Networking

Question 1

What is a network?

Answer 1

• Network is a collection of computers or other devices connected to one another to allow sharing of data

Devices share data with each other using connections (data links), which are established over physical cables or wireless media such as WiFi

Question 2

What is a packet?

Answer 2

A formatted unit of data carried as a packet-switched network

Contains 2 types of data:

1. Control information
   a. Source, destination network address
2. User data

Question 3

What is a switch?

Answer 3

Forwards packets to devices within a network

Question 4

What is a router?

Answer 4

Forwards packets between networks using routing tables, which as a set of rules to determine where to send the packets travelling over an internet protocol (IP)

Question 5

What is an IP address?

Answer 5

Used to identify a computer on a network and provides a location of the host in the network

IPv4 (32 bit) or IPv6 (128 bit)

Question 6

What is a Mac address?

Answer 6

Media access control address

Hardware identification number that uniquely identifies each device on a network

Question 7

Name 3 types of network

Answer 7

1. LAN
   a. A network that connect computers and devices in a limited geographical area such as a home, school or office
   b. Most likely based on ethernet, but can be WiFi-based
   c. Limited geographical range
2. MAN
   a. Metropolitan area network is a large network that spans a city or a large campus
3. WAN
   a. Wide area network is a computer network that covers a large geographical area such as a city, countries or intercontinental distances
   b. Communications combine many types of media such as telephone lines and cables.
   c. Make use of transmission facilities provided common carriers, such as telephone companies

Question 8

What is bandwidth?

Answer 8

The amount of data that can be transmitted in a fixed time

a. Expressed in bits per second (bps)
b. 1kbit =1024 bits, 1Mbit 1024 Kbits etc

Question 9

What is the OSI model?

Answer 9

A network protocol

Characterises and standardises the communication functions of computers

Its goal is to provide interoperability of diverse communication systems with a standard communication protocol

Enables one host to interact with a corresponding entity at the same layer in another host

Question 10

What are the 7 layers of the OSI model?

Answer 10

1. Physical
2. Data link
3. Network
4. Transport
5. Session
6. Presentation
7. Application