AO4: Fundamentals of computer networks

Question 1

What is a PAN?

Answer 1

Personal Area Network. A small area network between a small number of devices.

Question 2

What is a LAN?

Answer 2

Local Area Network. A network usually contained within a building. Uses wired connections.

Question 3

What is a WLAN?

Answer 3

Wireless Local Area Network. A LAN but with the addition of being able to wirelessly connect to the network.

Question 4

What is a MAN?

Answer 4

Metropolitan Area Network. A wide area network covering the enter width of a city or university campus.

Question 5

What is a WAN?

Answer 5

Wide Area Network. A network that covers a large distance. Used by businesses to link LANs in different offices.

Question 6

What is a SAN?

Answer 6

Storage Area Network. A network of storage devices that is used by a business to access files.

Question 7

Name 3 topologies.

Answer 7

Star, bus, ring, tree, mesh.

Question 8

What is a problem with bus topologies?

Answer 8

If the main cable breaks the whole network goes down. Also, bandwidth is low as transmission is shared.

Question 9

What is an advantage and disadvantage of mesh topologies?

Answer 9

High bandwidth and reliability.

Expensive to set up and can be difficult to manage.

Question 10

What are the rewards of having a network?

Answer 10

Sharing resources.
Improved communication.
Improved data security.
Enables remote working.
Reduced costs, efficiency saving.
Improved hardware and service monitoring.

Question 11

What are some network risks?

Answer 11

Hacking and disruption.
Loss of data.
Loss of service.
Loss of income.
Compromise of data integrity.
Loss of reputation, commercial damage.