Network topology is the arrangement of the various elements (links, nodes, etc.

) of a computer
network.[1][2] Essentially, it is thetopological[3] structure of a network and may be depicted physically or
logically. Physical topology is the placement of the various components of a network, including
device location and cable installation, while logical topology illustrates how data flows within a
network, regardless of its physical design. Distances between nodes, physical interconnections,
transmission rates, or signal types may differ between two networks, yet their topologies may be
identical.

An example is a local area network (LAN): Any given node in the LAN has one or more physical links
to other devices in the network; graphically mapping these links results in a geometric shape that
can be used to describe the physical topology of the network. Conversely, mapping the data flow
between the components determines the logical topology of the network.

Topology[edit]
There are two basic categories of network topologies:[4] physical topologies and logical topologies.

The cabling layout used to link devices is the physical topology of the network. This refers to the
layout of cabling, the locations of nodes, and the interconnections between the nodes and the
cabling.[1] The physical topology of a network is determined by the capabilities of the network access
devices and media, the level of control or fault tolerance desired, and the cost associated with
cabling or telecommunications circuits.

The logical topology in contrast, is the way that the signals act on the network media, or the way that
the data passes through the network from one device to the next without regard to the physical
interconnection of the devices. A network's logical topology is not necessarily the same as its
physical topology. For example, the original twisted pair Ethernet using repeater hubs was a logical
bus topology with a physical star topology layout. Token Ring is a logical ring topology, but is wired
as a physical star from the Media Access Unit.

The logical classification of network topologies generally follows the same classifications as those in
the physical classifications of network topologies but describes the path that the data takes between
nodes being used as opposed to the actual physicalconnections between nodes. The logical
topologies are generally determined by network protocols as opposed to being determined by the
physical layout of cables, wires, and network devices or by the flow of the electrical signals, although
in many cases the paths that the electrical signals take between nodes may closely match the logical
flow of data, hence the convention of using the termslogical topology and signal
topology interchangeably.
Logical topologies are often closely associated with Media Access Control methods and protocols.
Logical topologies are able to be dynamically reconfigured by special types of equipment such
as routers and switches.

Diagram of different network topologies.

The study of network topology recognizes eight basic topologies:[5] point-to-point, bus, star, ring or
circular, mesh, tree, hybrid, or daisy chain.

Point-to-point[edit]
The simplest topology with a permanent link between two endpoints. Switched point-to-
point topologies are the basic model of conventional telephony. The value of a permanent point-to-
point network is unimpeded communications between the two endpoints. The value of an on-
demand point-to-point connection is proportional to the number of potential pairs of subscribers and
has been expressed as Metcalfe's Law.

Permanent (dedicated)

Easiest to understand, of the variations of point-to-point topology, is a point-to-

point communications channel that appears, to the user, to be permanently associated with
the two endpoints. A children's tin can telephone is one example of a physical
dedicated channel.
Within many switched telecommunications systems, it is possible to establish a permanent
circuit. One example might be a telephone in the lobby of a public building, which is
programmed to ring only the number of a telephone dispatcher. "Nailing down" a switched
connection saves the cost of running a physical circuit between the two points. The
resources in such a connection can be released when no longer needed, for example, a
television circuit from a parade route back to the studio.
Switched:

Using circuit-switching or packet-switching technologies, a point-to-point circuit can be set up

dynamically and dropped when no longer needed. This is the basic mode of conventional
telephony.
Bus[edit]
 Main article: Bus network

