• Bus
• Ring
• Star
• Tree
• Mesh

A mesh topology typically refers to a Wide Area Network where there are multiple paths connecting multiple sites. A router is used to search multiple paths and determine the best path for the data. Routes are determined by least cost, time of day and performance. A three or four site mesh network is relatively easy to create, whereas it is impractical to set up a mesh network of 100 sites or nodes. Mesh networks are used in Wide Area Networks (WANs) where reliability is important and the number of sites being connected together is fairly small. The diagram below shows four sites connected to each other in a mesh network.

Mesh topologies offer stability for single application servers. The redundant connections make the mesh network very reliable, even in high volume traffic situations. There are few troubleshooting problems in this WAN topology.

A mesh network is costly to reconfigure, replace and administer. A mesh is best suited for situations where it will not need to be moved or expanded beyond five sites or nodes. If one site fails, an entire application can fail.