Topology is a structure of the network. It could be physical or logical topology.
There are basically five (5) network topologies that are commonly used in today’s internetworking.
A. Mesh Topology
- is a topology that connects every device on the network together by providing a path to and from each device.
Advantages of choosing Mesh Topology:
1. The device or node will find the quickest way to reroute the data packets to its destination if one cable segment (I mean the direct connection of one device to its neighbor) breaks.
2. The network will have a high fault tolerance and reliability.
Disadvantages:
1. It is expensive! You need a large number of cabling requirements.
2. It is hard to manage and to find the exact problem location if one segment breaks on the network.
3. It is not easy to restructure and to add or remove a host or terminal.
B. Star Topology
- is a topology that connects all devices to a common central location.
Advantages of choosing Star Topology:
1. Since star topology is centralized, it is easy to monitor and troubleshoot the network.
2. It is easy to install and administer.
3. It has fault detection and fault isolation.
4. It is easy to restructure and to add/remove a host or terminal.
5. If one link fails, only that portion of the network will fail. The rest of the network will not be affected.
Disadvantages:
1. The entire network will fail if the central device (hub/switch) fails!
2. The cost of the central device is “sometimes” expensive.
C. Ring Topology
- is a topology that connects all devices to form a complete “ring” using a transceiver to communicate with their neighbors and there’s no beginning or end of the cable.
Advantages of choosing Ring Topology
1. It prevents the signal from degrading since the signal is regenerated by each device it passes through
2. It is a “collision-free” network because each device has equal access to the network and each device receives a turn (or token) to transmit signals.
3. It is easy to restructure and to add/remove a host or terminal.
Disadvantages:
1. The entire network will fail if one device on the cable fails!
2. It has no fault detection and fault isolation.
3. It is not robust.
D. Bus Topology
- is a topology that connects multiple devices onto one main cable referred to as a backbone or trunk.
Advantages of choosing Bus Topology:
1. It is the cheapest among other topologies.
2. It is easy to install and implement.
Disadvantages:
1. The entire network will fail if the backbone or trunk fails!
2. If two or more nodes (PCs) attempt to send data at the same time, a collision (or traffic) will occur. It will slow down the entire.
E. Hybrid Topology
- is a topology that combines two or more basic topologies to accommodate more channels. (It is the most common topology nowadays!)
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