There are three types of network topologies; Star, bus and ring.

All of these network topologies could be used in a school, depending on how big the school

is and how dependant it is to communicate through a digital device.

A ring topology is workstations or other devices which are connected in a closed loop

configuration.

Advantages of Ring Topology

1) very organized. This helps to reduces chances of collision. Also in ring topology all the 2)

Traffic flows in only one direction at very high speed.

3) There is no need for network server to control the connectivity between workstations.

4) Additional components do not affect the performance of network.

5) Each computer has equal access to resources.

Disadvantages of Ring Topology

1) each packet of data must pass through all the computers between source and

destination.

2) If one workstation or port goes down, the entire network gets affected.

3) Network is highly dependent on the wire which connects different components.

4) Accessories are expensive.

A bus network is computers as well as servers connected to the single cable (called bus), by

the help of interface connectors.

Advantages of Bus Topology

1) User friendly, easy to set up

2) Minimal cables required 3) Cheap.

Disadvantages of Bus Topology

1) Limit to a certain number of devices it can connect to

2) If the main cable encounters some problem, whole network breaks down.

3) Difficult to troubleshoot if a problem is encountered.

4) High costs of maintenance.

5) Efficiency of Bus network reduces as the number of devices connected to it

increases

6) Cannot be used by big companies, made for small networks

7) Not highly secured

In a star network all the components of network are connected to the central device called

“hub”.

Advantages of Star Topology

1) Better performance 2) Easy to connect new nodes or devices. 3) Centralized management (helps in monitoring the network) 4) Failure of one node or link doesn’t affect the rest of network. 5) It’s easy to detect the failure and troubleshoot it.

Disadvantages of Star Topology 1) The hub is expensive

An acceptable use policy related to networks can be “Do not take advantage of the network by violating other user’s integrity”. This can apply to both students and teachers and any

other user. Since my organization is a school, which is quite big, I would use a mesh network, which is a combination of all networks.

Advantages of a mesh topology:

1) Can withstand high traffic. 2) Even if one of the components fails there is always an alternative present. So

data transfer doesn’t get affected. 3) Expansion and modification in topology can be done without disrupting other

nodes

Disadvantages of a mesh topology:

1) Overall cost of this network is extremely expensive. 2) Set-up and maintenance of this topology is very difficult. Even administration of the

network is tough.

This is the most useful network topology for my school because I need an efficient and reliable network for everyone to use. This can tolerate high traffic. I could use fibre optic cables so that data can be sent to its intended destination in a quicker amount of time. This type of topology can be used in a local area network which is the network I will be working with. This will be a costly process, which will require hiring professional technicians, but will be an investment worth investing in. Since users may use different operating systems, this type of topology is ensured to be compatible with all of them.