The Difference Between Logical and Physical Design

The Difference Between Logical and Physical Design

Kiesha Crutcher

NTC 410

In order to explain the difference between a logical design network and physical design network, we must first know what a logical and a physical design network are and what they consist of when dealing with a network. These two types of designs are basic guidelines to how a system network operates. We will first explain what each design is and then explain their differences.

A logical network is one of the two network topologies, in the case of a logical network it referrers to the user's view of the way data or systems are organized. In a logical network the files are a collection of data stored together for the benefit of the users. In some cases a logical network can consist of a single computer, which means there is only one logical connection that begins and end on the same computer. If three or more computers are connected in a logical network they work in a path or a ring, which is simpler because then all of the data can be sent in one direction.

Logical design networks also know as a signal topology is "the way that the signals act on the network media, or the way that the data passes through the network from one device to the next without regard to the physical interconnection of the devices" (Edraw). Logical designs are IP structures of a network in which one would use a, b, or c addresses if using a network such as a wireless network. The logical design of a network also deals with the security aspect of a system and is broken down into four layers: appliances layer, infrastructure layer, applications layer and service control layer. Security is an important issue, because logical design is based on how information it transported through the network. If there is no security, then the network can become corrupted. A logical network differs from a physical network, for one, a single file can be divided into numerous pieces spread throughout a disk. An example of a logical design network is shown in the illustration below:

A physical network is considered as the cables, computers and other peripherals. Physical topologies are classified in various categories but perhaps the more popular ones are bus, star and ring. The bus network can either be linear or distributed. In a linear bus, all of the network nodes are connected in a common transmission that consists of two endpoints, where the date is then transmitted between the nodes and network. With a distributed bus, the nodes are also connected in the same way as the linear bus, but have more than two endpoints. Another type of physical topology would be the star, in which each node is connected by a central point in a point-to-point link. In this type of topology the data is transmitted to a central node which in turn retransmits