Essay On Network Topology

The beginning of any good network starts with planning, and one of the main points of planning involved is the network topology. Network topologies consist of both physical and logical maps, each variant having positive and negative aspects as well as applications where one type would be more appropriate. A lot of modern network layouts are hybrids of both physical and logical networks.

One of the most basic types of topologies is Point to Point, where a connection between two nodes is established just to communicate between the two. One of most basic examples of this is a two tin can’s on a string; they are connected to each other just so the two can communicate. This relationship can also be observed with two computers connected with a crossover Ethernet cord. This method of connection is also used for communication through telephone, but this is achieved logically. Switched telecommunications systems are used to create a link between two phones to connect them and allow communications between the two and then dropped when the connection is no longer needed. Point to Point communication in modern times is still prevalent, but achieved using more complex networks with the help of logical networking, and can be used to describe many of the connections between individual parts of a network.

The next network topology is the Bus topology. Bus topologies consist normally of one backbone or one transport media that all of the nodes are connected to. The linear bus configuration has only two end points and any information being transmitted through the network is received by all of the nodes simultaneously. Although networks based on a bus topology are relatively inexpensive to set up, they do not scale well. When you try to add mor...

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...sider the entire network down.” (Learn Networking)

Another large scale network topology would be the Mesh topology. Mesh topologies are either full-mesh or partial-mesh. The full-mesh has each node in the network connected with every node on the network. This configuration ensures the constant ability to transfer data and is truly redundant, but would be very costly to set up. The partial-mesh only connects every other node on the network still allowing for redundancy at a lowered cost and this configuration is commonly used in backbone networks to help ensure they constantly have the ability to transfer data.

With all of the possible topologies there are so many different kinds of configurations possible. The capabilities of modern day topologies ensure that global data transfer to phone calls are all possible through physical and logical means at every level.