Physical Topology Physical layout of the network nodes – Broad description of the network: no detail about device types, connection methods, addressing,... – 3 most common topologies: – Bus, Star, Ring – Network administrator needs to understand physical topology Troubleshooting, upgrading network infrastructure, effect on chosen logical topology, etc.

Bus Topology One cable (the bus) connecting all network nodes – Usually coaxial cables – One communication channel shared between nodes/workstations Shared cable capacity Data is sent via the bus by broadcast and each node responsible to accept the data frame when it detects its MAC address as destination address in the frame Other nodes ignore data

Bus Topology – No connecting device – Two end-points: terminators = 50 Ohm resistors Terminators absorb signal ⇨ No signal reflection (noise)

Bus Topology Advantages – Easy and inexpensive to set-up Disadvantages – Lack of scalability more nodes ⇨ performance degrades on unique channel – Difficulty to troubleshoot Error may occur anywhere along the bus – No fault-tolerance Network down if cable breaks ⇨ Usually for network limited to 10 nodes ⇨ Often combined with other topologies

Bus Topology Taken from:

Star Topology All nodes are connected to central device called concentrator (or hub) or Multi-station Access Unit (MAU) – One cable connects two devices – No terminator Usually twisted-pair cables or fiber cables

Star Topology Advantages – Better resilience per segment: problem isolation – More expensive than Bus: hubs cost more than Bus connectors – Easier to troubleshoot than Bus – Scalable Disadvantages – More cabling than Bus and Ring – More configuration – Failure at concentrator will affect all the network ⇨ Frequent topology: lots of support

Star Topology taken from:

Ring Topology Similar to the Bus but all the devices connected to a common cable forming a closed loop: no begin/end Usually twisted-pair cables or fiber optic cables

Ring Topology Packets are transmitted in one direction of ring – Each node accepts/responds to its packets and forward remaining packets to next node in ring – Usually a token (3-byte packet) is used Sending node with token transmits: data + token through ring Destination node picks-up data frame and returns ACK via ring to sending node Sending node releases token to next node in ring

Ring Topology Advantages – Fault tolerance: no collision because media access method, fault isolation – Economical (N nodes, N links) – Also provides redundant paths Disadvantages – More cables than a bus – Failure: One node breaks ⇨ entire ring breaks ⇨ network down – Lack of scalability: more nodes ⇨ higher response time because of token passing – More difficult to configure than a Star: node adjunction ⇨ Ring shutdown and reconfiguration

Ring Topology Taken from:

Mesh Topology Each node to every other node Often used in Backbone/WAN to interconnect LANs Taken from:

Mesh Topology Advantages – Fault tolerance: communication not stopped if one link breaks – Good for Backbone Disadvantages – Expensive – Difficult for installation, management, troubleshooting

Tree Topology In a tree each node connected to a concentrator: similar to a star In a tree each node connected to a concentrator: similar to a star Concentrators connected Concentrators connected together to form a hierarchy together to form a hierarchy Taken from:

Hybrid Topologies Simple topology are too restrictive – Scalability, performance, etc. Usually physical topology combines Bus, Star and Ring Two examples – Star-Wired Bus Groups of nodes are star-connected hubs Hubs are connected together via a Bus – Star-Wired Ring Physically nodes are connected via a Star Data is transmitted between node using token passing method

Logical Topology Network access methods – How data is transmitted between nodes Three methods used for all network architectures for connection creation – Circuit switching – Message switching – Packet switching

Circuit Switching Connection between two nodes is created before nodes transmit: circuit Bandwidth is dedicated to the circuit until end of connection – Not economical: waste of bandwidth Data follows the same circuit – Dedicated path ideal for audio and video applications Used by ISDN and ATM

Message Switching Uses the store and forward principle – Connections is established between two nodes – Information is sent from node 1 to node 2 – Connection is broken between node 1 and node 2 – Node 2 stored and forward the information it received to node 3 Nodes need to have enough resources: memory and processing to store and forward data

Packet Switching Data is broken as packets Packets are transported using any path of the network to the destination – Usually the fastest path is used based on routing method No bandwidth waste due to open connection – Use of destination address and sequence number to get and rebuild packets at destination node Takes time: may be not suitable for live data (audio and video) Intermediary nodes do not process data Internet is a packet-switched network