Network+ Guide to Networks, Fourth Edition

Topologies and Access Methods

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Objectives

 Describe the basic and hybrid LAN physical topologies, and their
uses, advantages and disadvantages
 Describe the backbone structures that form the foundation for most
LANs
 Compare the different types of switching used in data transmission

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Objectives (continued)

 Understand the transmission methods underlying Ethernet, Token

Ring, FDDI, and ATM networks
 Describe the characteristics of different wireless network
technologies, including Bluetooth and the three IEEE 802.11
standards

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Simple Physical Topologies

 Physical topology: physical layout of nodes on a network

 Three fundamental shapes:
 Bus
 Ring
 Star

 May create hybrid topologies

 Topology integral to type of network, cabling infrastructure, and
transmission media used

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Bus

 Single cable connects all network nodes without intervening

connectivity devices
 Devices share responsibility for getting data from one point to
another
 Terminators stop signals after reaching end of wire
 Prevent signal bounce

 Inexpensive, not very scalable

 Difficult to troubleshoot, not fault-tolerant

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Bus (continued)

Figure 6-1: A terminated bus topology network

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Ring

Figure 6-2: A typical ring topology network

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Star

Figure 6-3: A typical star topology network

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Star (continued)

 Any single cable connects only two devices

 Cabling problems affect two nodes at most

 Requires more cabling than ring or bus networks

 More fault-tolerant

 Easily moved, isolated, or interconnected with other networks

 Scalable

 Supports max of 1024 addressable nodes on logical network

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Hybrid Physical Topologies:
Star-Wired Ring

Figure 6-4: A star-wired ring topology network

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Star-Wired Bus

Figure 6-5: A star-wired bus topology network

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Backbone Networks: Serial Backbone

 Daisy chain: linked series of devices

 Hubs and switches often connected in daisy chain to extend a network

 Hubs, gateways, routers, switches, and bridges can form part of

backbone
 Extent to which hubs can be connected is limited

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Backbone Networks: Serial Backbone
(continued)

Figure 6-6: A serial backbone

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Distributed Backbone

Figure 6-8: A distributed backbone connecting multiple LANs

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Collapsed Backbone

Figure 6-9: A collapsed backbone

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Parallel Backbone

Figure 6-10: A parallel backbone

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Logical Topologies

 Logical topology: how data is transmitted between nodes

 May not match physical topology

 Bus logical topology: signals travel from one network device to all
other devices on network
 Required by bus, star, star-wired physical topologies

 Ring logical topology: signals follow circular path between sender

and receiver
 Required by ring, star-wired ring topologies

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Types of Switching

 Switching is a process of moving the data through a series of intermediate

steps rather than moving from the start point directly to the end point.

Switching

Circuit Switching Message Switching Packet Switching

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Circuit Switching

 Direct physical connection established between sender and receiver before data transmission
 Allows a fixed rate of transmission
 Major drawbacks are:
 Unused transmission is wasted
 Unused bandwidth cannot be used by any other transmission
 Switching: component of network’s logical topology that determines how connections are created between nodes
 Circuit switching: connection established between two network nodes before transmission
 Bandwidth dedicated to connection
 Remains available until communication terminated
 While connected, all data follows same path initially selected by switch
 Can result in waste of available resources

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Message Switching

 No direct physical connection established between sender and receiver

 Message routed through the intermediate nodes
 This technology is also known as store and forward method
 Establishes connection between two devices, transfers information, then breaks connection
 Information then stored and forwarded from second device to third device on path
 “Store and forward” routine continues until message reaches destination
 All information follows same physical path
 Requires that each device in data’s path have sufficient memory and processing power to accept and store information

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Packet Switching
 Message to be transmitted broken into units called packets
 Packet contains addressing information
 Packets are carried on virtual circuits. Virtual circuits are temporary connections over which the sending and receiving stations
communicate
 Breaks data into packets before transmission
 Packets can travel any network path
 Contain destination address and sequencing information
 Can attempt to find fastest circuit available
 When packets reach destination node, they are reassembled
 Based on control information
 Not optimal for live audio or video transmission
 Efficient use of bandwidth

