In this tutorial, you are going to learn about Types of Network Topology which include Bus, Star, Ring, Mesh and Tree Topology.
Network Topology
Network topology is the arrangement of the various elements of a computer or biological network. Essentially it is the topological structure of a network, and may be depicted physically or logically. Physical topology refers to the placement of the network's various components, inducing device location and cable installation while logical topology shows how data flows within a network, regardless of its physical design.
The common network topologies include the following sections:
Bus Topology
In bus topology, each node (computer server, other computer like devices) is directly connected to a common cable. The cable cost is less as compared with other topology here. The drawback of this topology is that if the network cable breaks, the entire network will be down.
Star Topology
In this topology, each node has a dedicated set of wires connecting it to a central network hub. Since, all traffic passes through the hub, it becomes a central point for isolating network problems and gathering network statistics. The whole system will crash if the concentrator hub fails.
Ring Topology
A Ring Topology features a logically closed loop. Data packets travel in a single direction around ring from one network device to the next. Each network device acts as a repeater to keep the signal strong enough as it travels. This is also called Dual Ring Topology because the transmission can be made bidirectional by having 2 connections between each node.
Mesh Topology
In mesh topology, each system is connected to all other systems in the network. It provides privacy and security. Data is transferred through dedicated channels so it is reliable. Here the cost of cable and maintenance is high.
Let N number of devices are connected with each other, then the total number of ports each device required will be N-1 and the total number of dedicated links required to connect them will be N(N-1)/2.
Tree Topology
In this type of network topology, in which a central root is connected to two or more nodes that are one level lower in hierarchy. It allows more devices to get connected to a single central hub, also increasing the distance of signals. The cabling cost is high and if central hub fails, whole system fails.
This article on Types of Network Topology is contributed by Amal Kumar (Delhi University). If you like TheCode11, then do follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
