Types of network topology in Ethernet connection and its frame

In this tutorial, we will learn about the types of network topology used in Ethernet connection and its frame. By Mahima Rao Last updated : May 05, 2023

A topology explains how physically the network is designed or what is the structure of the network. These designs are both physical and logical. There are many network topologies 4 like Bus, Star, Ring, and Mesh. But only two types of topologies are used in Ethernet i.e Bus and Star. So, let's know about these two topologies:

Network Topologies used in Ethernet Connection

1. Bus Topology

All computers in a bus topology are connected to a wire. Whenever a computer sends a computer frame, it goes to all the computers available in the topology, but it only accepts the computer whose MAC address matches the frame.

The biggest disadvantage of bus topology is that if the wire ever gets damaged, then communication of all computers stops simultaneously. Computers have no means of communication separately from each other.

2. Star Topology

All hosts in Star Topology are connected to a switch or hub and they send frames to each other through hosts hubs and switches. Hubs are not intelligent. When frames are sent through the hub, the hub sends those frames to all the hosts and the host that receives the MAC address matches it.

Switches are intelligent devices. The switches maintain the address table of all hosts. So whenever a host sends a frame, it is not sent to everyone and goes to the same host whose MAC address matches. The biggest disadvantage of the star topology is that if the switch or hub spreads, all the networks fail.

Ethernet Frame

Ethernet data link layer technology. In the data link layer, the data is known as frames. The size of a frame can be from 64 bytes to 1522 bytes. There are some fields in the frame whose size is fixed. The information about these fields is given below.

1. Preamble

The size of this field is 7 bytes. This field is used for synchronization purpose.

2. Start of Frame

The size of this field is 1 byte. This field shows the starting point of the frame.

3. Destination MAC Address

The size of this field is 6 bytes. This field holds the destination host's MAC address.

4. Source MAC Address

The size of this field is also 6 bytes. This field source hosts the MAC address.

5. 802. 1Q Tag

The size of this field is 4 bytes. This field is optional. This tag is used to show VLAN configuration.

6. Length

The size of this field is 2 bytes. This field shows the size of the whole frame.

7. Payload

The size of this field can be from 42 bytes to 1500 bytes. This is your actual data.

8. CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check)

The size of this field is 4 bytes. This shows the errors in the field frame.

9. Inter-Frame Gap

The size of this field is 12 bytes. It shows the time gap between field frames.

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