Network Topologies Checkpoint

The bus, ring and, star topologies all have there benefits and shortcomings. These three topologies all need a NIC’s to communicate with the media that they are transferring data over. The media could be different types of cables (CAT-45, COAX, optical) or infrared or radio frequency if it is a wireless network. Nodes are what the devices connected to the network are called and can be a workstation, printer, scanner, etc. Followed is a synopsis of the topologies as well as the benefits and shortcomings.

When setting up a bus technology, all the computers and other devices are connected to a central line, or backbone. This is a great topology for ease of use and cost because when another node needs to be connected to the network, all that needs to be done is plug it in to the backbone. Due to these reasons this topology is the most common in business’s. The biggest downfall is that if the backbone fails, the entire network will go down and it can be hard to figure out why the backbone failed. The only components you need to set up a bus network is the nodes on the network (computers, printers, etc), a NIC, cabling, backbone, and server (if the network is a server/client network)

Ring topologies are circular in “shape” in that each device on the network is connected to two other devices on the same network. This topology is the most reliable of the these three topologies because if one of the nodes on the network fails, the information will be re-routed to its destination. This type of