Peer-to-Peer Networks

The way the nodes are connected to form a network is known as its topology. A physical topology defines the wiring layout for a network. Physical topologies fall into three main categories. Bus, Star, and Ring topology.

Topology Bus
A bus describes a network in which each node is connected to a common single communication channel or “bus”. This bus is sometimes called a backbone, as it provides the spine for the network. Every node can hear each message packet as it goes past. Each node checks the destination address that is included in the message packet to determine whether that packet is intended for the specific node. When the signal reaches the end of
the bus, an electrical terminator absorbs the packet energy to keep it from reflecting back again along the bus cable, possibly interfering with other messages already on the bus. Each end of a bus cable must be terminated, so that signals are removed from the bus when they reach the end.

In a bus topology, nodes should be far enough apart so that they do not interfere with each other. However, if the backbone bus cable is too long, it may be necessary to boost the signal strength using some form of amplification, or repeater. The maximum length of the bus is limited by the size of the time interval that constitutes “simultaneous” packet reception. Figure 1 illustrates the bus topology.

Bus topologies offer the following advantages:

1. A bus uses relatively little cable compared to other topologies, and arguably has the simplest wiring arrangement.
2. Since nodes are connected by high impedance tappings across a backbone cable, it’s easy to add or remove nodes from a bus. This makes it easy to extend a bus topology.
3. Architectures based on this topology are simple and flexible.
4. The broadcasting of messages is advantageous for one-to-many data transmissions.

Bus topologies have the following disadvantages:

1. There can be a security problem, since every node may see every message, even those that are not destined for it.
2. Diagnosis/troubleshooting (fault-isolation) can be difficult, since the fault can be anywhere along the bus.
3. There is no automatic acknowledgement of messages, since messages get absorbed at the end of the bus and do not return to the sender.
4. The bus cable can be a bottleneck when network traffic gets heavy. This is because nodes can spend much of their time trying to access the network.

Topology Star
A star topology is a physical topology in which multiple nodes are connected to a central component, generally known as a hub. The hub of a star usually is just a wiring centre; that is, a common termination point for the nodes, with a single connection continuing from the hub. In some cases, the hub may actually be a file server (a central computer that contains a centralised file and control system), with all its nodes attached directly to the server. As a wiring centre, a hub may, in turn, be connected to the file server or to another hub.
All signals, instructions, and data going to and from each node must pass through the hub to which the node is connected. The telephone system is doubtless the best known example of a star topology, with lines to individual customers coming from a central telephone exchange location. There are not many LAN implementations that use a logical star topology.
The low impedance ARCnet networks are probably the best examples. However, you will see that the physical layout of many other LANs look like a star topology even though they are considered to be something else. An examples of a star topology is shown in Figure 2.

The advantages of the Star Topology are:

1. Troubleshooting and fault isolation is easy.
2. It is easy to add or remove nodes, and to modify the cable layout.
3. Failure of a single node does not isolate any other node.
4. The inclusion of a central hub allows easier monitoring of traffic for management purposes.

The disadvantages of the star topology are:

1. If the hub fails, the entire network fails. Sometimes a backup central machine is included, to make it possible to deal with such a failure.
2. A star topology requires a lot of cable.

Topology Ring
A ring topology is both a logical and a physical topology. As a logical topology, a ring is distinguished by the fact that message packets are transmitted sequentially from node to node, in a predefined order, and as such it is an example of a point-to-point system. Nodes are arranged in a closed loop, so that the initiating node is the last one to receive a packet. As a physical topology, a ring describes a network in which each node is connected to exactly two other nodes. Information traverses a one-way path, so that a node receives packets from exactly one node and transmits them to exactly one other node. A message packet travels around the
ring until it returns to the node that originally sent it. In a ring topology, each node can acts as a repeater, boosting the signal before sending it on. Each node checks whether the message packet’s destination node matches its address. When the packet reaches its destination, the destination node accepts the message, then sends it back to the sender, to acknowledge receipt. Since ring topologies use token passing to control access to the network, the token is returned to sender with the acknowledgement. The sender then releases the token to the next node on the network. If this node has nothing to say, the node passes the token on to the next node, and so on. When the token reaches a node with a packet to send, that node sends its packet. Physical ring networks are rare, because this topology has considerable disadvantages compared to a more practical star-wired ring hybrid, which is described later.

Ring Topology Advantages are:

1. A physical ring topology has minimal cable requirements.
2. No wiring centre or closet is needed.
3. The message can be automatically acknowledged.
4. Each node can regenerate the signal.

Disadvantages of the Ring Topology are:

1. If any node goes down, the entire ring goes down.
2. Diagnosis/troubleshooting (fault isolation) is difficult because communication is only one-way.
3. Adding or removing nodes disrupts the network.
4. There will be a limit on the distance between nodes.

As well as these three main topologies, some of the more important variations will now be considered. Once again, you should be clear that these are just variations, and should not be considered as topologies in their own right.