Network Topology


Topology describes the physical or logical structure of the network.

  • in terms of nodes and links
  • physical topology describes the placement of nodes and how they are connected by the transmission media
  • logical topology describes the flow of data through the network
  • point to point link is a single link between two nodes
    • guaranteed a level of bandwidth
      • because the connection is shared by only two devices
    • can be physical or logical
      • E.g.
        • on a WAN, two router appliances might be physically linked via multiple intermediate networks and physical devices but share a logical point to point link, where each can address only the other router
    • the 1:1 relationship defines a point to point link

Types