Network Topology - Token Ring
Token Ring
This networking topology is very basic. It uses STP cabling and it is more reliable. This network topology does not have collisions like the linear bus topology, because all the nodes are connected in a loop, and a token is used to allow the nodes to send data. A node cannot send data unless it has the token.
It works in a very simple way. A token circles the network and goes from a node to another, when a node has the token it sends the data, and when the receiver gets the token and the data it reads the data and then puts the token back on the network with a flag indicating that the data was read, when the original sender reads that token again, it will empty the token and puts it back on the network.
A disadvantage is, if one node is not working, the whole network will be down, but this is easily solved with an MAU (Multi-Station Access Unit). This connects to the network and if it detects a node that is down it will disable that link and provides a bypass through the MAU.