (physical only)
• Ring (can be both logical and physical)
• Mesh (can be both logical and physical)

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 Network topology (cont.)
Bus
• A bus is the simplest physical topology. It consists of a single
cable that runs to every workstation
• This topology uses the least amount of cabling, but also
covers the shortest amount of distance.
• Each computer shares the same data and address path. With
a logical bus topology, messages pass through the trunk, and
each workstation checks to see if the message is addressed to
itself. If the address of the message matches the workstation’s
address, the network adapter copies the message to the
card’s on-board memory.

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 Network topology (cont.)
• it is difficult to add a workstation
• have to completely reroute the cable and
possibly run two additional lengths of it.
• if any one of the cables breaks, the entire
network is disrupted. Therefore, it is very
expensive to maintain.

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 Network topology (cont.)
• Bus topology

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 Network topology (cont.)
Star Topology
• A physical star topology branches each network device off a
central device called a hub, making it very easy to add a new
workstation.
• Also, if any workstation goes down it does not affect the
entire network. (But, as you might expect, if the central device
goes down, the entire network goes down.)
• Some types of Ethernet and ARCNet use a physical star
topology. Figure below gives an example of the organization
of the star network.

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 Network topology (cont.)
• Star topologies are easy to install. A cable is
run from each workstation to the hub. The
hub is placed in a central location in the office.
• Star topologies are more expensive to install
than bus networks, because there are several
more cables that need to be installed, plus the
cost of the hubs that are needed.

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 Network topology (cont.)
• Star Topology

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 Network topology (cont.)
Ring
• Each computer connects to two other computers,
joining them in a circle creating a unidirectional path
where messages move from workstation to
workstation.
• Each entity participating in the ring reads a message,
then regenerates it and hands it to its neighbor on a
different network cable.

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 Network topology (cont.)
• The ring makes it difficult to add new
computers.
• Unlike a star topology network, the ring
topology network will go down if one entity is
removed from the ring.
• Physical ring topology systems don’t exist
much anymore, mainly because the hardware
involved was fairly expensive and the fault
tolerance was very low.

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 Network topology (cont.)
• Ring Topology

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 Network topology (cont.)
Mesh
• The mesh topology is the simplest logical topology in terms of data
flow, but it is the most complex in terms of physical design.
• In this physical topology, each device is connected to every other
device
• This topology is rarely found in LANs, mainly because of the
complexity of the cabling.
• If there are x computers, there will be (x × (x–1)) ÷ 2 cables in the
network. For example, if you have five computers in a mesh
network, it will use 5 × (5 – 1) ÷ 2, which equals 10 cables. This
complexity is compounded when you add another workstation.
• For example, your five-computer, 10-cable network will jump to 15
cables just by adding one more computer. Imagine how the person
doing the cabling would feel if you told them you had to cable 50
computers in a mesh network—they’d have to come up with 50 ×
(50 – 1) ÷ 2 = 1225 cables!
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 Network topology (cont.)
• Because of its design, the physical mesh topology is very
expensive to install and maintain.
• Cables must be run from each device to every other
device. The advantage you gain from it is its high fault
tolerance.
• With a logical mesh topology, however, there will always
be a way of getting the data from source to destination.
• It may not be able to take the direct route, but it can take
an alternate, indirect route. It is for this reason that the
mesh topology is still found in WANs to connect multiple
sites across WAN links. It uses devices called routers to
search multiple routes through the mesh and determine
the best path.
• However, the mesh topology does become inefficient with
five or more entities.
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 Network topology (cont.)
• Mesh Topology

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 Network topology (cont.)
• Advantages and Disadvantages of Network Topologies

Topology Advantages Disadvantages

Bus Cheap. Easy to install. Difficult to reconfigure.

Break in bus disables
entire network.

Star Cheap. Easy to install. More expensive than bus.

Easy to reconfigure.
Fault tolerant.

Ring Efficient. Easy to install. Reconfiguration difficult.

Very expensive.

Mesh Simplest. Most fault tolerant. Reconfiguration extremely difficult.

Extremely expensive.
Very complex.

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