Hybrid Topology

Hybrid Topology

Hybrid Topology is an integration of two or more basic topologies to form a topology which has many advantages and a few disadvantages. This type of topology combination is done according to the requirements of a company/ organization.

For example if there is  a ring topology in one office department while a bus topology is in another department, connecting these two topologies results in Hybrid topology. Star-Bus Star-Ring are the most common types of hybrid Topology network. (Notes On Hybrid Topology: 2015)

Advantages

·         Reliable: Fault detection and troubleshooting.

·         Scalable: Easy to increase network size by adding new components, without existing architecture.

·         Flexible: Can be design according to requirements of the organization by optimising available resource. Special care can be given to node where traffic is high, and chance of faults is high.

·         Effective: Designed in such a way that strengths the constituent topologies are maximized while weakness are neutralized (D. Towsley et al: 2002)

Disadvantages

·         Complexity of design:  it is not easy to design this type of architecture configuration and installation process needs to be efficient.

·         Costly Hub: Hub used needs to be connected to two distinctive networks are very expensive.

·         Costly Infrastructure: larger in scale, require lots of cabling, cooling systems, and sophisticated network devices.  (T. Buetal : 2002) 

   Jajish Thomas (2015) www.ominsec.com