Rink Network Topology

• If asked to draw a ring network you would get:-

1 mark for ring shape and labelling cable

1 mark for position of file server and terminal

Suitable Use:

• Lan or similar description
• Peer to peer network
• School site
• Large offices

Advantages of a Ring Network

• The network is not dependent upon a central computer/host as data transmission is supported by all devices on the ring. Each node has sufficient intelligence to control the transmission of data from and to its own node.
• Very high transmission speeds are possible because of uni direction.
• Each computer has the same access as the others so no one computer can 'hog'/dominate the network.
• It is deterministic i.e. different performance levels can be determined for different traffic levels.
• Routing between devices is simple because messages normally travel in one direction.
• As data is in one direction it can transmit large volumes of data.
• No collisions
• Cabling costs - less than other topologies

Disadvantages of a Ring Network

• If there is a break in the connection (wire or wireless), then the whole network fails.
• Systems depends upon the reliability of the ring repeater although it can be designed to bypass faulty repeaters. If one node malfunctions this can affect the operation of the network.
• Faults are difficult to isolate
• It is impossible to keep the network running whilst equipment is added or removed because there is only one path for the data to follow.
• Cabling costs
• Difficult to extend the ring.

Transmission Speeds

In the ring, transmission is in one direction only and therefore can be quite fast. In the star you can have different transmission speeds on each of the spokes, some can be super fast e.g. between file and communications servers and others e.g. to printers can be slower.

Cabling Costs

Cabling for a local network such as the Ring is less and ethernet cable is probably sufficient. However, wide area networks may need fibre optic cabling or even satellite links. Gateways can also be expensive.