This article is somewhat technical as it describes the media used to connect computers in order to share data and peripheral devices. It also includes a brief discussion of the Internet’s services and benefits, as well as the various methods for connecting to the internet.

Yeah, yeah, you’ve guessed it, we are talking about communication systems and network topologies….god, it seems today everyone’s a tech savvy!

Communication System Components

Computers communicate using either wired or wireless media. Twisted pair, coaxial, and fiber optic cable are examples of wired media. Twisted pair cable and coaxial cable use electric frequencies to transmit data. As a result, these cables must be protected from water and electromagnetic waves. Fibre optic cable outperforms the previous two cables. A fiber optic cable is made up of glass or plastic tubes that use light reflection to conveys data over longer distances at a faster rate. Fibreoptic cables are safer, thinner, and lighter than other metal wires, and they are not affected by electromagnetic noise like radios, motors, and other cables.

Despite the fact that fiberoptic cables are very expensive and not easy to install, they are very popular with telephone companies, banks, and television companies that are replacing their existing telephone and coaxial cables with more efficient fiberoptic cables.

Wireless media, as the name implies, connects nodes in a telecommunications network without the use of wires. Wireless network systems employ cellular technology, which employs satellites, radio, and other signals to enable global communication over land and sea. Wireless networks are extremely useful for quickly sending and sharing data within small offices or between businesses all over the world. More importantly, they are relatively cheap to connect to the Internet, especially in countries with limited resources or inadequate infrastructure. As a result, wireless networks eliminate the maze of cables while increasing mobility. The disadvantage of wireless media is that interference from other networks can prevent radio signals from passing through.

Network Topologies

A network’s physical layout is referred to as its topology. This article will go over the four major topologies.

A network is a group of computers that are linked together. When drawing the topology, each computer workstation, file server, or other peripheral is commonly referred to as a node.A communication network is therefore the tangible (the actual layout including cable installation) or logical (the actual operation of transferring data) configuration of a network based on the network’s requirements. The next article will cover four different network topologies.

Bus Topology

This symmetric bus topology is one of the easiest to implement of the four network topologies; in its most simple orm, it is only a matter of running one cable, known as a backbone, from the computer or external device at one end of the network to the computer or last peripheral device at the other end. Other scanners, printers, computers and other peripheral devices are then linked to the backbone that connects these two end computers.

The Benefits and Drawbacks of Bus Topology

Of course, from the simple description above, it appears that connecting a computer or peripheral to this topology is relatively simple. It also requires fewer cable lengths than the other topologies, making it more cost effective.

Because all computers and peripherals rely on this single cable or backbone, a break in the backbone will cause the entire network to fail. If the entire network is down, it will be difficult to pinpoint the source of the problem or break. This topology is also not designed to be used as the sole network configuration for connecting multiple computers and peripherals.

Finally, it has the lowest fault tolerance, which means that a single problem in a network with a bus topology can bring all of its activities to a halt.

Star Topology

A star topology links computers and peripherals to a centralized device known as a hub.

Physically, the topology resembles a star. As a result, when a node sends data to another node, the data is routed through the hub before reaching its destination node. As a result, the hub manages and controls the network.