Network Topology Essay

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Network Topology McDonald is one of the largest fast food companies in the world. They helped revolutionize the way restaurants run by implementing business information system as well as new technology. In fact McDonald has more than 1.6million employees, franchisees and suppliers in 118 countries around the world. To connect all of them, McDonalds must build a stable and scalable intranet portal. Hence, McDonald has to choose the right network topology to fully utilize the network technology. Networks can be classified by their topology, which is the basic geometric arrangement of the network. Different types of network configurations exist for network designers to choose from. Communications channels can be connected in different arrangements using several different topologies. This arrangement allows users to exchange information and share resources such as software and hardware. There also 3 types of devices to connect the network which is router, gateway and bridges. Four basic types of network topology are star, bus, ring, and mesh topology. Ring, bus, and star topologies are commonly used in LAN. In contrast, star and mesh topologies are commonly used in MAN and WAN. The networks are usually built using a combination of several different topologies. In fact, in 2001, McDonald looked to build a new enterprise intranet that included multiple sites in multiple languages. The main purpose of using the intranet is to share their information among their employees, franchisees and suppliers. The intranet system implemented by McDonald is using a virtual private network that interconnects remote networks through primarily public communication infrastructures such as the internet. The intranet was integrating with existing systems including FileNet, Oracle, Netegrity and Verity among others. It used to enhance their global management content and make it more

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