Star network topology

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. In a star network, what does each device connect to?

A One long shared cable

B A central switch or router

2. One device's cable is cut in a star network. What happens?

A Only that device loses its connection

B Every device loses its connection

3. The central switch in a star network stops working. What happens?

A The whole network goes down

B Only one device is affected

4. Which layout is a star network?

A All computers plug into one main cable

B Each computer has its own cable to one switch

5. In a bus layout the main shared cable breaks. How does this compare with a star network?

A It can cut off many devices at once, unlike a broken star cable

B It only ever cuts off one device, just like a star cable

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1star topology		AA failed central switch cuts off every device, not just one. Only a broken cable to a single device affects just that device.
2bus topology		BThis describes a bus layout, not a star. In a star, each device has its own cable to the central switch, so one break only affects one device.
3If one cable in a star network breaks, only the device on that cable loses its connection		CSwitch (OFF) -- Laptop, Phone, Printer all disconnected
4The central switch is a single point of failure: if it stops working, every device is cut off		DLaptop--X--Switch (Phone--Switch, Printer--Switch still work)
5A star network: all devices share one long cable, and a break stops them all.		EA layout where every device has its own cable to a central switch or router
6In a star network, if the central switch fails, only one device loses its connection.		FA layout where all devices share one single backbone cable

Definitions

star topology

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

connect(laptop, ______) connect(printer, switch) connect(phone, switch)

IF cable(laptop) = "broken" THEN offline(______) ENDIF

IF switch = "failed" THEN offline(___) ENDIF

// one shared cable runs past every device layout ← "___"

// every device has its own cable layout ← "____"

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A topology = "star"

B centre = "bus cable"

C cable_cut = "PC2"

D offline = ["PC2"]

Question 2

A topology = "star"

B links_per_device = 2

C devices = 4

D cables = devices * links_per_device

Question 3

A devices = ["PC1","PC2","PC3"]

B cable_broken = "PC2"

C offline = devices

D online = ["PC1","PC3"]

Question 4

A topology = "star"

B switch_fails = True

C network_down = not switch_fails

D print(network_down)

Question 5

A topology = "ring"

B centre = "switch"

C weak_point = centre

Answer Key

Star network topology

Section A: Quick Questions

B — A central switch or router

A — Only that device loses its connection

A — The whole network goes down

B — Each computer has its own cable to one switch

A — It can cut off many devices at once, unlike a broken star cable

Section B: Match the Pairs

star topology → A layout where every device has its own cable to a central switch or router

bus topology → A layout where all devices share one single backbone cable

If one cable in a star network breaks, only the device on that cable loses its connection → Laptop--X--Switch (Phone--Switch, Printer--Switch still work)

The central switch is a single point of failure: if it stops working, every device is cut off → Switch (OFF) -- Laptop, Phone, Printer all disconnected

A star network: all devices share one long cable, and a break stops them all. → This describes a bus layout, not a star. In a star, each device has its own cable to the central switch, so one break only affects one device.

In a star network, if the central switch fails, only one device loses its connection. → A failed central switch cuts off every device, not just one. Only a broken cable to a single device affects just that device.

Section C: Definitions

star topology — A network layout where each device has its own cable to a central switch or router, so one broken cable cuts off only that device. If the central device fails, the whole network goes down.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

connect(laptop, switch)
connect(printer, switch)
connect(phone, switch)

IF cable(laptop) = "broken" THEN
  offline(laptop)
ENDIF

IF switch = "failed" THEN
  offline(all)
ENDIF

// one shared cable runs past every device
layout ← "bus"

// every device has its own cable
layout ← "star"

Section E: Spot the Error

B — A star network has a central switch (or router), not a shared bus cable. The line should be centre = "switch".

B — In a star network each device has exactly one link of its own to the centre. It should be links_per_device = 1.

C — One broken cable in a star network only cuts off the device on that cable. It should be offline = [cable_broken], not every device.

C — The central switch is the single point of failure. If it fails the whole network goes down, so network_down should equal switch_fails, not its opposite.

A — A layout with every device linked to a central switch is a star topology. The first line should be topology = "star".