Network topology refers to the physical and logical view of the network. It defines the way different types of network equipment are placed and interconnected with each other and how the data is flowing between the nodes in the network.
There are normally 2 types of topology we are going to discuss here.
1-Physical Topology.
2-Logical Topology.
Physical Topology:- The way the devices are cabled with each other, means All the devices in between the source to the destination even if they are managed or unmanaged, all are coming together and represent the physical topology. In Simple, The physical topology is basically the physical layout of your network. It refers to the placement of the various network devices such as routers, switches, wireless access points, computers, Cables, Connectors, etc.
Logical Topology:-Logical topology refers to the idea of how data flows within a network. But as you can see in my above diagram(1.1) if you will think about it from the laptop’s point of view, My laptop wants to communicate with the server but the laptop does not know anything about the network media such as the patch panels, switches, connectors, etc, Only it knows the about the communication and will access to the server IP address. It does not know whether we are using copper cable or fiber optic or we have some kind of electric signal generator or maybe we have some media converter etc. The laptop has visibility only given below.
In Simple, the logical topology means it represents how the communication is going to happen over the network .that’s all.
let’s take an example, If you trace to google.com and you may see that there are few routers in between, But in reality, you don’t know anything related to the physical connectivity of those routers apart from their layer 3 information, For example, you don’t know, how they are connected, What is the cable we use, how many switches are there in between the source and destination, etc.
Types of physical Topology
Bus Topology:- In a Bus topology, Basically all the devices are connected sequentially to the same backbone or transmission line. This is a simple, low-cost topology, but its single point of failure presents a risk.
Ring Topology:- This basically one of the most popular topologies. Like if you talk about the metro Ethernet in the service provider network they use this topology for providing broadband connection in their network.
Star Topology:-There is a central device that is going to take the responsibility for providing the connection between all the hosts . The central device can be a switch, , Router or Hub. Failure of individual nodes or cables does not necessarily create downtime in the network but the failure of a central device can. This topology is the most preferred and popular model.
Mesh Topology: The topology in each node is directly connected to some or all the other nodes present in the network. This redundancy makes the network highly fault-tolerant In a mesh topology, we can add more redundancy in the network but it’s very costly.
Partial Mesh:-Partial mesh means, that may be a few devices are connected with each other and a few are not .
Full Mesh:- full mesh is basically all devices are connected with each other which is having lots of redundancy.
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I thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Good luck to you as you move toward the next chapter life brings your way.