Bus network topology

In local area networks where bus topology is used, each node is connected to a single cable.
Each computer or server is connected to the single bus cable. A signal from the source
travels in both directions to all machines connected on the bus cable until it finds the
intended recipient. If the machine address does not match the intended address for the data,
the machine ignores the data. Alternatively, if the data matches the machine address, the
data is accepted. Because the bus topology consists of only one wire, it is rather cheap to
implement when compared to other topologies. However, the low cost of implementing the
technology is offset by the high cost of managing the network. Additionally, because only
one cable is utilized, it can be the single point of failure.
Linear bus
The type of network topology in which all of the nodes of the network are connected to a
common transmission medium which has exactly two endpoints (this is the 'bus', which is
also commonly referred to as the backbone, or trunk) – all data that is transmittedbetween
nodes in the network is transmitted over this common transmission medium and is able to
be received by all nodes in the network simultaneously.[1]
Note: When the electrical signal reaches the end of the bus, the signal "echoes" back down
the line, causing unwanted interference. As a solution, the two endpoints of the bus are
normally terminated with a device called a terminator that prevents this echo.
Distributed bus
The type of network topology in which all of the nodes of the network are connected to a
common transmission medium which has more than two endpoints that are created by
adding branches to the main section of the transmission medium – the physical distributed
bus topology functions in exactly the same fashion as the physical linear bus topology (i.e.,
all nodes share a common transmission medium).
Star[edit]
Main article: Star network

Star network topology

In local area networks with a star topology, each network host is connected to a central hub
with a point-to-point connection. In Star topology every node (computer workstation or any
other peripheral) is connected to a central node called hub or switch. The switch is the server
and the peripherals are the clients. The network does not necessarily have to resemble a
star to be classified as a star network, but all of the nodes on the network must be connected
to one central device. All traffic that traverses the network passes through the central hub.
The hub acts as a signal repeater. The star topology is considered the easiest topology to
design and implement. An advantage of the star topology is the simplicity of adding
additional nodes. The primary disadvantage of the star topology is that the hub represents a
single point of failure.
Extended star

A type of network topology in which a network that is based upon the physical star topology
has one or more repeaters between the central node (the 'hub' of the star) and the peripheral
or 'spoke' nodes, the repeaters being used to extend the maximum transmission distance of
the point-to-point links between the central node and the peripheral nodes beyond that which
is supported by the transmitter power of the central node or beyond that which is supported
by the standard upon which the physical layer of the physical star network is based.
If the repeaters in a network that is based upon the physical extended star topology are
replaced with hubs or switches, then a hybrid network topology is created that is referred to
as a physical hierarchical star topology, although some texts make no distinction between
the two topologies.
Distributed Star

A type of network topology that is composed of individual networks that are based upon the
physical star topology connected in a linear fashion – i.e., 'daisy-chained' – with no central or
top level connection point (e.g., two or more 'stacked' hubs, along with their associated star
connected nodes or 'spokes').
Ring[edit]
Main article: Ring network

Ring network topology

A network topology that is set up in a circular fashion in which data travels around the ring in
one direction and each device on the ring acts as a repeater to keep the signal strong as it
travels. Each device incorporates a receiver for the incoming signal and a transmitter to send
the data on to the next device in the ring. The network is dependent on the ability of the
signal to travel around the ring. When a device sends data, it must travel through each
device on the ring until it reaches its destination. Every node is a critical link. [4] In a ring
topology, there is no server computer present; all nodes work as a server and repeat the
signal. The disadvantage of this topology is that if one node stops working, the entire
network is affected or stops working.
Mesh[edit]
Main article: Mesh networking

The value of fully meshed networks is proportional to the exponent of the

number of subscribers, assuming that communicating groups of any two
endpoints, up to and including all the endpoints, is approximated by Reed's
Law.

Fully connected network

 Fully connected mesh topology

A fully connected network is a communication network in which each of the nodes is

connected to each other. In graph theory it known as a complete graph. A fully connected
network doesn't need to use switching or broadcasting. However, its major disadvantage is
that the number of connections grows quadratically with the number of nodes,as per the
formula

and so it is extremely impractical for large networks. A two-node network is technically a fully
connected network.
Partially connected

Partially connected mesh topology

The type of network topology in which some of the nodes of the network are connected to
more than one other node in the network with a point-to-point link – this makes it possible to
take advantage of some of the redundancy that is provided by a physical fully connected
mesh topology without the expense and complexity required for a connection between every
node in the network.
Tree[edit]
This section may be confusing
or unclear to readers. (June
 2011)

A tree topology is essentially a combination of bus

topology and star topology. The nodes of bus topology
are replaced with standalone star topology networks.
This results in both disadvantages of bus topology and
advantages of star topology.

