Question

In your own words: The system you are developing for Berkeley School includes a computer network. What is a network topology? What network topologies are you considering for Berkeley School? Why? Describe at least one network topology in detail.

Answer 1

Network Topology :- A network topology in which all computers are attached to a shared medium. Network Topology refers to layout of a network. How different nodes are connected within a network and interact or communicate with each other within the network.Network topology is the way a computer network is set up and arranged, Examples for possible topologies include ring, star, bus, and line. Each of these topologies have their advantages and disadvantages, with star being the most common in today's world.

Basically there are 5 Network Topologies they are :

(1) Bus Topology

(2) Mesh Topology

(3) Ring Topology

(4) Star Topology

(5) Tree Topology

For Berkeley School Bus topology is the best because the class room structure of any school is more suitable for Bus topology and there is LAN  connections and ports required for students for accessing internet and other local websites. and Bus topology is one of the most efficient topology for institutes and schools , colleges etc In networking a bus is the central cable the main wire that connects all devices on a local-area network (LAN). It is also called the backbone. This is often used to describe the main network connections composing the Internet. Bus networks are relatively inexpensive and easy to install for small networks. Ethernet systems use a bus topology.

BUS TOPOLOGY :-

A Bus topology is a topology for a Local Area Network where all nodes are connected through a single cable. The cable to which the nodes connect is called a "backbone". If the backbone is broken, the entire segment fails. Bus topologies are relatively easy to install and don't require much cabling compared to the alternatives.

Advantages :

• Very easy to connect a computer devices or peripheral to a linear bus topology.
• Requires less cable length than a star which takes less cost
• The linear architecture is very simple and reliable
• It works well for small networks
• It is easy to extend by joining cable with connector or repeater
• If one node fails, it will not affect the whole network

Disadvantages :

• Entire network shuts down if there is a break in the main cable
• Large amount of packet collisions on the network, which results in high amounts of packet loss
• Slow with many nodes in the network
• It is difficult to isolate any faults on the Network