Advantages
- Easy to implement and extend
- Requires less cable length than a star topology
- Well suited for temporary or small networks
- Quick to set-up
- Cheaper than other topologies
Disadvantages
- Limited cable length and number of stations
- In a communication line fault, the entire network goes down
- Maintenance costs may be higher in the long run
- Performance degrades as additional computers are added
- Heavy network traffic significantly slows the network
- Proper termination is required (loop must be in closed path)
- Each bus transaction must be able to stretch to most distant link
- It works best with limited number of nodes
- It is slower than the other topologies
Sources
Overview
In a bus network topology the various clients are connected to a shared communications line. This requires little physical cabling and is ideal for smaller networks looking to run on a cheaper budget making this a popular choice for primary schools.
Details
In a bus network topology the various clients are connected to a shared communications line. This requires little physical cabling and is ideal for smaller networks looking to run on a cheaper budget, making this a popular choice for primary schools.
As all areas run off the communication line and not through i.e. have their own physical connections, a fault in a single computer will not affect the rest of the network. However, a fault with the shared communication line can bring the entire network down as he link is common to all computers, but this problem is easily identifiable.
Technical limitations prevent this topology becoming more widely accepted; these include a notable degradation in performance as the topology becomes loaded with more machines, a limit to the number of machines that can be added to a single communications line before this needs to be replaced and it is recognised as being a generally slower method of networking.