Difference between Mesh topology and Bus topology

What is Topology?

The way a network's links and nodes are connected is referred to as "network topology". Actual network topology refers to the physical signal transmission medium, whereas logical network topology refers to the manner in which data passes through the network between devices, regardless of the physical connectivity of the devices.

Mesh Topology

A mesh network, often known as a mesh net, is a type of local network structure. Infrastructure nodes collaborate to efficiently transport data from/to clients by connecting to as many other nodes as possible directly, dynamically, and non-hierarchically as possible.

As there is no reliance on a single node, every node can participate in the information relay. Mesh networks may self-organize and arrange themselves in real-time, reducing installation time. The ability to self-configure allows for dynamic burden distribution, especially when a few nodes fail. This leads to increased fault tolerance and lower maintenance expenses.

Each device in a fully connected mesh architecture has a point-to-point connection with every other device in the network. Each device in the network has precisely '(n-1)' input-output ports and communication links if there are 'n' devices. These are simple linkages, which means the data only goes in one direction. Two simplex links can be replaced with a duplex link (which allows data to move in both directions simultaneously).

If we use simplex links, the number of communication links for 'n' devices will be "n(n – 1)". However, if we use duplex links, the number of communication links will be "n(n – 1)/2".

Bus Topology

All devices (or nodes) in a bus topology are linked together via a shared link known as the bus. The network traffic is received by each node on the bus.

A station is a name for a host on a bus network. Every station in a bus network receives all network traffic, and each station's traffic has equal transmission priority.

The collision domain and network segment of a bus network are the same. Nodes employ a medium access control system such as carrier-sense multiple access (CSMA) or a bus master to share the bus.

There is a primary wire in a bus topology, and all of the devices are connected to it by drop lines. The dropline is connected to the primary wire by a device known as a tap.

Since all the data is transferred across the main cable, the number of drop lines and the maximum distance the main cable can go are limited. In a bus topology, each computer in the network communicates with another computer independently.

All computers can share the whole bus capabilities of the network. The flow of data from one point in the network to another is shared among the devices.

Difference between Mesh topology and Bus topology

The following table highlights the major differences between Mesh topology and Bus topology −