You should connect one end of each of the cables to the network adapters on each computer and the other end to a switch or hub (this should be straight-through cable, about 5 to 10 ft. long, which is sometimes called “patch” cable). Your network should resemble the diagram shown in Figure 1. If you add more computers, you will need both a cable and a port on your hub or switch for each. This is a physical star topology because all computers are connected to a central connecting point. However, it is considered a logical bus if you are using a hub, since all computers will share the connection; or if you are using a switch, the topology is both a physical and a logical star, since connections are made and broken upon demand and are not shared.
Small 5 or 8 port switches are ideal for this setup and they usually have a number of lights associated with each port on them. These lights usually tell you whether or not there is activity on the port, the link speed of the port, and its duplex setting (full or half).