Topologies

A network topology is the different configurations of network components. There are six widely used topologies. Of these six widely used topologies, I am going to discuss three. The first topology that I am going to discuss is the bus topology. The bus topology is the considered the most simple of all the topologies. In a bus topology all of the devices on a network are connected to a common central cable called a bus or a backbone. The bus topology is simply a connected group of devices, like PC’s, printers, or network devices, that are arranged sequentially in a line with a beginning and an end. Each device has a preceding and proceeding device for which all traffic is broadcasted to the entire network. The major advantages of a bus technology are that is inexpensive and it is easy to add new devices to the network by simply connecting them to the bus. The disadvantage is that if the main cable fails the entire network will fail and could be difficult to determine what made the cable fail.

Next is the ring topology. With a ring topology each node is connected to two other nodes thus creating a ring. A ring topology is more reliable than a bus topology because if one node was to fail data could be routed around the failed node. The components of a ring topology are server, PC’s, and Printer. Each component starts at a particular point and ends back up at that same exact point. However, ring networks are somewhat expensive and often difficult to install.

Third is the star topology. With the star topology each device is connected to a hub. A hub is a type of hardware that receives data transmissions and routes them to the proper destination. The components of a star topology are the network server, PC’s, printer, and hub. One advantage of a star topology is that it is easy to install and easy to update because all nodes are directly connected to the hub. Another advantage of the star topology is that changes can