Bus topology is widely used in business. The installation is simple; devices are connected to a single cable called a bus. The bus is connected to the server and then all devices or nodes are connected directly to the cable. A dedicated server is a computer with a high speed processor and a large amount of memory enabling many tasks to be handled at one time.

Devices include desktop computers, printers and fax machines. A device could include a router for a wireless connection. Expansion is easy; only requiring a new device to be connected to the common cable. It is relatively inexpensive to install. The disadvantage to this form of networking is the reliance of the entire network of one cable. If the common cable fails the network shuts down and troubleshooting can be difficult. Since everything is connected to a single cable the exact problem can be hard to trace.

In star topology, all devices are run through a hub. The hub is a hardware component that receives data and routes it to the correct destination. The server that data is transmitted through is connected to the hub and all devices are connected to the hub. The hub is the center of this configuration with all connections radiating from it, hence the name.

A hub system is easy to install and can be easily re-configured. Changes are made directly to the hub instead of to each node. Troubleshooting is much easier than with a bus system since each device has a dedicated connection. The network again relies on a single component (the hub) in this system, so failure of the hub can shut down the entire system. An additional problem with star networking is too much data arriving at the hub at one time can slow down the network.

A ring topology connects devices in a loop much like standard electrical wiring. All devices or nodes are connected to two devices including the server. In this networking system one connection can fail without the entire network shutting down. If one device fails it is possible for a network administrator to eliminate that node from the loop without affecting the other devices connectivity.

It would seem the ring technology would be the best choice for business since it is less likely to experience a complete system failure but the expensiveness and difficulty of this installation makes it a less desirable option.

A combination of bus, ring and star topologies is also used for some applications. A tree topology is two or more star systems connected by a bus. Various combinations of the three topologies can be used and are referred to as hybrid topologies.

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