NETWORK TOPOLOGIES

Network Topologies

Network Topologies

In this assignment the topology of different LAN solutions and the overall structure or architecture of popular LAN solutions is presented.

10 Employees Topology

100 Employees Network Topology

200 Employees Network topology

Summary

A network's layout, or topology, is the abstract pattern according to which the network is organized. Topology should not be confused with the actual wiring path of a network, which is determined by the physical layout of walls and floors and other environmental factors. The common network topologies are linear bus, star, and ring. A linear bus network makes use of a single path, the bus, to which each node is connected. Each node has a transceiver, a device that sends message along the bus in either direction. A given message contains data, error-checking code, the address of the node sending the message, and the address of the node that is to receive the message. As a message passes each node, that node checks the message for its address. If a node finds its address in a message, it reads the data, checks for errors in the transmissions, and sends a message to the sender of the data acknowledging that it was received.

A problem occurs with linear bus networks when two or more nodes send messages at the same time. This creates an interference pattern, and when one of the nodes on the network detects this pattern, it jams the network, stopping all transmissions. Nodes that are sending messages will wait and resend, repeating the process until a message gets through without being blocked. Another problem with a linear bus network is that a broken connection along the bus can bring the whole network down. In a star network, each node is connected via its own path to a central hub. The hub acts as a switching station, reading the addresses of messages sent by the nodes and routing the messages accordingly. This arrangement is an improvement over the linear bus topology because the hub can prevent data collisions and because the rest of the network can remain operational when a given node's connection to the network is broken. The central hub also prevents any given node from monopolizing the network. The central hub does this by allowing only a certain amount of data to pass through from a given node before blocking that data and polling other nodes for transmissions.

In a ring network, each node ...