In this topology, every node has a dedicated point-to-point connection to every other node on the network. A fully connected mesh network has n(n-1)/2 channels to link 'n' devices. Therefore, every device on the network must have 'n-1' input/output (I/O) ports.
In mesh network, each node is directly connected to all nodes on the network. This type of network involves the concept of routes. In this type of network, each node may send message to destination through multiple paths. It means that each node of mesh network has several possible paths to send (or to receive) message, but in Bus, Star, Ring and Tree topologies each node has only one path.
![Mesh Topology Mesh Topology](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_vs6qUkr7moQbK2ns6tB1YWWVKZBDExAfRZ2dyxYyqihVNrzq3ICYGPB1AjqTHkNclTg3PFdjjBr6cBEa1GTQ4j5aVKpsbIb3W7G7M9ijkz69KXM5Lbmn72HJ4=s0-d)
Advantages
Mesh topology has the following advantages:
- It has multiple links, so if one route is blocked then other routes can be used for data communication.
- Each connection can have its own data load, so the traffic problem is eliminated.
- It ensures the data privacy or security, because every message travels along a dedicated link.
- Troubleshooting of this topology is easy as compared to other networks.
- Its performance is not affected with heavy load of data transmission.
Disadvantages
Mesh topology has the following disadvantages:
- It becomes very expensive because a large number of cabling and 110 ports are required.
- It is difficult to install.
Tree Topology
In tree network, the nodes are connected to each other in such a way that forms a tree like structure. Typically to form a tree network, multiple star topologies are combined together. This type of network has combined features of bus and star topology.
On tree topology the hubs of each star topology are connected to the central hub that controls the entire network. However, some nodes can be directly connected to the central hub. The tree topology configuration is shown in figure below.
The central Hub in the tree network is an active hub. It contains a repeater (a hardware device), which re-generates the received bit patterns. The secondary hubs usually are passive hubs. The passive hub controls the nodes directly connected to it and exchange data to other devices connected to the other secondary hubs (or same hub) through the central hub. The secondary hub may also be active hub if another secondary hub is directly connected to it. The cable TV network is an example of tree topology, where main cable is divided into, branches and each branch is further divided into smaller branches and so on. The hub is used when a branch is created.
![Tree Topolgy Tree Topolgy](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_sze6GSLZyNxpyO1stZ5KPiFPyp9ff2sv44vAxtcGDBOXftuPudUyRmoOXU3VSoWHpYK1CvSUcFLW9HzoGeG5Kz9k-yiZDhYu1cQdRrUAMzpC54u5veG3Y9nsA=s0-d)
Advantages
The tree topology has the same advantages as star topology but it has some additional advantages. These are.
- It allows more devices to be connected to the central Hub.
Disadvantages
The tree topology also has the same disadvantages as star topology built has some additional disadvantages such as:
- It because more expansive because more hubs are required to install the network.
Hybrid Topology
Hybrid network is the combination of different topologies such as star, Ring, Mesh, Bus etc. For example, if a department uses a Bus network, second department uses the ring network, third department uses the Mesh network and fourth department uses the star network. All the networks of different types (of four departments) can be connected together through a central hub (in the form of star network) as shown in the figure below.
![Hybrid Topology Hybrid Topology](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_viiYtGKYVD4v6VrPvCw8TGFsAKf_Tt8JsRdv0vy0JNRfXG9sfx25T-CEOGk18jba7bOYeFra9cli7zgv0RommMRGYElAXDWoiZfjbcgPt-rM2VgSfiyq2F83LpYQ=s0-d)