Netowrking

Question 1

What is TCP vs UDP?

Answer 1

TCP: reliable, connection-oriented, ordered delivery, error checking, slower (web, email). UDP: unreliable, connectionless, faster, no guarantees (streaming, gaming, DNS).

Question 2

What is DNS (Domain Name System)?

Answer 2

DNS translates human-readable domain names to IP addresses. Hierarchical distributed system with caching at multiple levels. Critical for internet routing and load distribution.

Question 3

What is HTTP/2 vs HTTP/1.1?

Answer 3

HTTP/2: binary protocol, multiplexing (multiple requests per connection), header compression, server push. HTTP/1.1: text-based, one request per connection. HTTP/2 is faster and more efficient.

Question 4

What is WebSocket?

Answer 4

WebSocket provides full-duplex communication over a single TCP connection. Unlike HTTP request-response, it enables real-time bidirectional data flow. Used for chat, live updates, gaming.

Question 5

What is a proxy server?

Answer 5

A proxy acts as intermediary between clients and servers. Forward proxy serves clients (anonymity, caching). Reverse proxy serves servers (load balancing, security). Can filter and transform requests.

Question 6

What is NAT (Network Address Translation)?

Answer 6

NAT maps private IP addresses to public ones, allowing multiple devices to share one public IP. Conserves IPv4 addresses and adds security by hiding internal network structure.

Question 7

What is latency vs bandwidth?

Answer 7

Latency: time for data to travel from source to destination (milliseconds). Bandwidth: amount of data that can be transmitted per time unit (Mbps/Gbps). Both affect network performance.

Question 8

What is network partitioning?

Answer 8

Network partition occurs when network failures split a distributed system into isolated groups that can’t communicate. Systems must handle partitions gracefully per CAP theorem.

Question 9

What is connection pooling?

Answer 9

Connection pooling maintains reusable connections instead of creating new ones per request. Reduces overhead of TCP handshakes and connection establishment. Used for databases and HTTP clients.

Question 10

What is anycast routing?

Answer 10

Anycast routes requests to the nearest/best destination from a group sharing the same IP address. Used by CDNs and DNS for performance and redundancy.