Fully Connected Mesh Topology Information Technology Essay

These five labels describe how the devices in a network are interconnected rather than their physical arrangement. For example, having a star topology does not mean that all of the computers in the network must be placed physically around a hub in a star shape. A consideration when choosing a topology is the relative status of the devices be linked. Two relationships are possible: peer-to-peer, where the devices share the link equally, and primary-secondary, where one device controls traffic and the others must transmit through it. Ring and mesh topologies are more convenient for peer-to-peer transmission, while star and tree are more convenient for primary-secondary, bus topology is equally convenient for either.

Mesh

In a mesh topology, every device has a dedicated point-to-point link to every other device. The term dedicated means that the link carries traffic only between the two devices it connects. A fully connected mesh network therefore has n*(n – l)/2 physical channels to link n devices. To accommodate that many links, every device on the network must have 7 input/output (I/O) ports.

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Figure (9) – Fully Connected Mesh Topology

A mesh offers several advantages over other network topologies. First, the use of dedicated links guarantees that each connection can carry its own data load, thus eliminating the traffic problems that can occur when links must be shared by multiple devices.

Second, a mesh topology is robust. If one link becomes unusable, it does not incapacitate the entire system.

Another advantage is privacy or security. When every message sent travels along dedicated line, only the intended recipient sees it. Physical boundaries prevent other users from gaining access to messages.

Finally, point-to-point links make fault identification and fault isolation easy. Traffic can be routed to avoid links with suspected problems. This facility enables the network manager to discover the precise location of the fault and aids in finding its cause and solution.

The main disadvantages of a mesh are related to the amount of cabling and the number of I/O ports required. First, because every device must be connected to ever other device, installation and reconfiguration are difficult. Second, the sheer bulk of the wiring can be greater than the available space (in walls, ceilings, or floors) can accommodate. And, finally, the hardware required connecting each link (I/O ports and cable can be prohibitively expensive). For these reasons a mesh topology is usually implemented in a limited fashion—for example, as a backbone connecting the main computers of a hybrid network that can include several other topologies.

Star

In a star topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point link only to a central controller, usually called a hub. The devices are not directly linked to each other. Unlike a mesh topology, a star topology does not allow direct traffic between devices. The controller acts as an exchange. If one device wants to send data to another, it sends the data to the controller, which then relays the data to the other connected device.

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Figure (10) – Star topology

A star topology is less expensive than a mesh topology. In a star, each device needs only one link and one I/O port to connect it to any number of others. This factor also makes it easy to install and reconfigure. Far less cabling needs to be housed, and additions, moves, and deletions involve only one connection: between that device and the hub.

Other advantages include robustness. If one link fails, only that link is affected. All other links remain active. This factor also lends itself to easy fault identification and fault isolation. As long as the hub is working, it can be used to monitor link problems and bypass defective links.

However, although a star requires far less cable than a mesh, each node must be linked to a central hub. For this reason more cabling is required in a star than in some other topologies (such as tree, ring, or bus).

Tree

A tree topology is a variation of a star. As in a star, nodes in a tree are linked to a central hub that controls the traffic to the network. However, not every device plugs directly into the central hub. The majority of devices connect to a secondary hub that in turn is connected to the central hub.

The central hub in the tree is an active hub. An active hub contains a repeater, which is a hardware device that regenerates the received bit patterns before sending them out. Repeating strengthens trans- missions and increases the distance a signal can travel.

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Figure (11) – Tree Topology

The secondary hubs may be active or passive hubs. A passive hub provides a simple physical connection between the attached devices.

The advantages and disadvantages of a tree topology are generally the same as those of a star. The addition of secondary hubs, however, brings two further advantages. First, it allows more devices to be attached to a single central hub and can therefore increase the distance a signal can travel between devices. Second, it allows the network to isolate and prioritize communications from different computers. For example, the computers attached to one secondary hub can be given priority over computers attached to another secondary hub. In this way, the network designers and operator can guarantee that time-sensitive data will not have to wait for access to the network.

