How To Design A Network Topology | Jones IT

Length and type of cable

The more network cable is required to build your network, the more labor-intensive it will be. The cost of the cable itself will be small, but you will be surprised at how much the cost of labor involved in laying, connecting, and configuring the cables amounts to. So be careful to not underestimate the cost of labor needed for cabling.

The type of cable you need will depend on your network performance requirements as well as the transmission distance. Fiber-optic cables have better performance than twisted pair cables, which in turn is better than coaxial cables. But the better performance comes at a higher cost.

Hardware

In certain types of network topology, the network performance and overall bandwidth are limited by the technical specifications of the central hub. While in some other types such as the ring topology, when the network is large you may require repeaters to strengthen the data transmission. Ideally, you would want your network devices to be able to handle not just your current but also your future traffic volumes. But the network equipment with higher technical specifications comes at a higher cost.

Scalability

For companies that plan to grow, it is highly recommended to use a topology that is flexible and can be easily expanded. For example, while the star topology allows easy addition or removal of nodes, the ring topology doesn’t offer such flexibility. Choosing the right topology early on will save you a lot of time, money, and hassle later on.