A network topology describes the physical composition of a network. Let’s look at four topologies you can choose from when you design a LAN. They are:
- Bus
- Ring
- Mesh
- Star
Bus topology
This topology is an old one and essentially has each of computers on the network daisy-chained to each other. Packets must pass through all computers on the bus. This type is cheap, and simple to set up, but causes excess network traffic and if there’s a break in the bus cable, the whole network fails.
Ring topology
In a ring topology, each network device is connected to its neighbor to form a ring. This form of network is more resilient than the bus topology. A break in the cable ring also affects the performance of the network.
Mesh toplogy
In mesh topology every node has a connection to every other node in the network and this is done so that even if one link goes down, the network can still function.
In mesh topology, connections are in the way that for n nodes, n(n-1)/2 number of links are needed.
Star topology
The star topology is the most commonly used network topology. Each network device connects to a centralized hub or switch. Switches and hubs can be linked together to extend and build more extensive networks. This type of typology is, by far, the most robust and scalable.
The advantages are centralized monitoring, and the failure do not affect others unless it is the hub. The disadvantage is that the hub is the single point of failure if it goes down, there are no communications possible.
Network types: https://gowdas1307.medium.com/network-types-32ae33c8021f
