Types of Network Topologies

Comments on article "Types of Network Topologies"
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kary awesome 2/6/2012
Negash nice and important notes and figures 10Q so much continue 1/26/2012
Andrea kihoza The answers provided about topology in general are well satisfying readers and learners.thanks. 1/10/2012
Andrea kihoza are there any sources that cause a Ring topology? 1/10/2012
preet good notes 12/27/2011
geomar A topology describes the configuration of a communication network. The way in which the elements of a network are mapped or arranged is known as a network topology. A topology describes the physical and the logical interconnection between the different nodes of a network. Network topologies are classified as physical, logical and signal topologies. A physical topology describes the mapping of the network nodes and the physical connections between them. Signal topology describes the paths, which the signals take while they pass over the network. The mapping of the paths taken by data as they travel over the network is known as a logical topology. The terms, signal topology and logical topology are closely related. Let us see the different types of network topologies in detail.

Types of Network Topologies

Bus Topology: In this type of network topology, all the nodes of a network are connected to a common transmission medium having two endpoints. All the data that travels over the network is transmitted through a common transmission medium known as the bus or the backbone of the network. When the transmission medium has exactly two endpoints, the network topology is known by the name, 'linear bus topology'. In case the transmission medium, also called the network backbone, has more than two endpoints, the network is said to have a distributed bus topology. Bus topology is easy to handle and implement and is best suited for small networks. But the downside of this topology is that the limited cable length limits the number of stations, thus limiting the performance to a less number of nodes.

Ring Topology: In a ring topology, every node in the network is connected to two other nodes and the first and the last nodes are connected to each other. The data that are transmitted over the network pass through each of the nodes in the ring until they reach the destination node. In a ring network, the data and the signals that pass over the network travel in a single direction. The dual ring topology varies in having two connections between each of the network nodes. The data flow along two directions in the two rings formed thereby. The ring topology does not require a central server to manage connectivity between the nodes and facilitates an orderly network operation. But, the failure of a single station in the network can render the entire network inoperable. Changes and moves in the stations forming the network affect the network operation.

Mesh Topology: In a full mesh network, each network node is connected to every other node in the network. Due to this arrangement of nodes, it becomes possible for a simultaneous transmission of signals from one node to several other nodes. In a partially connected mesh network, only some of the network nodes are connected to more than one node. This is beneficial over a fully connected mesh in terms of redundancy caused by the point-to-point links between all the nodes. The nodes of a mesh network require possessing some kind of routing logic so that the signals and the data traveling over the network take the shortest path during each of the transmissions.

Star Topology: In this type of network topology, each node of the network is connected to a central node, which is known as a hub. The data that is transmitted between the network nodes passes across the central hub. A distributed star is formed by the interconnection of two or more individual star networks. The centralized nature of a star network provides a certain amount of simplicity while also achieving isolation of each device in the network. However, the disadvantage of a star topology is that the network transmission is largely dependent on the central hub. The failure of the central hub results renders the entire network inoperable.

Tree Topology: It is also known as a hierarchical topology and has a central root node that is connected to one or more nodes of a lower hierarchy. In a symmetrical hierarchy, each node in the network has a specific fixed number of nodes connected to those at a lower level.

Apart from these basic types of network topologies, there are hybrid network topologies, which are composed of a combination of two or more basic topologies. These network mappings aim at harnessing the advantages of each of the basic topologies used in them. Network topologies are the physical arrangements of network nodes and wires. What is interesting is that the inanimate nodes and wires turn 'live' for the transmission of information!		 12/4/2011
hamsa please attach network shape means that picture also 12/2/2011
kenn nice 12/2/2011
Shanith Good notes 11/21/2011
SANGSTAR I LIKE THIS WEBSITE,ITS VERI HELPFUL TO STUDENTS 10/15/2011
jeramie patidas ...nice info...thanks... 10/5/2011
Anil Good Thanks:-) 7/27/2011
vireak I think all of your artical is very important to the one who want to be netword administrator
I would like to say thank to you so much. And I confident you going to upload new artical for ICT student.		 7/17/2011
mbjoash I'm so greatfull to visit this website for the first time and it has made my research very easy, thanks 6/28/2011
evans ochieng good work 6/23/2011
Elmer Nice! thanks 6/21/2011
Azim please tell us that which type of connectors are used in bus topology 5/23/2011
Atul i think that very good 5/12/2011
Atul i think that very good answer & Happy all person 5/12/2011
Mantu i' m very satisfy it answer, but included the figure/diagram 5/12/2011
Atul i think that very cooled & Happy all person 5/12/2011
srkikanth add to diagram 5/6/2011
disha sharma its good 4/6/2011
lokesh WHAT IS IP ADDRESS 3/25/2011
lokesh WHAT IS NETWORKING 3/25/2011
lokesh how to connect networking 3/25/2011
muhali james these notes have widely helped me thanks a lot to the contributors of the writing
interestingly i use them in my daily basis		 3/23/2011
vikas kamboj FIREWALL,NETWORKING BASIC. 3/16/2011
vikas kamboj please give me networking knowledge. 3/16/2011
Ismail khan The network topology is good, i think if include diagram 3/6/2011
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pude mu ang pode 2/23/2011
FrancisBautista GAGO KAYO LAHAT 1/25/2011
Mynard Borja PAKKYO ALL PO HARD NUA HARD! 1/25/2011
mandeep very helpful 4 studies 12/31/2010
Terry Give advantages of all types of topologies 12/27/2010
ashika a vry helpul asswer 12/24/2010
mhru whate are the factor that must be condidered to choose network topology explen with examples? 11/21/2010
victoria Mamani mostrar imagenes como realizar la instalacion de cada una de estas topologias de redespaso a paso 9/28/2010
Chris Uganda This imformation is good for all network lovers and think you. 9/6/2010
vijay excellent thanks for sharing 9/2/2010
Hassan Ali i think in this topics of network topologies the publishers must also defines about wires use in each topologies... 6/26/2010
Changalamawe Its very nice 6/22/2010
Hitesh 9/10 5/21/2010
siqoko infomation about the html 5/11/2010
Beant Singh Great... :) 4/20/2010
Alshaboti USING GRAPH TO illustrate MEANING OF EACH TOPOLOGY WILL BE BETTER. 2/4/2010
torwali its good... 2/1/2010
KISHOR TYPES OF NETWORK TOPOLOGY 1/22/2010
Harve Fiezs thx a lot.. many thing that i can get from this.. 1/18/2010
DORCAS U ARE DOING A GOOD WORK BY MAKING LEARING TO BE EASY 1/15/2010
CHALYN WONDERFUL PRESENTATION 11/18/2009
seher i like it 10/7/2009
graham thank you manali oak for providing me the types of network topology 9/28/2009
grover dan ...wala nah... 9/14/2009
hamenth kumar i want best knloge of networking 8/1/2009
hamenth how to conect the networking 7/28/2009
wahaha i like it 3/4/2009
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