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Difficulty: MediumNetwork Topologies and Types

A network administrator is designing a dedicated, fault-tolerant interconnect architecture for 55 mission-critical database nodes within a single data center rack. To ensure continuous operation without a central point of failure, every node must have a direct point-to-point physical cable connection to every other node in the cluster. Which network topology is being implemented, and what is the total number of physical cabling links required for this configuration?

  1. Full mesh topology requiring 10 physical linksAnswer
  2. B
    Star topology requiring 5 physical links
  3. C
    Partial mesh topology requiring 20 physical links
  4. D
    Bus topology requiring 4 physical links

Answer

Full mesh topology requiring 10 physical links
The design specifies a fully redundant layout where every node has a direct, dedicated physical connection to every other node, which defines a full mesh topology. The total number of required links for n=5n = 5 nodes is calculated using the formula n(n−1)2\frac{n(n-1)}{2}, resulting in 5×(5−1)2=10\frac{5 \times (5-1)}{2} = 10 physical links.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Identify the topology based on structural requirements
Full mesh topology
Connecting every node directly to every other node without an intermediary device defines a physical full mesh topology.
2
Calculate required physical links using the mesh formula
10 physical links
The formula for calculating un-directed connections in a full mesh network with nn nodes is L=n(n−1)2L = \frac{n(n-1)}{2}. Substituting n=5n = 5 yields 5×42=10\frac{5 \times 4}{2} = 10.

Key Concept

Full Mesh Topology and Link Calculation
Estimated Time:1m 30s
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Topics

Network Topologies and Types

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