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Difficulty: HardNetwork Topologies and Types

A lead network architect is designing the infrastructure for a medical research center comprising six high-throughput data processing nodes located within a single campus facility. To ensure zero single points of failure during real-time genomic data synchronization, the design calls for a physical full-mesh topology across all six nodes, while offloading high-capacity storage traffic to a dedicated Storage Area Network (SAN). Which of the following statements accurately describe the operational and structural characteristics of this proposed deployment? (Select TWO.)

  1. Interconnecting all six processing nodes in a physical full-mesh topology requires exactly 15 dedicated point-to-point network links.Answer
  2. The Storage Area Network (SAN) provides block-level storage access over a dedicated high-speed network isolated from standard local area network traffic.Answer
  3. C
    Configuring separate VLANs across the nodes and storage arrays on a shared switch will enable direct communication between subnets without a Layer 3 routing device.
  4. D
    Replacing the full-mesh interconnects with a physical bus topology would increase overall fault tolerance by isolating cable break failures to single host drops.

Answer

The correct statements are that interconnecting all six processing nodes in a physical full-mesh topology requires exactly 15 dedicated point-to-point network links, and that the Storage Area Network (SAN) provides block-level storage access over a dedicated high-speed network isolated from standard local area network traffic.
The statement specifying 15 links is correct because a complete mesh of 6 nodes requires N=6(6−1)2=15N = \frac{6(6-1)}{2} = 15 physical connections. The statement regarding SANs is correct because SANs operate at the block level over a dedicated storage network isolated from general LAN traffic.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Calculate the required number of physical links for a full-mesh topology with 6 nodes.
Using N=n(n−1)2N = \frac{n(n-1)}{2} where n=6n = 6, N=6×52=15N = \frac{6 \times 5}{2} = 15 dedicated links.
Full-mesh topologies require every host to connect directly to every other host, requiring n−1n-1 connections per host.
2
Evaluate the architectural purpose and access protocol type of a Storage Area Network (SAN).
SANs deliver high-performance, block-level data access over dedicated storage fabrics (such as Fibre Channel or iSCSI) separate from local area network (LAN) user traffic.
Isolating block-level storage traffic prevents network congestion on the primary user LAN and optimizes storage throughput.
3
Evaluate the invalid statements regarding VLAN routing and bus topology resilience.
VLANs strictly segment Layer 2 broadcast domains and mandate Layer 3 routing for inter-VLAN communications. A physical bus topology has a single point of failure (the backbone coax run) and lower fault tolerance than mesh.
Identifies common misconceptions regarding broadcast domain isolation and physical topology fault propagation.

Key Concept

Full-Mesh Topology Link Formula and SAN Characteristics
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Topics

Network Topologies and Types

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