A Network Topology

Essay by kodizzleUniversity, Bachelor'sA-, April 2008

download word file, 3 pages 5.0

A Network topology is arrangement or mapping of different network elements. Network topologies can come in different styles of setups; they consist of the physical, signal, and logical topologies between the nodes. A node is a point is a network where part of it branches off or intersects such as a device like a computer. The node has to be able to receive, transmit, and send data and other signals along with being able to process the data itself and do something with the data. A node will either be an end point or a redistribution point for the data on the network and every node has to have a MAC Address or a Data-Link Control Address. When you look at a Signal and Logical topology there is a slight difference that you have to look for; thus making it hard to distinguish between the two. The difference between the two is that logical refers to the apparent path of the network and that signal refers to the actual path that the data is transferred through.

Physical topology refers to the mapping of the physical connection between networks, it is the layout of the cable or wires that connect the nodes. Some networks such as a local area network (LAN) can consist of both a physical and logical interconnection between the endpoints or nodes. An important thing to help distinguish the two is that physical topology is a real interconnection and logical is a virtual interconnection between the nodes. How the Data flows and is mapped between nodes determines the classification of the physical topology. Some of the classification types include Ring, Star, Line, Mesh, Fully connected, and Tree. I will be touching the main points of the bus, star, and ring classification.

There are two types to the bus...