The way in which the devices are connected in a network both physically and logically is referred to as Network Topology. If one understands the topology of a network, one can easily determine the functioning of the network i.e., the connection between the devices, the number of devices in the network, the capacity of the network, whether the network is centrally controlled or distributed, etc.
There are two ways of defining network topology. They are:
- Physical Topology
- Logical Topology or, Signal Topology