This document discusses different types of network topologies, including physical topologies like ring, bus, star, mesh, tree, and hybrid, as well as logical topologies. For each physical topology, the key advantages and disadvantages are outlined. A ring topology forms a circular data path between devices, while a bus topology uses a single backbone cable. A star topology connects all devices to a central hub. A mesh topology interconnects all devices, providing redundancy. A tree topology arranges devices hierarchically like branches. A hybrid topology combines benefits of different topologies but with increased complexity.

1. Md Farhadul AlamHimel
1925102515
Classnote -4
Different Types of Network Topologies
Network Topology:
Network topology is used to describe the physical and logical structure of a network. A well-
planned network topology enhances the user experience and helps administrators maximize
performance while fulfilling business needs.
The two categories in the network topology.
1.Physical:
This maps the actual connections in a network, such as wires and cables and the placement of
various components.
2. Logical:
This shows how data flows within a network and from one device to another, regardless of the
physical connections among devices.
There are mainly six types of physical topology, they are:
1. Ring Topology
A ring topology is a network configuration where device connections create a circular data path.
Each networked device is connected to two others, like points on a circle. Together, devices in a
ring topology are referred to as a ring network.

2. Advantages of Ring topology:
 All data flows in one direction, reducing the chance of packet collisions.
 A network server is not needed to control network connectivity between each
workstation.
 Data can transfer between workstations at high speeds.
 Additional workstations can be added without impacting performance of the network.
Disadvantages of a ring topology:
 All data being transferred over the network must pass through each workstation on the
network, which can make it slower than a star topology.
 The entire network will be impacted if one workstation shuts down.
 The hardware needed to connect each workstation to the network is more expensive than
Ethernet cards and hubs/switches.
2. Bus Topology
A bus topology consists of a single cable with the terminator at each end. All present
nodes are connected to the single cable. There is no limit to the no: of nodes that can be
attached to this network, but the no: of connected nodes can actually affect the
performance of the network.
Advantages of Bus Topology:
1. Easy to connect or remove devices in a network without affecting any other device.
2. In case of any computer or device failure, there will be no effect on other devices or network.
3. Cable cost is less as compared to other network topology i.e. mesh and star.
4. It is easy to understand topology.
5. Easy to expand by joining two cables together

3. Disadvantages of Bus Topology:
1. In the case of any device failure, it is difficult to find faults in a network.
2. If the backbone cable damages the entire system/network will fail.
3. If network traffic increases or devices increase, the performance of the network decreases.
4. Proper termination is required to prevent bouncing of signals. The use of terminators is a must.
5. It is slower because one computer transmits at a time.
3. Star Topology
In Start Topology, all the computers are connected to the central located device called as hub. All
the devices on the network are connected with a hub device through a communication link. Each
computer requires a single wire for the connection to the hub.
Advantages of Star Topology:
1. Easy to manage and maintain the network because each node require separate cable.
2. Easy to locate problems because cable failure only affect a single user.
3. Easy to extend the network without disturbing to the entire network
4. Due to Hub device network control and management is much easier.
5. Fault identification and removing nodes in a network is easy.
6. It provides very high speed of data transfer.
Disadvantages of Star Topology:
1. Entire performance of the network depends on the single device hub.
2. If the hub device goes down, the entire network will be dead.
3. Star topology requires more wires compared to the ring and bus topology.

4. 4. MeshTopology
A mesh topology is a network setup where each computer and network device is interconnected
with one another. This topology setup allows for most transmissions to be distributed even if one
of the connections goes down.
Advantages of a mesh topology
 Manages high amounts of traffic, because multiple devices can transmit data
simultaneously.
 A failure of one device does not cause a break in the network or transmission of data.
 Adding additional devices does not disrupt data transmission between other devices.
Disadvantages of a mesh topology
 The cost to implement is higher than other network topologies, making it a less desirable
option.
 Building and maintaining the topology is difficult and time consuming.
 The chance of redundant connections is high, which adds to the high costs and potential
for reduced efficiency.

5. 5. Tree Topology
A tree topology is a special type of structure where many connected elements are arranged like
the branches of a tree. In a tree topology, there can be only one connection between any two
connected nodes.
Advantages of Tree Topology :
 This topology is the combination of bus and star topology.
 This topology provides a hierarchical as well as central data arrangement of the nodes.
 As the leaf nodes can add one or more nodes in the hierarchical chain, this topology
provides high scalability.
 The other nodes in a network are not affected, if one of their nodes get damaged or not
working.
.
Disadvantages of Tree Topology :
 This network is very difficult to configure as compared to the other network topologies.
 Length of a segment is limited & the limit of the segment depends on the type of cabling
used.
 Due to the presence of large number of nodes, the network performance of tree topology
becomes a bit slowly.
 If the computer in first level is erroneous, next level computer will also go under problems.
 Requires large number of cables compared to star and ring topology.

6. 6. Hybrid Topology
In simple words it is quite similar to Tree Topology in its construction. However, it is
somewhat more advanced when compared to Tree Network. It offers a very complex
structure and its physical implementation requires using a variety of technologies. .
Advantages of Hybrid Topology:
1. Hybrid network combines the benefits of different types of topologies
2. Can be modified as per requirement
3. It is extremely flexible.
4. It is very reliable.
5. It is easily scalable
Disadvantages of Hybrid Topology:
1. It is expensive
2. The design of a hybrid network is complex.
3. Hardware changes are required in order to connect topology to another topology.

7. REFERENCE:
1. computernetworktopology.com
2. www.computerhope.com