Bus Topology

When you talk about network topology, then you are referring to the physical or the logical layout of a particular network installation. The physical framework is the actual cabling or physical connections made between the different computers. The logical framework is the pathway that the signal goes through. There are several types of topologies in computer networking and one of them is the bus topology; another type is the mesh topology. 


The two other network topologies are known as ring and star.

The bus topology is usually used with an Ethernet network. It can both be a physical or logical framework. The simplest form of a bus topology is one cable running from a computer or device in the network to the last computer or device. The cable in the bus topology is called the backbone. When necessary, other computers or devices can be added to the present backbone, between the first computer or device and the last computer or device.

Since only one cable is used in this type of network setup initially, it is fairly cheap, simple and economical for a small business. However, once you start adding more computers or devices to the backbone, the cost will increase together with possible problems. When you add more computers or devices, this means physically linking the equipment to the current backbone. This is what will drive up the cost of having a bus topology network setup.

The advantage of a bus topology is that when one computer or device breaks down on the network, the other computers or devices will not be affected. Those devices will still work.

The bus topology is the simplest kind of network. If you are thinking of setting up a network for your small business, you may do well with a network with a bus topology setup, at least initially. It may have its limitations but a bus topology network is easy to arrange and is cost effective.