Bus Topology

The bus network

In a bus network all the workstations, servers and printers are joined to one cable (the bus). At each end of the cable a terminator is fitted to stop signals reflecting back down the bus.

A bus network, connecting several workstations, servers and printers

Advantages and disadvantages of a bus network

The advantages of a bus network are:

• it is easy to install
• it is cheap to install, as it doesn't require much cable

The disadvantages of a bus network are:

• if the main cable fails or gets damaged the whole network will fail
• as more workstations are connected the performance of the network will become slower because of data collisions
• every workstation on the network "sees" all of the data on the network – this is a security risk

Reference: https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/z36nb9q/revision/4