A good example of tree topology can be seen in cable TV technology where the main cable from the main office is divided into main branches and each branch is divided into smaller branches and so on. The hubs are used when a cable is divided.

Bus

The preceding examples all describe point-to-point configurations. A bus topology, on the other hand, is multipoint. One long cable acts as a backbone to link all the devices in the network.

Nodes are connected to the bus cable by drop lines and taps. A drop line is a connection running between the device and the main cable. A tap is a connector that either splices into the main cable or punctures the sheathing of a cable to create a contact with the metallic core. As a signal travels along the backbone, some of its energy is transformed into heat. Therefore, it becomes weaker and weaker the farther it has to travel. For this reason there is a limit on the number of taps a bus can support and on the distance between those taps.

Advantages of a bus topology include ease of installation. Backbone cable can be laid along the most efficient path, then connected to the nodes by drop lines of various lengths. In this way, a bus uses less cabling than mesh, star, or tree topologies. In a star, for example, four network devices in the same room require four lengths of cable reaching all the way to the hub. In a bus, this redundancy is eliminated. Only the backbone cable stretches through the entire facility. Each drop line has to reach only as far as the nearest point on the backbone.

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Figure (12) – Bus Topology

Disadvantages include difficult reconfiguration and fault isolation. A bus is usually designed to be optimally efficient at installation. It can therefore be difficult to add new devices. As mentioned above, signal reflection at the taps can cause degradation in quality. This degradation can be controlled by limiting the number and spacing of devices connected to a given length of cable. Adding new devices may therefore require modification or replacement of the backbone.

In addition, a fault or break in the bus cable stops all transmission, even between devices on the same side of the problem. The damaged area reflects signals back in the direction of origin, creating noise in both directions.

Ring

In a ring topology, each device has a dedicated point-to-point line configuration only with the two devices on either side of it. A signal is passed along the ring in one direction, from device to device, until it reaches its destination. Each device in the ring incorporates a repeater. When a device receives a signal intended for another device, its repeater regenerates the bits and passes them along.

A ring is relatively easy to install and reconfigure. Each device is linked only to its immediate neighbors (either physically or logically). To add or delete a device requires moving only two connections. The only constraints are media and traffic considerations (maximum ring length and number of devices). In addition, fault isolation is simplified. Generally in a ring, a signal is circulating at all times. If one device does not receive a signal within a specified period, it can issue an alarm. The alarm alerts the network operator to the problem and its location.

However, unidirectional traffic can be a disadvantage. In a simple ring, a break in the ring (such as a disabled station) can disable the entire network. This weakness can be solved by using a dual ring or a switch capable of closing off the break.

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Figure (13) – Ring Topology

OSI Model

This model is based on a proposal developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) as a first step toward international standardization of the protocols used in the various layers. The model is called the ISO-OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) Reference Model because it deals with connecting open systems—that is, systems that are open for communication with other systems. We will usually just call it the OSI model for short.

The OSI model has seven layers. The principles that were applied to arrive at the seven layers are as follows

1. A layer should be created where a different level of abstraction is needed.

2. Each layer should perform a well-defined function.

3. The function of each layer should be chosen with an eye toward defining internationally standardized protocols.

4. The layer boundaries should be chosen to minimize the information flow across the interfaces.

5. The number of layers should be large enough that distinct functions need not be thrown together in the same layer out of necessity, and small enough that the architecture does not become unwieldy.

Below we will discuss each layer of the model in turn, starting at the bottom layer. Note that the OSI model itself is not network architecture because it does not specify the exact services and protocols to be used in each layer. It just tells what each layer should do. However, ISO has also produced standards for all the layers, although these are not part of the reference model itself. Each one has been published as a separate international standard.

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Figure (16) – The OSI Reference Model

The Physical Layer

The physical layer is concerned with transmitting raw bits over a communication channel. The design issues have to do with making sure that when one side sends a 1 bit, it is received by the other side as a 1 bit, not as a 0 bit. Typical questions here are how many volts should be used to represent a 1 and how many for a 0, how many microseconds a bit lasts, whether transmission may proceed simultaneously in both directions, how the initial connection is established and how it is torn down when both sides are finished, and how many pins the network connector has and what each pin is used for. The design issues here largely deal with mechanical, electrical, and procedural interfaces, and the physical transmission medium, which lies below the physical layer.

