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Essay Network Topologies

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Network Topologies Network topologies are an important part of the network. Without the proper topology, the network may not meet the needs of the organization. The layout of a network is referred to as the topology. How nodes in a network are connected to each other and communicate is determined by the topology. There are three basic topologies with several typical variations, or combinations. A description of four topologies follows. Mesh Topology Mesh topology is the first topology discussed. In a mesh topology, the devices are connected with many redundant interconnections between nodes. Each device in the mesh topology is connected to every other device in the network. The mesh topology is the most expensive to implement but is …show more content…

Data is transferred quickly without congestion. All computers have the same amount of access to the rest of the network. Disadvantages to the ring topology are, failure of the network if one computer fails, isolating problems with the network is difficult, and the addition or subtraction of computers to or from the network causes disruption in the network. Star Topology The star topology consists of one central switch, hub, or router to transmit messages. The computer will send a signal to the hub, which receives and then retransmits the message to all the other computers or devices attached to the hub. Good performance is an advantage to using the star topology. Centralization of resources, ease of set up and expansion, and the network still performs properly when one computer fails are all advantages to the star topology. The expense of installation, extra hardware required, and if the central hub fails the entire system fails, are disadvantages to the star topology. Ethernet Ethernet is a network technology for local area networks (LAN). "Ethernet uses a bus or star topology and supports data transfer rates of 10Mbps."(Webopedia, 2007). Ethernet is the most popular architecture used today. One advantage to Ethernet is the ease of installation. Ethernet costs less than other network architectures and is easy to use. Ethernet supports many different kinds of networking media, which makes it more popular

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