Network Topologies

This lesson covers network topologies — the arrangement of devices and connections in a network. You need to understand star, bus, mesh, and ring topologies, as well as the distinction between physical and logical topologies for the OCR H446 specification.

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What is a Network Topology?

A topology describes how devices (nodes) in a network are arranged and connected. Topology affects the network's performance, reliability, cost, and scalability.

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Physical vs Logical Topology

Type	Description
Physical topology	The actual physical layout of cables, devices, and connections
Logical topology	The way data flows through the network, regardless of physical layout

Example: A network may be physically wired as a star (all cables go to a central switch) but logically behave as a bus (data is broadcast to all devices).

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Star Topology

In a star topology, all devices are connected to a central device (typically a switch or hub). Devices communicate by sending data through the central device.

        [A]
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   [B]--[Switch]--[C]
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        [D]

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