What is the most popular wired network topology?

A star network is the most common kind of network topology, and therefore the most popular one. One computer is put in the center of the star. This is the central hub, and is often the one that every single piece of information passes through in this system. From there, a number of computers can branch out - usually five. That makes it look like a star.

In this system, if one of the arms of the star fails, it won’t affect the others. However, everything depends on that central hub. If that decides to fail or is negatively affected by other circumstances, the entire network becomes dark and unusuable. This is the main drawback of this system, so it’s often backed up in multiple places.