Topologies

There are different ways of setting up a LAN, each with different benefits in terms of network speed and cost. Three of the main topologies include bus, star and ring.

Bus network

In a bus network all the workstations, servers and printers are joined to one cable - 'the bus'. At each end of the cable a terminator is fitted to stop signals reflecting back down the bus.

Advantages

• - easy to install
• - cheap to install - it does not require much cabling

Disadvantages

• - if the main cable fails or gets damaged, the whole network will fail
• - as more workstations are connected, the performance of the network will become slower because of data collisions
• - every workstation on the network 'sees' all of the data on the network, which can be a security risk

Ring network

In a ring network, each device (eg workstation, server, printer)…