Terminology
Segment: The connection between device and switch
Topologies
Point to point
2 computers are directly connected with a segment
Bus
All devices are connected to a main cable with drop-down lines
Less cable is required but there is no redundancy when the main bus breaks
Ring
Each device has two Point to Point connections to the devices beside them.
Data is forwarded via repeaters until it reaches its target device
Star Topology
The switch connects to all devices.
Most common network topology
Tree Topology
Hierarchical topology where the main bus branches off into star-topologies.
Mesh Topology (WMN)
Every device on the network has a point-point connection with every other device on the network.
This means each device can function similarly to a router.
This is the fastest, but most expensive and most cluttered topology
Hybrid
A combination of all previous topologies