CS 350Chapter-1

Terms in Networks

What’s a Network?

LAN

Network ComponentsWorkstations

Servers

Hosts

Virtual LAN

WAN

VPN

Network Architecture

Peer-to-Peer

Client/Server

Physical Net. Topology

Bus Topology

Star Topology

Ring

Mesh

Point-to-Point

Point-to-MultiPoint

Hybrid Topology

Bus TopologyPros:

Easy to install

Not expensive

Not much cable required

Cons:Hard to troubleshoot, change, move

A single cable failure – bus itself

Star TopologyPros:

Easy to add new stations

A single cable failure is not a big deal

Easy to troubleshoot

Cons:Larger number of cables necessary

A single point failure

Physical Net. Topology

Ring – hard to add new, single cable failure

Mesh – most fault tolerance

Point-to-Point

Point-to-Multipoint

Hybrid Topology – Internet as an example

Choose Right Topology

Cost

Ease of installation

Ease of maintenance

Fault-tolerance requirement

Examples: simple home network – wireless access point

A fast growing company – wired star

Godzilla-strength fault-tolerance -- hybrid