{"id":196,"date":"2023-06-11T21:03:48","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T21:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/edexcel-igcse-computer-science\/?page_id=196"},"modified":"2023-09-12T10:01:53","modified_gmt":"2023-09-12T10:01:53","slug":"network-topologies","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/edexcel-igcse-computer-science\/network-topologies\/","title":{"rendered":"Network Topologies"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"responsive-tabs\">\n<h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Introduction<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Network Topologies<\/h3>\n<p>A network topology is the arrangement of elements in a computer network. Each network topology has its advantages and disadvantages and as new topologies are adopted older topologies are depreciated(no longer recommended and their use slowly discontinued).<\/p>\n<p>Older topologies that are no longer widely used include Ring and Bus networks.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Physical vs Logical Topology<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A network topology can be used to represents networks both physically and logically.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Logical Topology &#8211; How elements are connected in principle, though the physical connection may differ<\/li>\n<li>Physical Topology &#8211; How elements are actually plugged in together in reality.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_2023\" style=\"width: 678px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/same-physical-topology-different-logical-topology-ver2.png\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2023\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2023\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/same-physical-topology-different-logical-topology-ver2.png\" alt=\"These two networks have different physical network topology(one is wired, the other wireless) but they have the same logical topology.\" width=\"668\" height=\"331\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2023\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">These two networks have different physical network topology(one is wired, the other wireless) but they have the same logical topology.<\/p><\/div>\n\n<\/div><h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Bus<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Bus Topology<\/h3>\n<p>A bus topology uses a single coaxial<strong> trunk cable<\/strong> that runs between all the nodes on the network. When a new node is added a t-connector is used to connect the new node to the cable.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1030\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/10\/bus-topology-1024x358.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"644\" height=\"225\" \/><\/p>\n<div class=\"mceTemp\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Very quick to setup<\/li>\n<li>Cheap to implement<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If there is a break in the cable or if a node goes down then the network is split in two and may no longer function.<\/li>\n<li>The main cable can run into bandwidth issues as all data travels down the backbone.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1217\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/coaxial-cable.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1217\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1217 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/coaxial-cable-300x251.jpg?_t=1605247245\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"251\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1217\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Coaxial Cable<\/p><\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_1216\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/t-connector.jpg\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1216\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1216 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/t-connector-300x225.jpg?_t=1605247256\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1216\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">T connector<\/p><\/div>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<\/div><h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Ring<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Ring Topology<\/h3>\n<p>In a ring network all computers have two network connectors and each connector runs either clockwise or anticlockwise onto the next node.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/ring-topology.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1214\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/ring-topology.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"673\" height=\"467\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Simple to set up<\/li>\n<li>Cheap to install<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If one part of the cable breaks the entire network goes down.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n<\/div><h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Mesh<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Mesh Topology<\/h3>\n<p>A mesh topology is mostly used in ad-hoc networks or home networks. Their is no specific structure and all nodes can connect directly together or indirectly through other nodes.<\/p>\n<p>There are two types of mesh topology: <strong>full mesh<\/strong> and <strong>partial mesh<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>In a full mesh all nodes are connected to each other<\/li>\n<li>In a partial mesh only some of the nodes are connected together<\/li>\n<li>Peer to Peer sharing networks are generally logical mesh networks.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<div id=\"attachment_1212\" style=\"width: 817px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/mesh-topology.png\"><img aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-1212\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"wp-image-1212\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/mesh-topology.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"807\" height=\"529\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-1212\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An example of a partially connected mesh<\/p><\/div>\n<p><strong>Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Easy to set up as little planning is required<\/li>\n<li>If one node goes down the rest of the network can carry on functioning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Difficult to manage and troubleshoot.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<\/div><h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Star<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Star Topology<\/h3>\n<p>In this topology<strong> infrastructure network<\/strong> all clients(workstations) connect to a central server. This is the most common topology for business and office environments.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/star-topology.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-1224 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/star-topology.png?_t=1605247842\" alt=\"\" width=\"918\" height=\"628\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Advantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>If a cable breaks then only one device loses network access<\/li>\n<li>Easy to maintain and debug<\/li>\n<li>Client-Server Model allows management of all devices<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Disadvantages<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>This network type requires more hardware than other types and therefore it is more expensive to install.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n<\/div><h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Hybrid<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Hybrid Topology<\/h3>\n<p>Hybrid topologies are adapted to the particular needs of a network. The strengths and weaknesses are a mixture of the topologies that make up the network.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/hybrid-network.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-1213\" src=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/alevelcs\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/20\/2020\/02\/hybrid-network-1024x481.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"352\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n\n<\/div><h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Quiz<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Quiz<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/forms\/d\/e\/1FAIpQLSdHC9VkF5g58WmIhsB5oyBrsXfqyCT4QUcY2T_GEYncPoRLWQ\/viewform?embedded=true\" width=\"900\" height=\"600\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\">Loading\u2026<\/iframe><\/h3>\n\n<\/div><h2 class=\"tabtitle\">Resources<\/h2>\n<div class=\"tabcontent\">\n\n<h3>Resources<\/h3>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/quizizz.com\/admin\/quiz\/5b694f09e0d1d3001969cf89\">Network Topologies Quizizz<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/afteracademy.com\/blog\/what-is-network-topology-and-types-of-network-topology\">Further reading on topologies<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/presentation\/d\/1oqjW6YXEjD6Y4op5FKgKH1wpiCqYjlXq5xTJEbTMcr0\/edit?usp=sharing\">teacher presentation<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Network Topologies A network topology is the arrangement of elements in a computer network. Each network topology has its advantages and disadvantages and as new topologies are adopted older topologies are depreciated(no longer recommended and their use slowly discontinued). Older topologies that are no longer widely used include Ring and Bus networks. Physical vs Logical&hellip;&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/edexcel-igcse-computer-science\/network-topologies\/\" class=\"\" rel=\"bookmark\">Read More &raquo;<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">Network Topologies<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"neve_meta_sidebar":"","neve_meta_container":"","neve_meta_enable_content_width":"off","neve_meta_content_width":100,"neve_meta_title_alignment":"","neve_meta_author_avatar":"","neve_post_elements_order":"","neve_meta_disable_header":"","neve_meta_disable_footer":"","neve_meta_disable_title":""},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v20.6 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Network Topologies - Edexcel iGCSE Computer Science<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/learnlearn.uk\/edexcel-igcse-computer-science\/network-topologies\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Network Topologies - Edexcel iGCSE Computer Science\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Network Topologies A network topology is the arrangement of elements in a computer network. 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