We began this chapter by differentiating between logical and physical topologies before looking at the various topologies. The topologies covered included bus, ring, star, mesh, and hybrid, and we highlighted the benefits and disadvantages of each in terms of performance, resiliency, and cost.
You have learned how to understand the flow of the data using logical topologies and from that to understand some of the areas to troubleshoot on each topology in the event of a failure. On bus topologies, you have also learned about the importance of terminators to avoid signal bounce. In addition, you have learned the two calculations needed to identify the number of interfaces and cables in a full mesh topology, which will assist you greatly in planning such a deployment.
In the next chapter, you will be introduced to the first of the two intermediary network devices this book...