For example, if the connection between two groups of

networks is broken down due to breaking of the
connection on the central linear core, then those two
groups cannot communicate, much like nodes of a bus
topology. However, the star topology nodes will
effectively communicate with each other.

It has a root node, intermediate nodes, and ultimate

nodes. This structure is arranged in a hierarchical form
and any intermediate node can have any number of
the child nodes.

But the tree topology is practically impossible to

construct, because the node in the network is nothing,
but the computing device can have maximum one or
two connections, so we cannot attach more than 2
child nodes to the computing device (or parent node).
[citation needed]
There are many sub structures under tree
topology, but the most convenient is B-tree topology
whereby finding errors is relatively easy.[citation needed]

Many supercomputers use a fat tree network,

[6]
including the Yellowstone (supercomputer),
the Tianhe-2, the Meiko Scientific CS-2, the Earth
Simulator, the Cray X2, the CM-5, and
many Altix supercomputers.
1. A network that is based upon the physical hierarchical topology must have at least three
levels in the hierarchy of the tree, since a network with a central 'root' node and only one
hierarchical level below it would exhibit the physical topology of a star.
2. A network that is based upon the physical hierarchical topology and with a branching factor
of 1 would be classified as a physical linear topology.

3. The branching factor, f, is independent of the total number of nodes in the network and,
therefore, if the nodes in the network require ports for connection to other nodes the total
number of ports per node may be kept low even though the total number of nodes is large; –
this makes the effect of the cost of adding ports to each node totally dependent upon the
branching factor and may therefore be kept as low as required without any effect upon the
total number of nodes that are possible.

4. The total number of point-to-point links in a network that is based upon the physical
hierarchical topology will be one less than the total number of nodes in the network.

5. If the nodes in a network that is based upon the physical hierarchical topology are required
to perform any processing upon the data that is transmitted between nodes in the network,
the nodes that are at higher levels in the hierarchy will be required to perform more
processing operations on behalf of other nodes than the nodes that are lower in the
hierarchy. Such a type of network topology is very useful and highly recommended.

Advantages

 It is scalable. Secondary nodes allow more devices to be connected to a central node.

 Point to point connection of devices.

 Having different levels of the network makes it more manageable hence easier fault
identification and isolation.

An example of this network could be cable TV technology. Other examples are in dynamic
tree based wireless networks for military, mining and otherwise mobile applications.
Disadvantages

 Maintenance of the network may be an issue when the network spans a great area.
 Since it is a variation of bus topology, if the backbone fails, the entire network is crippled.

An example of this network could be cable TV technology. Other examples are in dynamic
tree based wireless networks for military, mining and otherwise mobile applications.
[7]
The Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey CA, demonstrated such tree based wireless
networks for border security.[8] In a pilot system, aerial cameras kept aloft by balloons relayed
real time high resolution video to ground personnel via a dynamic self healing tree based
network.
Hybrid[edit]
Hybrid networks use a combination of any two or more topologies, in such a way
that the resulting network does not exhibit one of the standard topologies (e.g., bus,
star, ring, etc.). For example a tree network connected to a tree network is still a
tree network topology. A hybrid topology is always produced when two different
basic network topologies are connected. Two common examples for Hybrid network
are: star ring network and star bus network

 A Star ring network consists of two or more star topologies connected using
a multistation access unit (MAU) as a centralized hub.
 A Star Bus network consists of two or more star topologies connected using a
bus trunk (the bus trunk serves as the network's backbone).

While grid and torus networks have found popularity in high-performance

computing applications, some systems have used genetic algorithms to design
custom networks that have the fewest possible hops in between different nodes.
Some of the resulting layouts are nearly incomprehensible, although they function
quite well.[citation needed]

A Snowflake topology is really a "Star of Stars" network, so it exhibits characteristics

of a hybrid network topology but is not composed of two different basic network
topologies being connected.

