Mesh Topology is a type of network topology where each node or computer device is connected to every other node in the network, forming a fully interconnected network, Each computer not only sends its own signals but also relays data from other computers. In a mesh network, data often travels along multiple paths to reach its destination, this type of network is majorly used in large organizations or big companies where there is a need to deal with a large amount of data traffic. Mesh topology can be easily expanded.
There are two major types of mesh topologies:
Mesh topologies are mostly used in applications where reliability and fault tolerance are major, such as in military and aerospace networks, large-scale data centers, etc.
Mesh topology is expensive due to several factors:
- Implementing a mesh network requires a large amount of hardware networking which includes routers, switches, and cables. In a full mesh topology where every device is connected to every other device, the number of connections required also increases rapidly with the number of devices, which leads to an increase in hardware costs, Until you have all the equipment like internet speed, etc., required for the installation, it cannot function properly.
- Every device needs to be physically connected to every other device it communicates , which requires detailed planning and installation. In addition, the maintenance of a mesh network becomes complex because of increased number of connections , which needs to be maintained by professional or skilled persons.
- Devices /Nodes act as both network devices and relays, forwarding data for other nodes, all the nodes remains active all the time and distributes the load. This can lead to increased power consumption, which increases the price for the mesh network.
- In mesh network topology, data frequently needs to traverse through multiple intermediate devices before reaching to its final destination, particularly in a fully connected mesh topology where all nodes are interconnected. This can result in higher latency and reduction in the network performance especially if there are areas of congestion in the network. To improve these issues, it becomes necessary to allocate additional bandwidth, which leads higher expenses for the network.
Conclusion
Being expensive and complex mesh topology becomes less suitable for applications over other topologies such as bus or star, but mesh topology also provides many advantages to applications where reliability is the major concern ,mesh network has advantages such as redundancy, flexibility, fault tolerance, and many more, which makes it suitable for most of the applications such as in industrial automation and military communications.