Network Topology, Architecture & Protocol

Wednesday, 4^th April 2012

It’s telecommunication and technology lecture again…^^

I was glad that I had done my pre-reading before we attended this lecture. This was the very first time that I had only a few enquiries on the topics that taught by Dr. Dayang. I was able to understand the whole lecture for the very first time.

I was eager to share the knowledge that I gained from this lecture.

Basically, this lecture encompassed three main topics; they were Network Topology, Network Architecture and Network Protocol. In fact, these three topics are classification of Network based on different aspects. 

Network Topology –  the study of the arrangement or mapping of the elements (links, nodes,etc.) of a network.

Network Architecture – the design of communication network. (Answer question on how data flows in a network)

Network Protocol – a common set of rules and signals that governs the communication between computers on a network.

So, based on the above definitions, are you able to differentiate these specific terms?

Let’s move on to further information.

I.)                 Network Topology 

Topology Aspects Compared	Linear Bus	Ring	Star	Tree
Connections with nodes	Connected in a straight line with terminator at both ends ( linear form)	Connected in a ring without terminator because there is no end (linear form)	Connected in star form with a central network connector called hub (non-linear form)	Combination of Linear Bus and Star topology. Point-to-point wiring for individual segments. (non-linear form)
Cable used	Coaxial, Twisted Pair, Fiber	Fiber	Twisted Pair, Fiber	Coaxial, Twisted Pair, Fiber
Amount of cables need	A single continuous length of cable	A single continuous length of cable	>1 cable	>1 cable
Information transfer	Information send from a computer to the cable, follow by continuous movement along the cable. Destination computer retrieve information from the cable.	Information continuously passes from one computer to another computer until reach the destination.	Information transfer from one computer to destination computer through the hub.	-
Installation	Easy	Easy	Easy	Difficult
Addition of new workstation	Easy	Easy	Easy	Difficult
Cost	Low	Low	Higher	High
Result when cable/hub breaks down	Whole network breaks down when cable breaks down	Whole network breaks down when cable breaks down	Whole network affects a little when cable breaks down; Whole network breaks down when the hub breaks down (if there is only 1 hub)	Network connection between point to point fails when backbone cable breaks down, but the connection within each point itself still function
Protocol used	Ethernet, LocalTalk and ATM	FDDI	Ethernet, LocalTalk and ATM	Ethernet and ATM

                      




                   Linear Bus

                     Ring

                     Star

                 

                  Tree

                 

II.)              Network Architecture

Here comes Network Architecture. At first, I was confused between Network Topology and Network Architecture because I thought that both of them are the arrangement of workstations. However, after seeking help from Dr. Dayang, I realized that Network Architecture focuses on how the data flow within the network whereas Network Topology talks about the arrangement of workstations.

There are two types of Network Architecture, which are :                                                    

i.)                  Peer-to-Peer Networks; and

ii.)                Client Server Networks

The main differences between these two Architectures can be shown by the diagram below.

^^ Client Server

^^ Peer-to-Peer

           

                 

             

                                                                                                                                                     

III.)           Network Protocol

Basically, the main characteristics of Network Protocol are access method, allowed physical topologies, types of cabling, and speed of data transfer. Besides, there are five types of protocol : 

Ethernet                 -     Uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection

(CSMA/CD) method

-          Allows Linear Bus, Star and Tree topologies

-          3 principals categories :

~ Ethernet and IEEE 802.3 (Operates at 10Mbps)

~ 100-Mbps Ethernet / Fast Ethernet (Operates at 100 Mbps)

~1000-Mbps Ethernet (Operates at 1000 Mbps / 1 Gbps)

 LocalTalk               -     Uses Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance

      (CSMA/CA) method

-          Allows for Linear Bus, Star and Tree topologies

-          Transmission speed : 0.23 Mbps only (slow)

Token Ring              -     Uses token-passing as access method

-          Allows for Star-Wired Ring topology

-          Transmission speed : 4 Mbps or 16 Mbps

Fiber Distributed       -     Uses token-passing as access method

Data Interface           -     Allows Dual Ring topology

(FDDI)                        -     Transmission speed : 100 Mbps (fast)

Asynchronous            -     Allows Star topology

Transfer Mode           -     Transmission speed : > 155 Mbps (fast)

(ATM)              

                     

That’s all from me. Thanks for viewing my blog. ^^