Bus and Star Topology

Star Topology

The advantages of star topology:

1. If one link of the connections fails, the others will not be affected.
2. Adding a new device to or removing a device from the network does not disturb the others.
3. The transmissions are kept secure, not broadcast.
4. It works well under heavy load. (faster speed over bus topology)
5. It is appropriate for large network.

The disadvantages of star topology:

1. It’s expensive due to the number length of cables to wire each host to the central device
2. the central device is the single point failure device of the whole network, i.e., if the central device fails to work, the whole network fails.

Bus topology

The advantages of bus topology

1. it is easy to install
2. it is not expensive to install, as it doesn’t require much cable

The disadvantages of bus topology

1. if the main cable fails or get damaged the whole network will fail.
2. The performance of the network degrades as more nodes are connected
3. The transmission is not secure (it is risky), because every node on the network can get the data on the network.
4. It is difficult to identify problems if the entire network shutsdown