Networking Fundamentals

Advantages

There is a reason why the star topology is the most common topology currently in use. It is efficient and fairly resilient. The efficiency is dependent on what central device is in use, but remember that most modern topologies would use a switch as opposed to a hub to reduce collisions. The resilience comes from the fact that the failure of one device or connection generally does not bring down the whole network.

Looking at Figure 5.7, we can see that a fault on the cable between the central device and Computer A will still allow other devices to communicate:

Figure 5.7: Fault on star topology

Other benefits of a star topology include ...