Network Topologies

Question 1

What are the 3 Network Topologies?

Answer 1

• Bus
• Star
• Ring

Question 2

Name one advantage and one disadvantage of a bus network.

Answer 2

Advantages

• Less cable needed than other topologies, this means it’s cheaper and easier to instal and maintain
• Easy to add new devices/nodes to extend the network
• If a workstation goes down the others will continue to work

Disadvantages

• Heavy traffic can cause network failure and delays
• Heavily dependant upon the cable backbone and damage to the backbone can cause network failure

Question 3

What are the advantages and disadvantages of a ring topology.

Answer 3

Advantages

• There is no dependence over upon a central host as data transmission is supported by all devices on the ring
• Works effectively when processing is distributed
• Very high transmission speeds are possible
• different performance levels can be determined for different traffic levels
• Routing between devices is simple because messages normally travel in one direction
• As data is in one direction it can transmit large volumes of data

Disadvantages

• Systems depend upon the reliability of the ring repeaters although it can be designed to bypass faulty repeaters.
• Cabling costs
• Difficult to extend the ring

Question 4

Name one advantage and one disadvantage of a star network.

Answer 4

Advantages

• High degree of security
• If one spoke breaks down the others can continue
• Suitable for WANs where large organisations rely on a central computer for bulk of data processing
• Data transmission speeds can vary from spoke to spoke so one can use a high speed device and another a low speed device
• Saves cabling

Disadvantages

• Network is venerable to central hub failures
• A mini or mainframe computer is needed to control messaging in a WAN so hardware and software is expensive
• As a distributed system, some processing is still possible at the nodes but inter-node connection is lost