The replication topology consists of the logical connections that DFS Replication uses to replicate files among servers. When you set up a replication group, you can choose from three topologies:

• Hub and spoke. This topology requires three or more members; otherwise this option is unavailable. For each spoke member, you can choose a required hub member and an optional second hub member for redundancy. This optional hub ensures that a spoke member can still replicate if one of the hub members is unavailable. If you specify two hub members, the hub members will have a full-mesh topology between them.
• Full mesh. In this topology, every member replicates with all other members of the replication group. This topology works well when there are ten or fewer members in the replication group. We recommend against using a full mesh topology if you have more than ten members in the replication group.
• No topology. Choose this option if you want to create connections yourself after you finish the New Replication Group Wizard or the Replicate Folder Wizard. No replication will take place until you create the connections.

When choosing a topology, keep in mind that two one-way connections are created between the members you choose. These two connections allow data to flow in both directions. For example, in a hub and spoke topology, data will flow from the hub members to the spoke members and from the spoke members to the hub members.