1.3 network

Question 1

What is a network interface card? (NIC)

Answer 1

This will allow us to join a network with a wired connection

Question 2

what is a switch?

Answer 2

Connects network cables from different devices on a Local Area Network (LAN)

Question 3

what is a router?

Answer 3

A router transmits data between two different networks

Question 4

what is a wireless interface card?

Answer 4

This will allow us to join a network wirelessly using WiFi

Question 5

what is the transmission media fibre optic?

Answer 5

ses light to transmit data

Covers longer distances than copper

Provides much greater transmission speeds (higher bandwidth)

Question 6

what is the transmission media ethernet?

Answer 6

8 Copper cables (twisted in 4 pairs to reduce interference)

Fast (up to 1Gbps), secure, and reliable

Uses electricity to apply a voltage to the wires. The voltage level determines whether a 1 or 0 is being transmitted

Question 7

what is an internet protocal (ip) address?

Answer 7

When a device joins a network it is given an IP Address.

This allows other devices on the network to communicate with it

Question 8

what is ipv4 address?

Answer 8

192.168.0.123

There are 4 sets of denary numbers with a value between 0 and 255. Each number is separated with a full stop.

Question 9

what is ipv6 address?

Answer 9

001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334

There are 8 sets of hexadecimal numbers, each with a value between 0000 and ffff. Each number is separated with a colon.

Question 10

what is mac address?

Answer 10

MAC addresses are assigned to networking interface cards (NIC) during the manufacturing process.

The MAC address of each device in the world is unique.
3b:14:e6:39:0a:2c

There are 6 sets of hexadecimal numbers with a value between 00 and ff. Each number is separated with a colon.

Question 11

what are packets?

Answer 11

Data sent across a network is chopped up into packets. Each packet contains the IP address of the device sending the packet and the IP address of the device receiving the packet.

Question 12

what is the process of the domain name server (DNS)

Answer 12

Websites are hosted on web servers

Each web server has an IP address

When you type in a website URL (such as www.google.com) your web browser sends this information to a DNS

The DNS looks through its records for the URL and the associated IP address

If DNS does not have that URL in its records it will ask other DNS servers

If it has found a match the IP address is sent back to the web browser on the computer that made the request

The web browser then connects to the web server, using the IP address that was returned from the DNS

The web browser makes a request for a web page from the web server

The web server processes the request and sends the web page data back to the browser

Question 13

what is cloud storage

Answer 13

Instead of storing data and apps on your own device, it is stored on a computer somewhere else

Question 14

what are advantages of cloud storage?

Answer 14

data can easily be accessed from anywhere with an internet connection.Data security

Scalability - you can buy as much of it as you need

Accessibility and redundancy. …

Data security. …

Ability to collaborate on documents and files. …

Cost and resource savings. …

Compliance with legislation and regulations for storing data. …

Archives and backup data.

Question 15

what are disadvantages of cloud storage?

Answer 15

if you do not have an internet connection then you will not be able to access your stored data

there is a lack of total control as your data is left with the cloud storage provider so you cannot custmoise your data set-up

security and privacy is an issue because if the cloud storage gets hacked into then you’re open to data theft

once you’ve started using one cloud data provider, it is hard to migrate your data to another provider

Question 16

what is a topology?

Answer 16

Topology refers to the physical layout of devices in a network.

Question 17

what is a star network?

Answer 17

All devices are connected using a switch

(imagine every device having one line connecting to the switch, no devices connect with eachother)

Question 18

what are the advantages of a star network?

Answer 18

If one cable is damaged/faulty, only one device should be affected

Star networks usually have consistent performance, even with heavy network traffic.

Question 19

what are the disadvantages of a star network?

Answer 19

They can be expensive to set up as you may need to buy a lot of cable to connect the router to each device

the switch is a single point of faliure, if the switch breaks or loses connection then the whole network is lost

Question 20

what is a mesh network?

Answer 20

In a full mesh network each device will be connected to every other device. In a partial mesh network each device will be connected to some of the other devices in the network

Question 21

what are the advantages of a mesh network?

Answer 21

If a cable fails data may be able to still get to a device through another route

Data could be split across multiple routes/cables to transmit faster

No need to buy or set up a switch

Question 22

what are the disadvantages of a mesh network?

Answer 22

As the number of devices grows, the number of cables needed grows rapidly

Particular cables may carry a lot of network traffic, leading to less predictable network performance

Question 23

what is encryption?

Answer 23

Encryption is the process of scrambling data so that it cannot be understood without a key. The key will decrypt the data and turn it back into data that is useable/readable.

People with the key can convert the scrambled message back to the original

If anyone else tries to read/use it, the data will be unusable as they do not have a copy of the key

Question 24

what is a standard?

Answer 24

Standards are a specification for hardware or software that manufacturers/contributors agree on

Standards are beneficial because they allow devices to be compatible/work with each other

Question 25

what is HTTP and HTTPS?

Answer 25

HTTP – Hypertext Transfer Protocol

Used to download web pages from a web server to a client computer’s web browser.

HTTPS – Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure

Similar to HTTP, but all data is also encrypted for security

Question 26

what is file transfer protocal (FTP)

Answer 26

Used for transferring files between a server and client computer

Question 27

what is simple mail transfer protocal (SMTP)

Answer 27

This protocol transfers the email from the sender’s device to their mail server.

Question 28

what is post office protocal (POP)

Answer 28

This protocol downloads the email from the mail server to the client device and is then stored on the device. The email is then deleted from the server

Question 29

what is internet message access protocal (IMAP)

Answer 29

This protocol downloads the email from the mail server to the client device and is then stored on the device. The email is then deleted from the server

Question 30

what is transmission control protocal (TCP) and internet protocal (IP)

Answer 30

TCP – Transmission Control Protocol

Handles errors such as lost packets to provide error-free transmission between two devices

IP – Internet Protocol

Routes packets of data across WANs such as the internet, using IP address

Question 31

what are the 4 layers in the tcp/ip protocal?

Answer 31

Application Layer – encodes / decodes data

Transport Layer – splits the data into packets

Network Layer – attaches IP addresses

Link Layer – manages data over physical network