The type of LAN that most Mac users will is use Ethernet, either 10BaseT or 100BaseT depending on models and budget. Vintage Mac users may want to use LocalTalk instead. More information about the pros and cons of LocalTalk versus Ethernet is in our Vintage Networking page. There are four basic topologies used in creating a network, although some are considered obsolete at this point and are only included for completeness. Well, some vintage users may use older topologies, but very few people will install new networks with old wiring styles.
Star networks can either be passive or active.
The difference is that if you have a repeater or hub at the center the star is called Active, otherwise it is called Passive. Backbones are just an unbroken length of wire that is tapped into wherever you need to put a computer. The ends of the wire get terminators, but there is no active repeater anywhere on a backbone - inserting a repeater would break the backbone into two separate pieces. 10BaseT Ethernet and 100BaseT Ethernet cannot use this wiring type. You just keep on plugging wires into the last device to extend the chain.