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LESSON 7:
NETWORK TOPOLOGIES
Lesson Objectives
Logical Topologies
i.Ring Logical Topologies
ii.Bus Logical Topologies
Topologies of Common Networks
1.Ethernet
i. 10Base2 (ThinNet)
ii. 10BASE5 (ThickNet)
iii. 10Base-T/ 100Base-TX (Twisted Pair Ethernet)
iv. Fast Ethernet
2. Token Ring
3. ARCnet
4. FDDI
3. Logical Topologies
You have just examined five types of physical topologies. Now
you will examine two types of logical topologies. Logical
topologies have the same names as physical topologies, but
keep in mind that the physical topology describes the network
you can see, whereas the logical topology describes the network
from the viewpoint of the data traveling on the network.
Networks can have different physical and logical topologies
(most do!).
The following two logical topologies are discussed in the
following sections:
Ring logical topology
Bus logical topology
1. Ring Logical Topologies
Ring topologies function by passing data transmissions from
one node to the next. This operation is clearest when the
physical topology is also a ring. Any time data are passed from
node-to-node, the network has a ringlogical topology.
Another way to identify a ring is to determine whether each node
has separate receive and transmit circuits. If that is the case, the
node is functioning as a repeater and is probably connected in a
logical ring network.
2. Bus Logical Topologies
In a bus topology, each data transmission passes by each node
on the network. Essentially, each transmission is broadcast
throughout the network, and the nodes use addressesto
determine whether they should pay attention. Any time all
transmissions are available to all nodes on the network, the
network has a bus logical topology.
If the nodes on a network use the same circuits to transmit and
receive, the logical network is a bus.
Topologies of Common Networks:
As mentioned earlier, a network can have a logical topology
different from its physical topology. In this class, you work
with the following four common types of networks:
i. Ethernet
ii. Token Ring
iii. ARCnet
iv. FDDI
1. Ethernet
An older, common wiring system for Ethernet (10Base2) and
(10Base5) uses coaxial cablein a linear bus topology. In the
most common type of Ethernet, each node connects to the
coax through a T-connector (BNC) that taps into the signals on
the coaxial cable. The nodes both transmit and receive through
the same connector. Therefore, 10Base2 Ethernet is a logical as
well as a physical bus.
A newer variation of Ethernet, 10Base-T and 100Base-TX, are
cabled using wiring hubs (concentrators), as shown below. Each
station is connected to the hub via an individual UTP twistedpair
cable. Within the hub, however, the individual signals are
combined into a bus. Therefor 10Base-T and 100Base-TX are
physical stars, but logical buses.
Ethernet
Ethernet was originally developed by DI X - the Digital
Corporation, the Intel Corporation, and the Xerox Corporation
in the early 1970s. Ethernet is known as a spanning tree topology
because the networks expand by branching in tree structures that
do not allow redundant paths between nodes. Ethernet uses the
CSMA/ CD (Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision
Detection) media contention access method and supports a
maximum throughput of 10 or 100 Mbps. The original Ethernet
and later IEEE 802.3 protocols are similar but not usually
interchangeable.
Study Note
The origins of Ethernet are commemorated in the initials DIX,
which is a 15-pin connector used to interface Ethernet
components (also called the AUI - Attachment Unit Interface).
The acronym DIX is derived from the combination of
leading letters of the founding Ethernet vendors Digital,
Intel, and Xerox.
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The term Ethernet commonly refers to original Ethernet (now
most frequently identified as Ethernet II) as well as the IEEE
802.3 standards. However, Ethernet and the IEEE 802.3 standards
differ in ways significant enough to make standards incompatible
in terms of packet formats. At the Physical Layer, Ethernet and
IEEE 802.3 are generally compatible in terms of cables, connectors,
and electronic devices.
Ethernet is generally used on light to medium traffic networks,
and performs best when a networks data traffic is sent in short
bursts. Ethernet is the most popular network standard. It has
become especially popular in many university and government
installations.
1. 10Base2 (ThinNet)
The 10Base2, thinnet topology generally uses the on-boardtransceiver
of the network interface card to translate the signals to and from
the rest of the network. Thin net cabling uses RG-58 A/ U coaxial
type cable, 50 Ohmterminators, and BNC T-connectors that directly
attach to the connector on the NIC. A grounded terminator must be
used on only one end of the network segment. The components
of a thin net network are shown below.
Study Note
A transceiver is a device that takes the digital signal from the
node and translates it to communicate on a baseband cabling
system. NICs that support thinnet or 10Base-T/ 100Base-TX
cablehavebuilt-in transceivers. External transceivers are used for
10Base5 thick Ethernet.
Remember
several additional rules must be adhered to in 10Base2 thinnet
Ethernet environments, including the following:
The minimum cable distance between workstations must be 1.5
feet or .5 meters.
