Bus

In a bus network all nodes on the network share a common cable which is terminated at each end (see fig 3). Transmission is passed back and forth along the cable. As messages pass, each node checks the destination address and accepts the message if the address matches the node address.

If twisted-pair cables are used then the data rates provided could be up to 100Mbs. However, coaxial and fibre optic cables give higher bit rates.

Fig 3

Advantages

	If one node crashes it will have no effect on the rest of the network
	Relatively cheap

Disadvantages

	A fault on the cable will disable the whole network
	Insecure
	Require a network protocol to detect when two nodes are transmitting at the same time