Logical bus and ring topologies, for example, are commonly organized physically as a star. A bus topology is a linear LAN architecture in which transmissions from network stations propagate the length of the medium and are received by all other stations. Some networks implement a local bus topology. A ring topology is a LAN architecture that consists of a series of devices connected to one another by unidirectional transmission links to form a single closed loop. Figure 2-4 depicts a logical ring topology.
Some networks implement a logical ring topology.
A star topology is a LAN architecture in which the endpoints on a network are connected to a common central hub, or switch, by dedicated links. Logical bus and ring topologies are often implemented physically in a star topology, which is illustrated in Figure 2-5 . A tree topology is a LAN architecture that is identical to the bus topology, except that branches with multiple nodes are possible in this case. Figure 2-5 illustrates a logical tree topology. A logical tree topology can contain multiple nodes.