Pig tails, also known as drop cables, from BNC T-connectors
should not be used to connect to the BNC connector on the
NIC. The BNC T-connector on the coax must be connected
directly to the NIC.
You may not go beyond the maximum network segment
limitation of 607 feet or 185 meters (not the 200 meters commonly
stated).
The entire network cabling scheme cannot exceed 3,035 feet or 925
meters
standard BNC or N-series barrel connectors. As with thin net,
each network segment must be terminated at both ends with one
end using a grounded terminator. The components of a thicknet
network are shown in the figure below.
Remember
several additional guidelines along with the 5-4-3 rule must be
followed in 10Base5 thicknet Ethernet networks:
The minimum cable distance between transceivers is eight feet
or 2.5 meters.
You may not go beyond the maximum network segment
length of 1,640 feet or 500 meters.
The entire network cabling scheme cannot exceed 8,200 feet or
2,500 meters.
One end of the terminated network segment must be
grounded.
The maximum number of nodes per network segment is 100.
(This includes all repeaters.)
The IEEE 802.3 standard that describes thicknet is 10Base5.
This standard describes a 10 Mbps baseband network that can
have segments up to 500 meters long.The 10Base5 cabling
scheme and components are shown below.
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3. 10Base-T/100Base-TX (Twisted Pair Ethernet)
The trend in wiring Ethernet networks is to use unshielded
twisted pair (UTP) cable. UTP cable has a lower cost than coax.
Another significant advantage is that UTP is smaller than coax,
which relieves congestion of wiring conduits. UTP Ethernet is
wired in a star-shaped design and is referred to in the technical
world as 10BaseT. The cable uses RJ-45 connectors, and the
network interface card can have RJ-45 jacks built into the back of
the cards. External transceivers attached to a DIX connector can
also be used to connect standard Ethernet cards into a twisted
pair topology.
The figure below shows 10Base-T Ethernet cabled using twisted
pair and a concentrator.
Study Note
Networks with star wiring topologies can be significantly easier
to trouble shoot and repair than bus wired networks. With a
star network, a problem node can be isolated from the rest of
the network by simply disconnecting the cable and directly
connecting it to the cable hub. If the hub is considered
intelligent, management software developed for that hub
type can disconnect the suspect port.
The additional rules for a 10Base-T network are as follows:
The maximum number of network segments is 1,024.
The maximum unshielded cable segment length is 328 feet or
100 meters.
Study Note
10Base-T requires that the UTP cable system be compliant with
a minimum rating of Category 3. RJ-45 connectors wired with
two pairs (4 wires) on pins 1,2,3, & 6 are used with 10Base-T.
Level IV is cable certified to operate at 10Base-T required
throughput.
Fast Ethernet
An extension of the popular 10Base-T Ethernet standard, Fast
Ethernet transports data at 100 Mbps. With rules defined by
the IEEE 802.3u standard, Fast Ethernet leverages the familiar
Ethernet technology and retains the CSMA/ CD protocol of 10
Mbps Ethernet. Three types of Fast Ethernet are available:
100Base-TX, which runs over Category 5 UTP; 100Base-T4
which runs over existing Category 3 UTP; and 100Base-FX,
which operates over multimode fiber optic cabling.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
TD+ TD- RD+ N/ C N/ C RD- N/ C N/ C

Pins 1 & 2 - Pair #1 Transmit Data
Pins 3 & 6 - Pair #2 Receive Data
Pins 4, 5, 7, & 8 - Not Connected
As specified for 10Base-T (CAT3 minimum) & 100Base-TX
(CAT5 minimum), cables should be 100 Ohm unshielded or
shielded twisted pair (UTP or STP) wire of AWG gauge 24, 26, or
28. Maximum length is 100 meters. IBM Type-1 cable and other
150 Ohm STP cables are not suitable.
Categories for UTP cable:
Category 3 - The characteristics are specified up to 16 MHz.
They are typically used for voice and data transmission rates up
to and including 10 Mbps, e.g. IEEE 802.5 4-Mbps UTP (Token
Ring) and IEEE 802.3 10Base-T (Ethernet).
Category 4 - The characteristics are specified up to 20MHz.
They are typically used for voice and data transmission rates up
to and including 16 MHz, e.g. IEEE 802.5 16-Mbps UTP
(Token Ring).
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Category 5 - The characteristics are specified up to 100 MHz.
They are typically used for voice and data transmissions up to and
including 100 Mbps e.g. the 100Base-TX Fast Ethernet, 100 MBps
Fast ARCnet, and others.
2. Token Ring
If you examine the wiring of a Token Ring, it meets all the
specifications of a star. Token Ring uses central wiring hubs,
and each node is wired to the hub with an individual run of
cable.
