The Pros and Cons of Bus Networks

Bus networks are most certainly the easiest type of computer network to set up and can be very effective with a limited number of connected devices.

With a bus network, computers and devices are connected via a single cable. Devices communicate with each other via cable data transmission.

By far the easiest to setup and extend, a bus network's cable is also its biggest downfall. If the cable goes down, the network goes down.

Bus networks are limited in other regards too. A bus network is better suited to small networks. Speeds are not very high either. The more devices connected, the more sluggish the network will become. However, a bus network does have the advantage that if one computer breaks, the others can continue to operate on the network.

Problems can also surface when two computers attempt to send a message at the same time. Because of this, measures need to be taken to ensure that two computers do not access the main cable at the same time. That's why limiting a bus network to a small office with two or three computers is ideal.

A bus network will have a beginning and an end, where the main cable starts and ends. This differs from other computer network designs such as the ring or the star.

Each endpoint of the main cable will have a device known as a terminator that will absorb the signal energy. This will prevent the signal from being reflected back into the cable and causing interference with the signals that follow.

It's possible to add branches to the main cable to create what is known as a distributed bus. This is similar in design to the tree topology but lacks the central computer to which all other computers are connected.

While the bus network topology can be cheap and effective, as explained before, it's better suited to smaller businesses where the number of workstations is limited and where distance is not a factor. For larger computer networks, other topologies should be considered.

 

Written by: Frank J Klein - CIO

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