University of Umm Al-Qura - - College of Computing - - Department of Software Engineering

Course Title
Distributed programming (SE2205)

Chapter 7
Network Topologies & Network routing

Dr. Mohamed TOUNSI

Second Term: 2024/2025
Network Topologies
● Local Area Network (LAN): A network that connects computers and devices within a
limited geographical area, such as a home, office, or campus.

○ Physical: Describes the geometric arrangement of components that make up the LAN.
1. Bus
2. Star
3. Ring
4. Switched
5. Daisy chains
6. Hierarchies

○ Logical: Describes the possible connections between pairs of networked end-points that
can communicate

● Wide Area Network (WAN): A network that spans a large geographical area, connecting
multiple LANs across cities, countries, or even continents.
2
Bus topology
● All networked nodes are interconnected, peer to peer, using a single, open-ended cable
Both ends of the bus must be terminated with a terminating resistor to prevent signal
bounce.

3
Pros/Cons of Bus topology
● Pros
○ Easy to implement and extend
○ Well suited for temporary networks that must be set up in a hurry
○ Typically the least cheapest topology to implement
○ Failure of one station does not affect others

● Cons
○ Difficult to administer/troubleshoot
○ Limited cable length and number of stations
○ A cable break can disable the entire network; no redundancy
○ Maintenance costs may be higher in the long run
○ Performance degrades as additional computers are added

4
Ring topology
● Started out as a simple peer-to-peer LAN topology

● Each networked workstation had two connections: one to

each of its nearest neighbors

● Data was transmitted unidirectionally around the ring.

● Sending and receiving of data takes place by the help of

TOKEN.

● Token contains a piece of information which along with data is

sent by the source computer

● This token then passes to next node, which checks if the

signal is intended to it

○ If yes, it receives it and passes the empty to into the network

○ otherwise passes token along with the data to next node 5

Pros/Cons of Ring topology
● Pros
1. This type of network topology is very organized
2. Performance is better than that of Bus topology
3. No need for network server to control the connectivity between workstations
4. Additional components do not affect the performance of network
5. Each computer has equal access to resources

● Cons
1. Each packet of data must pass through all the computers between source and
destination, slower than star topology
2. If one workstation or port goes down, the entire network gets affected
3. Network is highly dependent on the wire which connects different components.

6
Star topology
● Have connections to networked devices that “radiate” out from a common point
● Each networked device in star topology can access the media independently
● Have become the dominant topology type in contemporary LANs
● Stars have made buses and rings obsolete in LAN topologies.

7
Pros/Cons of star topology
● Pros
1. Compared to Bus topology it gives far much better performance
2. Easy to connect new nodes or devices
3. Centralized management. It helps in monitoring the network
4. Failure of one node or link doesn’t affect the rest of network

● Cons
1. If central device fails whole network goes down
2. The use of hub, a router or a switch as central device increases the overall cost of
the network
3. Performance and as well number of nodes which can be added in such topology is
depended on capacity of central device.

8
Switched topology
● A switch is a multiport, Data Link Layer device

● A switch “learns” Media Access Control addresses and stores them in an internal lookup table

● Temporary, switched paths are created between the frame’s originator and its intended
recipient, and the frames are forwarded along the temporary path

● Switched topology features multiple connections to a switching hub/Switch

● Each port, and the device to which it connects, has its own dedicated bandwidth

9
Pros/Cons of a Switched topology
● Pros:
1. Can improve LAN performance:
2. increase the aggregate bandwidth available throughout the network
3. reducing the number of devices forced to share each segment of bandwidth
● Cons:
1. Large switched implementations do not isolate broadcasts

10
Daisy chains
● Developed by serially interconnecting all the hubs of a network
● This simple approach uses ports on existing hubs for interconnecting the hubs
● Daisy chains are easily built and don’t require any special administrative skills
● Daisy chains were, historically, the interconnection method of choice for emerging,
first-generation LANs

11
Pros/Cons of Daisy chain
● Pros
○ Increases the number of connections, and therefore the number of devices, on a
LAN.

● Cons
○ Too many devices competing for the same amount of bandwidth can create
collisions and quickly incapacitate a LAN

12
Hierarchies
● Hierarchical topologies consist of more than one layer of hubs. Each layer serves a
different network function

● The bottom tier is reserved for user station and server connectivity. Higher-level tiers
provide aggregation of the user-level tier

● A hierarchical arrangement is best suited for medium-to-large-sized LANs that must be

concerned with scalability of the network and with traffic aggregation.

13
Hierarchical rings
● Ring networks can be scaled up by interconnecting multiple rings in a hierarchical fashion
● User station and server connectivity can be provided by as many limited size rings as are
necessary to provide the required level of performance
● A second-tier ring, either Token Ring or FDDI, can be used to interconnect all the user
level rings and to provide aggregated access to the Wide Area Network (WAN)

14
Hierarchical stars
● Star topologies, can be implemented in hierarchical arrangements of multiple stars
● Hierarchical stars can be implemented as a single collision domain or segmented into
multiple collision domains using switches, routers or bridges.