Daisy chain[edit]
Except for star-based networks, the easiest way to add more computers into a
network is by daisy-chaining, or connecting each computer in series to the next. If a
message is intended for a computer partway down the line, each system bounces it
along in sequence until it reaches the destination. A daisy-chained network can take
two basic forms: linear and ring.

 A linear topology puts a two-way link between one computer and the next.
However, this was expensive in the early days of computing, since each
computer (except for the ones at each end) required two receivers and two
transmitters.
 By connecting the computers at each end, a ring topology can be formed. An
advantage of the ring is that the number of transmitters and receivers can be
cut in half, since a message will eventually loop all of the way around. When
 a node sends a message, the message is processed by each computer in the
ring. If the ring breaks at a particular link then the transmission can be sent via
the reverse path thereby ensuring that all nodes are always connected in the
case of a single failure.

Centralization[edit]
The star topology reduces the probability of a network failure by connecting all of
the peripheral nodes (computers, etc.) to a central node. When the physical star
topology is applied to a logical bus network such as Ethernet, this central node
(traditionally a hub) rebroadcasts all transmissions received from any peripheral
node to all peripheral nodes on the network, sometimes including the originating
node. All peripheral nodes may thus communicate with all others by transmitting to,
and receiving from, the central node only. The failure of a transmission line linking
any peripheral node to the central node will result in the isolation of that peripheral
node from all others, but the remaining peripheral nodes will be unaffected.
However, the disadvantage is that the failure of the central node will cause the
failure of all of the peripheral nodes.

If the central node is passive, the originating node must be able to tolerate the
reception of an echo of its own transmission, delayed by the two-way round
trip transmission time(i.e. to and from the central node) plus any delay generated in
the central node. An active star network has an active central node that usually has
the means to prevent echo-related problems.

A tree topology (a.k.a. hierarchical topology) can be viewed as a collection of

star networks arranged in a hierarchy. This tree has individual peripheral nodes
(e.g. leaves) which are required to transmit to and receive from one other node only
and are not required to act as repeaters or regenerators. Unlike the star network,
the functionality of the central node may be distributed.

As in the conventional star network, individual nodes may thus still be isolated from
the network by a single-point failure of a transmission path to the node. If a link
connecting a leaf fails, that leaf is isolated; if a connection to a non-leaf node fails,
an entire section of the network becomes isolated from the rest.

To alleviate the amount of network traffic that comes from broadcasting all signals to
all nodes, more advanced central nodes were developed that are able to keep track
of the identities of the nodes that are connected to the network. These network
switches will "learn" the layout of the network by "listening" on each port during
normal data transmission, examining the data packets and recording the
address/identifier of each connected node and which port it is connected to in
a lookup table held in memory. This lookup table then allows future transmissions to
be forwarded to the intended destination only.

Decentralization[edit]
In a mesh topology (i.e., a partially connected mesh topology), there are at least
two nodes with two or more paths between them to provide redundant paths to be
used in case the link providing one of the paths fails. This decentralization is often
used to compensate for the single-point-failure disadvantage that is present when
using a single device as a central node (e.g., in star and tree networks). A special
kind of mesh, limiting the number of hops between two nodes, is a hypercube. The
number of arbitrary forks in mesh networks makes them more difficult to design and
implement, but their decentralized nature makes them very useful. In 2012 the IEEE
published the Shortest path bridgingprotocol to ease configuration tasks and allows
all paths to be active which increases bandwidth and redundancy between all
devices.[9][10][11][12][13]

This is similar in some ways to a grid network, where a linear or ring topology is
used to connect systems in multiple directions. A multidimensional ring has
a toroidal topology, for instance.

A fully connected network, complete topology, or full mesh topology is a

network topology in which there is a direct link between all pairs of nodes. In a fully
connected network with n nodes, there are n(n-1)/2 direct links. Networks designed
with this topology are usually very expensive to set up, but provide a high degree of
reliability due to the multiple paths for data that are provided by the large number of
redundant links between nodes. This topology is mostly seen
in military applications.