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NETWORKING: Network Architecture and Topology.

Networking architecture refers to the organization and design of network components and elements to carry out specific tasks. It defines the physical and logical structure, task allocation, and connectivity between clients, like laptops and servers. Simply put, it provides the rules and tools for smooth, network-architected communication.

Network topology refers to the arrangement of network components/elements that enable the network architecture. It is the physical and logical arrangement of nodes and connections in a network. Nodes usually include switches, routers, and software with switch and router features. Network topologies are often represented as graphs showing node connections. Network topologies are categorized into
1)    Physical topology is how nodes in a network are physically linked.
2)    Logical topology is an illustration of how data flows within the physical topology.

Point-to-point is the most basic type of network topology. In this setting, a single link connects two nodes, making a direct connection. This is a simple topology where data travels to and fro between these two points. There are different basic topologies: 
1)    Bus Topology: Here, every node is connected in series along a single cable. This arrangement is often found in cable broadband distribution networks.  Each node is connected to a linear cable known as a bus.


2)    Star Topology: Here, every node is connected to a single hub through a cable. This hub is the central node, and all other nodes are connected to it.



3)    Mesh Topology: Here, every node is connected to another node via a particular channel. These channels are known as links.


4)    Ring Topology: Here, every node has connections to one node until a complete circle is formed. If a device wants to send data to the last node in a ring topology containing 100 nodes, the data must travel through 99 other nodes before reaching its destination. To avoid signal degradation or loss over this long path, repeaters are used in the network.

5)    Tree Topology: Here, there is a root node, and all other nodes are connected hierarchically to the root node. It is a variation of the star topology.


6)    Hybrid Topology: This is a combination of two or more other topologies. It is mostly used when the nodes are free to take any form. It is very complex in design and also expensive.


7)    P Topology: It is known as point-to-point topology. Here, it involves a direct link between two computers. It is very easy to design since the two computers are the sender and receiver.






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