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Ethernet: CSMA/CD
(Carrier Sense Multiple Access
with Collision Detection)

 Access method: method of controlling how network nodes access

communications channels
 CSMA/CD: Ethernet’s access method
 Ethernet NICs listen on network
 Wait until no nodes transmitting data over the signal on the
communications channel before transmission
 Several Ethernet nodes can be connected to a network and can monitor
traffic simultaneously

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Ethernet: CSMA/CD (continued)

 Collision: two transmissions interfere with each other

 Common on heavy-traffic networks
 Can corrupt data or truncate data frames

 Jamming: NIC indicates to network nodes that previous

transmission was faulty
 Collision domain: network portion in which collisions occur
 Data propagation delay: length of time data takes to travel between
segment points

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Ethernet: CSMA/CD (continued)

Figure 6-11: CSMA/CD process

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Switched Ethernet

 Shared Ethernet: fixed amount of bandwidth

 Shared by all devices on a segment
 All nodes on segment belong to same collision domain

 Switched Ethernet: enables multiple nodes to simultaneously

transmit and receive data over different logical network segments
 Increases effective bandwidth of network segment

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Switched Ethernet (continued)

Figure 6-12: A switched Ethernet network

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Ethernet Frames

 Ethernet networks may use one (or a combination) of four kinds of

data frames:
 Ethernet_802.2 (“Raw”)
 Ethernet_802.3 (“Novell proprietary”)
 Ethernet_II (“DIX”)
 Ethernet_SNAP

 Frame types differ in way they code and decode packets of data
 Ethernet frame types have no relation to network’s topology or
cabling characteristics

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Using and Configuring Frames

 Cannot expect interoperability between frame types

 Node’s Data Link layer services must be properly configured for
types of frames it might receive
 LAN administrators must ensure all devices use same, correct frame
type
 Most networks use Ethernet_II

 Frame types typically specified through device’s NIC configuration

software
 Most NICs automatically sense frame types running on network and
adjust

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Frame Fields

 Ethernet frame types share many common fields

 Every frame contains:
 7-byte preamble and 1-byte start-of-frame
delimiter (SFD)
 14-byte header
 Destination address
 Source address
 Additional field that varies in function and size
 4-byte FCS field
 Data portion
 46 to 1500 bytes of information

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Ethernet_II (“DIX”)

Figure 6-13: Ethernet_II (“DIX”) frame

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PoE (Power over Ethernet)

 IEEE 802.3af standard specifies method for supplying electrical

power over Ethernet connections
 Useful for nodes far from power receptacles or needing constant,
reliable power source

 Power sourcing equipment (PSE): device that supplies power

 Powered devices (PDs): receive power from PSE
 Requires CAT 5 or better copper cabling

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Token Ring

 Token Ring networks can run at 4, 16, or 100 Mbps

 High-Speed Token Ring (HSTR)

 Use token-passing routine and star-ring hybrid physical topology

 Token passing: 3-byte packet (token) transmitted between nodes in
circular fashion around ring
 When station has something to send, picks up token, changes it to a
frame, adds header, information,
and trailer fields
 All nodes read frame as it traverses ring

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Token Ring (continued)

 Token-passing control scheme avoids possibility for collisions

 More reliable and efficient than Ethernet

 Active monitor: maintains timing for ring passing, monitors token

and frame transmission, detects lost tokens, corrects errors
 Token Ring connections rely on NIC that taps into network through
a MAU
 Self-shorting feature of Token Ring MAU ports makes Token Ring
highly fault tolerant

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Token Ring (continued)

Figure 6-14: Interconnected Token Ring MAUs

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FDDI (Fiber Distributed Data Interface)

 Uses double ring of MMF or SMF to transmit data at speeds of 100

Mbps
 First network technology to reach 100 Mbps
 Frequently found supporting network backbones installed in late 1980s
and early 1990s
 Used on MANs and WANs
 Links can span distances up to 62 miles
 Reliable and secure
 Expensive

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FDDI (continued)

