Basic Structure of Mesh Topology

Basic Structure of Mesh Topology

In a mesh topology, every device is connected to each and every node in the network with many redundant interconnections at least two paths to and from every node. There are two types of mesh topologies:

• Full mesh
• Partial mesh
In full mesh topology, each device is connected directly to each other. In partial mesh topology, some of the devices are connected to all the others, but there are some devices which do not exchange data with all. So they are connected only to those with which they communicate most of the time. It is less expensive and less redundant compared to full mesh topology. This topology is useful where connections are easily and frequently broken. The basic structure of full mesh topology is shown in Figure

Advantages and Disadvantages of Mesh Topology
Mesh topology is not used commonly because of its complex structure. But it performs well when the devices are spread in the network and do not lie in the same region. Routers in WAN are connected using mesh topology. WAN is an interconnection of multiple LANS. Thus, in WAN, multiple paths are available to reach the destination.
Advantages of mesh topology are:
1. Provides redundant paths which help in sending data using an alternate path if a specific path fails to send the data
2. Entire network does not get affected by one faulty device
3. Centralized management is not required as in star topology
4. Easy to detect the faulty device
Disadvantages of mesh topology are:
• More cabling is required as compared to bus, star and ring topologies
• Each link from one device to another requires an individual port/interface
• Very expensive as compared to bus, star and ring topologies
• Data carrying capacity is underutilized unless all devices are transmitting almost continiously.
• Difficult to reconfigure