The topology in which each communicating device is connected to a central node…
2024
The topology in which each communicating device is connected to a central node is called
Answer: D. Star topology — Concept — how a topology is named A network topology is the pattern of links among the nodes of a network. Each standard topology is fixed by just two facts:…
- A.
Ring topology
- B.
Bus topology
- C.
Mesh topology
- D.
Star topology
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Correct answer: D
Concept — how a topology is named
A network topology is the pattern of links among the nodes of a network. Each standard topology is fixed by just two facts:
how many links a single node holds;
what the far end of each of those links terminates on.
Identifying a topology therefore means matching the described link pattern against these two definitions, not counting how many devices are present.
Application to this question
The stem describes a pattern in which every communicating device holds exactly one link, and the far end of every one of those links terminates on the same single common node. The arrangement in which all devices attach to one shared central device — a hub or a switch — so that every exchange between two devices passes through that device, is the star topology. So the answer is Star topology.
Contrast — the other link patterns by value
Topology | Links held by one node | Where those links end |
|---|---|---|
Ring topology | 2 | its two immediate neighbours, closing the cabling into a loop |
Bus topology | 1 tap | a single shared backbone cable terminated at both ends |
Mesh topology | n − 1 | every other node individually, so n devices need n(n − 1)/2 links in all |
Star topology | 1 | one common central device, through which all traffic between the nodes passes |
Cross-check
Let n be the number of communicating devices; in a star the central node is an extra device beyond those n. Counting links then gives n for a ring, n for a star, one shared medium for a bus, and n(n − 1)/2 for a mesh. Ring and star therefore use the same number of links, so link count alone cannot separate them — the deciding property is where each link ends. Only in the star pattern does every link end on one and the same node, which is exactly the property the stem states, whereas a ring's links end on peer devices. Two exam-relevant riders follow from that central node:
it is a single point of failure for the whole network;
a hub-based star is physically a star while electrically behaving like a shared medium, whereas a switch-based star gives each link its own collision domain.