Figure 6-16: A FDDI network

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ATM (Asynchronous Transfer Mode)

 ITU standard describing Data Link layer protocols for network

access and signal multiplexing
 Packet called a cell
 Always has 48 bytes of data plus 5-byte header
 Fixed size provides predictable network performance

 Virtual circuits: connections between nodes that logically appear to

be direct, dedicated links
 Switches determine optimal path
 Establish path before transmission

 Configurable use of limited bandwidth

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ATM (continued)

 Typically considered a packet-switching technology

 Establishing reliable connection allows ATM to guarantee specific
quality of service (QoS) for certain transmissions
 Standard specifying data will be delivered within certain period of time

 Compatible with other network technologies

 LAN Emulation (LANE) allows integration with Ethernet or Token
Ring networks

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Wireless Networks: 802.11

 Notable standards: 802.11b, 802.11a, 802.11g

 Share many characteristics
 e.g., Half-duplex signaling

 Access Method:
 MAC services append 48-bit physical addresses to frames to identify
source and destination
 Use Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA)
to access shared medium
 Minimizes potential for collisions
 ACK packets used to verify every transmission

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Wireless Networks: 802.11 (continued)

 Access Method (continued):

 Request to Send/Clear to Send (RTS/CTS) protocol enables source
node to issue RTS signal to an access point
 Request exclusive opportunity to transmit

 Association:
 Communication between station and access point enabling station to
connect to network
 Scanning: station surveys surroundings for access point(s)

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Wireless Networks: 802.11 (continued)

 Association (continued):
 Active scanning: station transmits a probe on all available channels
within frequency range
 Passive scanning: station listens on all channels within frequency range
for beacon frame issued from an access point
 Contains info required to associate node with access point [e.g., Service Set
Identifier (SSID)]

 WLANs can have multiple access points

 Reassociation: station changes access points

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Wireless Networks: 802.11 (continued)

Figure 6-17: A WLAN with multiple access points

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Wireless Networks: 802.11 (continued)

 Frames:
 For each function, 802.11 specifies frame type at MAC sublayer
 Management frames involved in association and reassociation
 Control frames related to medium access and data delivery
 Data frames carry data sent between stations

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Wireless Networks: 802.11 (continued)

Figure 6-18: Basic 802.11 MAC frame format

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Bluetooth

 Mobile wireless networking standard that uses FHSS RF signaling

in 2.4-GHz band
 Relatively low throughput and short range
 Designed for use on small networks composed of personal area
networks (PANs)
 Piconets
 Piconets consisting of two devices requires no setup
 Master and slaves
 Multiple Bluetooth piconets can be combined to form a scatternet

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Bluetooth (continued)

Figure 6-19: A wireless personal area network (WPAN)

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Bluetooth (continued)

Figure 6-21: A scatternet with two piconets

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Infrared (IR)

Figure 6-22: Infrared transmission

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Infrared (IR) (continued)

Table 6-1: Wireless standards

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Summary

 A physical topology is the basic physical layout of a network; it does

not specify devices, connectivity methods, or addresses on the
network
 A bus topology consists of a single cable connecting all nodes on a
network without intervening connectivity devices
 In a ring topology, each node is connected to the two nearest nodes
so that the entire network forms a circle
 In a star topology, every node on the network is connected through
a central device, such as a hub

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Summary (continued)

 LANs often employ a hybrid of more than one simple physical

topology
 Network backbones may follow serial, distributed, collapsed, or
parallel topologies
 Switching manages the filtering and forwarding of packets between
nodes on a network
 Ethernet employs a network access method called CSMA/CD
 Networks may use one (or a combination) of four kinds of Ethernet
data frames

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Summary (continued)

 Token Ring networks use the token-passing routine and a star-ring

hybrid physical topology
 FDDI’s fiber-optic cable and dual fiber rings offer greater reliability
and security than twisted-pair copper wire
 ATM is a Data Link layer standard that relies on fixed packets,
called cells, consisting of 48 bytes of data plus a 5-byte header
 Wireless standards vary by frequency, methods of signal, and
geographic range

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