The Data Link Layer

The main task of the data link layer is to take a raw transmission facility and transform it into a line that appears free of undetected transmission errors to the network layer. It accomplishes this task by having the sender break the input data up into data frames (typically a few hundred or a few thousand bytes), transmit the frames sequentially, and process the acknowledgement frames sent back by the receiver. Since the physical layer merely accepts and transmits a stream of bits without any regard to meaning or structure, it is up to the data link layer to create and recognize frame boundaries. This can be accomplished by attaching special bit patterns to the beginning and end of the frame. If these bit patterns can accidentally occur in the data, special care must be taken to make sure these patterns are not incorrectly interpreted as frame delimiters.

A noise burst on the line can destroy a frame completely. In this case, the data link layer software on the source machine can retransmit the frame. However, multiple transmissions of the same frame introduce the possibility of duplicate frames. A duplicate frame could be sent if the acknowledgement frame from the receiver back to the sender were lost. It is up to this layer to solve the problems caused by damaged, lost, and duplicate frames. The data link layer may offer several different service classes to the network layer, each of a different quality and with a different price.

Another issue that arises in the data link layer (and most of the higher layers is well) is how to keep a fast transmitter from drowning a slow receiver in data. Some traffic regulation mechanism must be employed to let the transmitter know how much buffer space the receiver has at the moment. Frequently, this flow regulation and the error handling are integrated.

If the line can be used to transmit data in both directions, this introduces a new complication that the data link layer software must deal with. The problem is that the acknowledgement frames for A to B traffic compete for the use of the line with data frames for the B to A traffic.

Broadcast networks have an additional issue in the data link layer to control access to the shared channel. A special, sub layer of the data link layer, the medium access sub layer, deals with this problem.

The Network Layer

The network layer is concerned with controlling the operation of the subnet. A key design issue is determining how packets are routed from source to destination. Routes can be based on static tables that are “wired into” the network and rarely changed. They can also be determined at the start of each conversation, for example a terminal session. Finally, they can be highly dynamic, being determined anew for each packet, to reflect the current network load.

If too many packets are present in the subnet at the same time, they will get in each other’s way, forming bottlenecks. The control of such congestion also belongs to the network layer.

Since the operators of the subnet may well expect remuneration for their efforts, there is often some accounting function built into the network layer. At the very least, the software must count how many packets or each customer sends characters or bits, to produce billing information. When a packet crosses a national border, with different rates on each side, the accounting can become complicated.

When a packet has to travel from one network to another to get to its destination, many problems can arise. The addressing used by the second network may be different from the first one. The second one may not accept the packet at all because it is too large. The protocols may differ, and so on. It is up to the network layer to overcome all these problems to allow heterogeneous networks to be interconnected.

In broadcast networks, the routing problem is simple, so the network layer is often thin or even nonexistent.

The Transport Layer

The basic function of the transport layer is to accept data from the session layer, split it up into smaller units if need be, pass these to the network layer, and ensure that the pieces all arrive correctly at the other end. Furthermore, all this must be done efficiently, and in a way that isolates the upper layers from the inevitable changes in the hardware technology.

Under normal conditions, the transport layer creates a distinct network connection for each transport connection required by the session layer. If the transport connection requires a high throughput, however, the transport layer might create multiple network connections, dividing the data among the network connections to improve throughput. On the other hand, if creating or maintaining a network connection is expensive, the transport layer might multiplex several transport connections onto the same network connection to reduce the cost. In all cases, the transport layer is required to make the multiplexing transparent to the session layer.

The transport layer also determines what type of service to provide the session layer, and ultimately, the users of the network. The most popular type of transport connection is an error-free point-to-point channel that delivers messages or bytes in the order in which they were sent. However, other possible kinds of transport service are transport of isolated messages with no guarantee about the order of delivery, and broadcasting of messages to multiple destinations. The type of service is determined when the connection is established.

