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A network topology refers to the layout of a network. Depending on how the devices on the network are connected to each other and how they communicate is determined by the network's topology. There are four possible ways to connect your network; bus, ring, star and mesh and they all have major differences. In a bus topology all the devices are connected on the network on a central cable known as the bus. In a bus topology, when a device wants to communicate with another device on the network the data will sent over the bus when is also sent to all attached devices but only the appropriate device will process that data packet. "The entire network shuts down if there is a break in the main wire and it can be difficult to identify the problem if the network shuts" (Beal, 2011). The next topology is ring and in a ring topology every device is connected to two other devices on either side. All data travel through the ring either clockwise or counter clockwise. In a star topology devices are connected to a central hub. Devices in a star topology communicate on the network by passing data the hub. A major benefit with a star topology, if one device goes down it will not affect the rest of the network. The last topology is mesh. In a mesh topology the devices are connected to each other with many redundant interconnections between network devices. There are two types of mesh topologies; partial and full.

Reference

1. Beal, V. (2011, May 5). What are network topologies?. Retrieved from: https://www.webopedia.com/quick_ref/topologies.asp.

In a network with a mesh topology, every single node is connected to each other, meaning that every client on the network can communicate directly to another . This type of topology is demanding and expensive due to installation requirements for it. One advantage is that if a connection is down, there are multiple others as backup.

A star topology is when all the clients on the network are all linked to a central host that acts like a bridge for all communications between the other hosts on the network. The issue is when the central host goes down, the whole network is impacted.

With a bus topology, all the clients on the network are connected through one single link or cable. This type of topology is popular with small network. Data is usually sent through the cable and can be obtained by any client on the network. However, if the cable malfunctions, the whole network goes down.

With a ring topology, each node is connected to the two closest ones by a cable. When data is sent, it has to go through every node on the way to the destination node. A malfunction in one cable will halt communication between the two nodes involved and may affect communication between others (Mitchell, 2018).

SOURCE

-Mitchell, B. (2018). Introduction to computer network topologies. Retrieved from https://www.lifewire.com/computer-network-topology-817884