15
Hierarchical combinations
● Overall network performance can be enhanced by not force-fitting all the functional
requirements of the LAN into a single solution
● Today’s high-end switching hubs enable you to mix multiple technologies.

16
WAN Topologies
● The topology of a WAN describes the way the transmission facilities are arranged relative
to the locations that they interconnect
● Numerous topologies are possible, each one offering a different mix of cost, performance
and scalability:
1. Peer-to-peer WANs
2. Ring WANs
3. Star WANs
4. Full-mesh WANs
5. Partial-mesh WANs
6. Two-tiered
7. Three-tiered
8. Hybrids

17
Peer-to-peer topology
● A peer-to-peer WAN can be developed using leased private lines or any other
transmission facility
● This WAN topology is a relatively simple way of interconnecting a small number of sites
● Represents the least-cost solution for WANs that contain a small number of
internetworked locations

18
Pros/Cons of Peer-to-peer
● Pros:
1. It is inexpensive relative to other options

● Cons:
1. They don’t scale very well. As additional locations are introduced to the WAN, the
number of hops between any given pair of locations remains highly inconsistent and
has an upward trend
2. An equipment or facility failure anywhere in a peer-to-peer WAN can split the WAN.

19
Ring topology
● Can be developed fairly easily from a peer-to-peer network by adding one transmission
facility and an extra port on two routers
● A ring-shaped WAN constructed with point-to-point transmission facilities can be used to
interconnect a small number of sites and provide route redundancy at a potentially
minimal incremental cost
● Can use dynamic routing protocols.

20
Pros/Cons of Ring topology
● Pros:
1. It provides alternative routes
2. It is less expensive than all but the peer-to-peer WAN

● Cons:
1. Depending on the geographic dispersion of the locations, adding an extra
transmission facility to complete the ring may be cost prohibitive
2. Rings are not very scalable

21
Star network Topology
● Constructed by homing all locations into a common location
● The star topology can be constructed using almost any dedicated transmission facility
including frame relay and point-to-point private lines

22
Star network Topology
● Constructed by homing all locations into a common location
● The star topology can be constructed using almost any dedicated transmission facility
including frame relay and point-to-point private lines

● Pros:
1. More scalable than a peer-to-peer or ring network
2. Improved network performance. Hop count of three

● Cons:
1. It creates a single point of failure
2. There is no route redundancy.

23
Full-mesh topology
● This topology features the ultimate reliability and fault
tolerance
● Every networked node is directly connected to every other
networked node
● Redundant routes to each location are plentiful, hence static
routing impractical.
● Use dynamic routing protocols
● One application would be to provide interconnectivity for a
limited number of routers that require high network availability
● Another potential application is to fully mesh just parts of the
WAN, such as the backbone of a multitiered WAN or tightly
coupled work centers.

24
Pros/Cons of full-mesh
● Pros:
1. Minimizes the number of hops between any two network-connected machines
2. Can be built with virtually any transmission technology

● Cons:
1. These WANs can be fairly expensive to build
2. A finite (although substantial) limit on the scalability of the network.

25
Partial-mesh topology
● Partial meshes are highly flexible topologies that can take a variety of
very different configurations
● The routers are much more tightly coupled than any of the basic
topologies but are not fully interconnected, as would be the case in a
fully meshed network
● A partially meshed WAN topology is readily identified by the almost
complete interconnection of every node with every other node in the
network.
● Pro:
1. Partial meshes offer the capability to minimize hops for the
bulk of the WAN’s users
2. Unlike fully meshed networks, a partial mesh can reduce the
startup and operational expenses by not interconnecting
low-traffic segments of the WAN, hence more affordable and
scalable

26
Two-tiered topology
● A two-tiered topology is a modified version of the basic star topology. Rather than
single concentrator routers, two or more routers are used.
● A two-tiered WAN constructed with dedicated facilities offers improved fault
tolerance over the simple star topology without compromising scalability.

27
Three-tiered topology
● WANs that need to interconnect a very large number of sites, or are built using smaller
routers that can support only a few serial connections, may find the two-tiered
architecture insufficiently scalable.
● Therefore, adding a third tier may well provide the additional scalability they require.

28
Three-tiered topology
● WANs that need to interconnect a very large number of sites, or are built using smaller routers that
can support only a few serial connections, may find the two-tiered architecture insufficiently scalable.
● Therefore, adding a third tier may well provide the additional scalability they require.
● Pros:
1. A three-tiered WAN constructed with dedicated facilities offers even greater fault tolerance
and scalability than the two-tiered topology
● Cons:
1. Three-tiered networks are expensive to build, operate and maintain.

29
Hybrid topologies
● Hybridization of multiple topologies is useful in larger, more complex networks
● Multi Tiered networks, in particular, lend themselves to hybridization. A multitiered
WAN can be hybridized by fully or partially meshing the backbone tier of routers
● An effective hybrid topology may be developed in a multitiered WAN by using a fully
meshed topology for the backbone nodes only.

30
Questions