Topology means how a network is set up. Token Ring topology is one of them. It
means that several computers are connected in a ring. When one computer wants to send
data to another, it has to catch a free token which gives the permission to send data. As
soon as one particular machine gets the token, it has the control over the whole network
which means no other computer can send data. Then it puts its destination address and
the data on the token, and sends the token to the machine that¡s next to it. If the next
machine is not the destination, it will pass the data on and on until it gets to the address.
When the addressed station gets the data, it can not keep the message and release the
token. It copies the data, then it sends the message back to the initiator with the
acknowledgment to say that it has received the data. After the initiator receives the
message and reads the acknowledgment, the free token can be released onto the ring.
There are similarities and differences between Token Ring topology and Bus
topology. In a Bus topology (Ethernet) all devices are connected to a central cable,
called the bus or backbone.(http://www.ce.org/networkguide/netstructure/net4.asp) Ring
topology is similar to Bus topology in that both networks have multiple access so that the
messages will got to every station on the network. However, they are different. First, a
Token Ring network has a ring which connects the network instead of a cable. Second,
for Ethernet, when computers get messages which do not belong to them, they will not
keep them and pass them on. Token Ring topology is different. Every machine on the
network will keep passing on the data until it gets to its destination. Third, a computer
on a Bus network has to wait for the network to be clear in order to send data packets.
A Ring network has a token, so as soon as a machine ca
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