COMPUTER NETWORKS

TYPES OF NETWORK TOPOLOGY

Royan Habibie Sukarna, S.Kom | AMIK Wira

DEFINITION
Network Topology is the schematic description of a network
arrangement, connecting various nodes (sender and receiver)
through lines of connection.

Network topologies are the technology for arrangement of

various computer elements like links, nodes etc.

In simple way network topology refers to the way in which

the network of computers is connected.

CATEGORIES
In recent days there are basically two basic categories of
network topologies: Physical topologies and Logical
topologies.

PHYSICAL TOPOLOGY
Physical Network Topology emphasizes the hardware
associated with the system including workstations, remote
terminals, servers, and the associated wiring between assets.

Defines how the systems are physically connected. It means

the arrangement of devices on a computer network through
the actual cables that transmit data. There are eight basic
topologies. In below each of these topologies are described

LOGICAL TOPOLOGY
Logical Network Topology emphasizes the representation of
data flow between nodes.

Logical topology is associated with the arrangement of devices

on a computer network and how they communicate with one
another. The main role of logical topology is to communicate
across the physical topologies among different systems. There
are two categories of logical topologies: Shared media topology
and token-based topology.

CATEGORIES OF NETWORK TOPOLOGY

DESCRIBE OF PHYSICAL TOPOLOGY

POINT TO POINT
A point to point topology is a direct connection between two
devices (nodes)

One example of this is a PC connected to a printer.

BUS
Bus topology is a network type in which every computer and
network device is connected to single cable.

The bus topology carries the transmitted message along the

cable. As the message arrives at each device (node), the
nodes checks the destination address contained in the
message to see if it matches its own. If the address does not
match, the node does nothing more.

Feature

It transmits data only in one direction.

Every device is connected to a single cable

Advantages

It is cost effective.
Cable required is least compared to other network topology.
Used in small networks.
It is easy to understand.
Easy to expand joining two cables together.
Disadvantages

Cables fails then whole network fails.

If network traffic is heavy or nodes are more the performance of the network
decreases.

Cable has a limited length.

It is slower than the ring topology.

RING
It is called ring topology because it forms a ring as each
computer is connected to another computer, with the last
one connected to the first.

The data passes from one device to the next one and all the
way around the ring layout until it reaches the destination
node.

Feature

A number of repeaters are used for Ring topology with large number of nodes, because if
someone wants to send some data to the last node in the ring topology with 100 nodes, then
the data will have to pass through 99 nodes to reach the 100th node. Hence to prevent data
loss repeaters are used in the network.

The transmission is unidirectional, but it can be made bidirectional by having 2 connections

between each Network Node, it is called Dual Ring Topology.

In Dual Ring Topology, two ring networks are formed, and data flow is in opposite direction in
them. Also, if one ring fails, the second ring can act as a backup, to keep the network up.

Data is transferred in a sequential manner that is bit by bit. Data transmitted, has to pass
through each node of the network, till the destination node.

Advantages

Transmitting network is not affected by high traffic or by adding

more nodes, as only the nodes having tokens can transmit data.

Cheap to install and expand

Disadvantages

Troubleshooting is difficult in ring topology.

Adding or deleting the computers disturbs the network activity.
Failure of one computer disturbs the whole network.

STAR
In this type of topology all the computers are connected to a
single hub through a cable. This hub is the central node and
all others nodes are connected to the central node.

A major disadvantage of this network topology is that if the

central hub fails, all computers connected to that hub would
be disconnected.

Feature

Every node has its own dedicated connection to the hub.

Hub acts as a repeater for data flow.
Can be used with twisted pair, Optical Fibre or coaxial cable.

Advantages

Fast performance with few nodes and low network traffic.

Hub can be upgraded easily.
Easy to troubleshoot.
Easy to setup and modify.
Only that node is affected which has failed, rest of the nodes can work smoothly.
Disadvantages

Cost of installation is high.

Expensive to use.
If the hub fails then the whole network is stopped because all the nodes depend on the
hub.

Performance is based on the hub that is it depends on its capacity

MESH
In this type of topology each device is interconnected with
one another, allowing for most transmissions to be
distributed even if one of the connections goes down.

It is a point-to-point connection to other nodes or devices. All

the network nodes are connected to each other. Mesh has n-1
physical channels to link n devices.

Feature

Fully connected.
Robust.
Not flexible.

Advantages

Each connection can carry its own data load.

It is robust.
Fault is diagnosed easily.
Provides security and privacy.
Disadvantages

Installation and configuration is difficult.

Cabling cost is more.
Bulk wiring is required.

TREE
It has a root node and all other nodes are connected to it
forming a hierarchy. It is also called hierarchical topology. It
should at least have three levels to the hierarchy.

Tree Structure suits best when the network is widely spread

and vastly divided into many branches. Tree topology is a
combination of two or more bus and the Star Topology
connected together.

Feature

Ideal if workstations are located in groups.

Used in Wide Area Network.

Advantages

Extension of bus and star topologies.

Expansion of nodes is possible and easy.
Easily managed and maintained.
Error detection is easily done.
Disadvantages

Heavily cabled.
Costly.
If more nodes are added maintenance is difficult.
Central hub fails, network fails.

CATEGORIES OF NETWORK TOPOLOGY (2)

DESCRIBE OF LOGICAL TOPOLOGY

SHARED MEDIA TOPOLOGY

In shared media topology the systems have unrestricted access to the
physical media that is all the systems in a network have the ability to
access the physical layout whenever they need it. Collision is the main
disadvantage of this topology as more than one system send
information out on the wire at the same time, the packets collide and
as a result this collision kills the packets. Ethernet is an example of a
shared media topology. As a remedy some huge networks are broken
down into smaller networks. Some Ethernet uses Carrier Sense
Multiple Access protocol to reduce the number of collisions.

TOKEN BASED TOPOLOGY

In token based topology a token is used which travels around
the network to access the physical media. If any node wants
to send a packet to another one it should wait for the token
which is traverse within the network either clockwise or anticlockwise direction.

REFERENCES
W. A. N. Lan and L. A. Networks, Types of Computer Networks and their
Topologies, pp. 112, 2008.

N. Bisht, S. Singh, and S. I. T. Pithoragarh, ANALYTICAL STUDY OF

DIFFERENT NETWORK TOPOLOGIES, pp. 8890, 2015.

S. Santra and P. P. Acharjya, A Study And Analysis on Computer Network

Topology For Data Communication, vol. 3, no. 1, pp. 522525, 2013.

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