The transport layer is a true end-to-end layer, from source to destination, in other words, a program on the source machine carries on a conversation with a similar program on the destination machine, using the message headers and control messages. In the lower layers, the protocols are between each machine and its immediate neighbors, and not by the ultimate source and destination machines, which may be separated by many routers. There is a difference between layers 1 through 3, which are chained, and layers 4 through 7, which are end-to-end. Many hosts are multi-programmed, which implies that multiple connections will be entering and leaving each host. Their needs to be some way to tell which message belong to which connection. The transport header is one place this information can be put.

In addition to multiplexing several message streams onto one channel, the transport layer must take care of establishing and deleting connections across the network. This requires some kind of naming mechanism, so that a process on one machine has a way of describing with whom it wishes to converse. There must also be a mechanism to regulate the flow of information, so that a fast host cannot overrun a slow one. Such a mechanism is called flow control and plays a key role in the transport layer (also in other layers). Flow control between hosts is distinct from flow control between routers, although we will later see that similar principles apply to both.

The Session Layer

The session layer allows users on different machines to establish sessions between them. A session allows ordinary data transport, as does the transport layer, but it also provides enhanced services useful in some applications. A session might be used to allow a user to log into a remote timesharing system or to transfer a file between two machines.

One of the services of the session layer is to manage dialogue control. Sessions can allow traffic to go in both directions at the same time, or in only one direction at a time. If traffic can only go one way at a time (analogous to a single railroad track), the session layer can help keep track of whose turn it is.

A related session service is token management. For some protocols, it is essential that both sides do not attempt the same operation at the same time. To manage these activities, the session layer provides tokens that can be exchanged. Only the side holding the token may perform the critical operation.

Another session service is synchronization. Consider the problems that might occur when trying to do a 2-hour file transfer between two machines with a 1-hour mean time between crashes. After each transfer was aborted, the whole transfer would have to start over again and would probably fail again the next time as well. To eliminate this problem, the session layer provides a way to insert checkpoints into the data stream, so that after a crash, only the data transferred after the last checkpoint have to be repeated.

The Presentation Layer

The presentation layer performs certain functions that are requested sufficiently often to warrant finding a general solution for them, rather than letting each user solve the problems. In particular, unlike all the lower layers, which are just interested in moving bits reliably from here to there, the presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and semantics of the information transmitted.

A typical example of a presentation service is encoding data in a standard agreed upon way. Most user programs do not exchange random binary bit strings. They exchange things such as people’s names, dates, amounts of money, and invoices. These items are represented as character strings, integers, floating-point numbers, and data structures composed of several simpler items. Different computers have different codes for representing character strings, integers, and so on. In order to make it possible for computers with different representations to communicate, the data structures to be exchanged can be defined in an abstract way, along with a standard encoding to be used “on the wire.” The presentation layer manages these abstract data structures and converts from the representation used inside the computer to the network standard representation and back.

The Application Layer

The application layer contains a variety of protocols that are commonly needed. For example, there are hundreds of incompatible terminal types in the world. Consider, the plight of a full screen editor that is supposed to work over a network with many different terminal types, each with different screen layouts, escape sequences for inserting and deleting text, involving the cursor, etc.

One way to solve this problem is to define an abstract network virtual terminal that editors and other programs can be written to deal with. To handle each terminal type, a piece of software must be written to map the functions of the network virtual terminal onto the real terminal. For example, when the editor moves the virtual terminal’s cursor to the upper left-hand corner of the screen, this software must issue the proper command sequence to the real terminal to get its cursor there too. All the virtual terminal software is in the application layer.

Another application layer function is file transfer. Different file systems have different file naming conventions, different ways of representing text lines, and so on. Transferring a file between two different systems requires handling these and other incompatibilities. This work, too, belongs to the application layer, as do electronic mail, remote job entry, directory lookup, and various other general purpose and special-purpose facilities.