If you look inside the hubs and wires, however, you can see
why this is called a ringnetwork. The figure above shows the
path that a transmission follows through the network. Starting
at the hub, the signal travels through a pair of wires to the
receive circuit on the nodes network interface. The receive circuit
passes the signal to the transmit circuit, which repeats the signal
on a separate pair of wires and sends the signal back to the hub.
If you follow the signal around the entire network, you can see
that it completes a circuitous path, proving that Token Ring has a
ring logical topology.
Token Ring is wired in a physical star to obtain the advantages of
a central wiring hub. All stations can be connected and disconnected
at a central point, and the wiring hub can be equipped with hub
management and diagnostic systems. We there for sometimes
refer to Token Ring as a star-wired-ring. Note the dual shielded
twisted pair cable.
Token Ring
Token Ring uses a non-contention token-passing architecture that
adheres to the IEEE 802.5 standard. The topology is physically a
star, but logically uses a ring to pass the token from station to
station. Each node must be attached to a hub/ concentrator called
a multistation access unit (MAU or MSAU).
Token Ring network interface cards (NICs) can run at 4 Mbps or
16 Mbps. 4 Mbps cards can run only at that data rate. However, 16
Mbps cards can be configured to run at 4 or 16 Mbps. All cards on
a given network ring must be running at the same rate.
As shown below, each node acts as a repeater that receives token
and data frames from its nearest active upstream neighbor
(NAUN). After a frame is processed by the node, the frame is
passed (rebroadcast) downstream to the next attached node. Each
token makes at least one trip around the entire ring. It then returns
to the originating node. Workstations that indicate problems send
a beacon to identify an address of the potential failure.
NOTE:
On a NovellLAN, to find out if any beacon messages have
been sent on your Token Ring network, review your System
Error Log found in SYSCON through Supervisor Options.
Token Ring Board Settings
As with the Ethernet cards, the node address on each NIC is
burned in (BIA) at the manufacturer and is unique to each card.
The node address in some cases can be overridden by vendor
specified software instructions (this is called a Locally
Administered Address - LAA). A maximum of two Token Ring
cards can be installed in any node, with each card being defined as
the primary or alternate Token Ring card in the machine. A typical
Token Ring card is shown below.
3. ARCnet
ARCnet is wired in a star using coaxial cable. The diagram above
shows an extremely simple ARCnet using a single, passive hub.
Recall from the earlier discussion about passive hubs, that they
simply split the signal and pass it on to all the nodes connected
to the hub. This is an indication that ARCnet is a logical bus: all
nodes see all signals on the network.
That ARCnet is a logical bus also can be determined by examining
the network cards. They both receive and transmit through the
same coax connector.
ARCnet is wired as a physical star, and has some of the advantages
of a star network. However, ARCnet functions as a logical bus .
Because of its signaling characteristics, ARCnet is also called a
token-passing-bus.
ARCnet
ARCnet is an acronym for Attached Resource Computer NETwork
, which was founded by the Datapoint Corporation. Novell uses
the term RX-Net to denote its form of this architecture and TRX-
Net for the Turbo version. ARCnet uses a token-bus packet
passing scheme.
ARCnet operates at 2.5 Mbps throughput and can be connected
using RG-62 A/ U coax cable or unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
wiring. Although ARCnet can support up to 255 node numbers
on a single network, systems of this size are not practical.
Note
The node number and network timeout are characteristics
unique to ARCnet.
Each network interface card (NIC) on an ARCnet network is
assigned a node number. This number must be unique on each
network and in the range of 1 to 255.
ARCnet manages network access with a token passing bus
mechanism. The token (permission to speak on the LAN) is passed
from the lowest number node to higher number nodes in ascending
order. Lower numbered addresses get the token before the higher
numbered addresses.
Network traffic is made more efficient by assigning sequential
numbers to nodes using the same order in which they are cabled.
Choosing random numbers can create a situation in which a node
numbered 23 can be a whole building away from the next number,
46, but in the same room as numbers 112 and 142. The token has
to travel in a haphazard manner that is less effective than if you
numbered the three workstations in the same office sequentially,
46, 47, and 48, and the workstation in the other building 112.
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With this configuration, the packet stays within the office before
venturing on to other stations.
The figure above shows an ARCnet configuration using active
and passive hubs. Active hubs are required to extend the
network for long distances and to configure networks that have
more than four nodes. Passive hubs are used as an economical
means of splitting a port on an active hub to support three
devices.
4. FDDI
Fiber Distributed Data Interface(FDDI) can be configured as both a
physical and a logical ring. FDDI is commonly used to connect
widely dispersed areas with a high-speed fiber network. When
doing so, a physical ring is the most cost-effective cabling plan.
The diagram above shows an FDDI network covering a large
metropolitan area. FDDI uses the same signaling mechanism as
Token Ring; each node repeats the incoming signal and transmits
it to the next node in the ring.
Students Activity
1. Define logical topology in details?
2. What are the various types of logical topology?
Student Notes
Student Notes