Which topology is this?

Which topology was often seen on early local area networks, has a very simple structure, but is prone to errors that can affect large parts of the topology at one time?

A) Bus

B) Star

C) Ring

D) Hybrid

E) Parallelogram

The answer: A) Bus

The bus topology type can be something as low-tech as a wire down the middle of the room with many devices plugged in to this single shared cable. If the wire breaks, everyone loses connectivity to the devices on the other side of the break. Because of this tenuous reliability, it’s not the best infrastructure for large enterprise network environments.

Want to know more? Watch “Network Topologies.” Networks come in many different shapes and sizes. In this video, we’ll discuss the differences in Ethernet, WAN, and Token Ring topologies, and learn about the differences in client/server, peer to peer, and Windows Domain-based technologies. We’ll also take a tour through the myriad wired and wireless technologies, including ISDN, DSL, infrared, Bluetooth, and mobile wireless networks.