An efficient network cabling system is one of the most essential parts of any enterprise and needed utmost to share files and other valuable data via internet. In large business firms where there are several departments, numerous computers and large files to share; a smooth, speedy and secure networking system is a necessity. Thus installation of effective network topologies system is necessary to fulfill the overall communication need of today`s business.
The term network topology defines the physical layout of the cabling network that is the positioning of the computer systems and how the service cable is run between them. Basically the installation of cabling is done on the basis of four topology system, BUS, STAR, RING and MESH. Since each of these has its own merits and demerits, selection of appropriate networking is important. Things that should be keep in mind while installing a computer network are performance of the system, number of nodes, reliability and geographical distribution of the system.
Among the above the bus topology is easy to use and install. The system requires least amount of network cabling to connect the computers together. It is less expensive and easy to extend, allowing more computers to join the network. But the big drawback with such cabling structure is the entire set-up gets slow down due to heavy network traffic. Troubleshooting is also difficult in case of cable malfunction or wiring gets break down.
The major benefit of star topology system is that it is easy to modify and new computers gets easily added without disturbing the network. Moreover any of the troubleshooting or maintenance can be done from the center of the star network. Hence the single computer failure does not bring down the whole star network. But the major disadvantage with this system is the entire network break down as soon as central monitoring device fails. Since installation of star networking requires more cable, so the entire system is expensive.
Like bus and star, ring topology is also easy to set-up, except in this each computer node have equal accessibility, allowing data and files to get transferred at a very high-speed. But like bus, in ring, the failure of one computer affects the whole network and it is difficult to troubleshoot.
In mesh topology computer devices are connected with many redundant interconnections between network nodes. In a complete mesh networking every PC node has a connection to every other node in the cabling. Thus, the failure of a computer node does not affect the entire network and hence the problem can easily be sort out.
A proper high speed cable structure is the backbone of any organization and play a key role in establishing a customize communication system. With effective network topologies format companies can have speedy and safe data transfer facility which ultimately leads to increase in business productivity.
