Chapter 1 - Computer Network Fundamentals

Question 1

Bus topology

Answer 1

Typically, it uses a cable running through the area requiring connectivity, and devices to be networked can tap into that cable.

Question 2

Campus-area network (CAN)

Answer 2

An interconnection of networks located in nearby buildings (for example, buildings on a college campus).

Question 3

Client

Answer 3

Defines the device an end user uses to access a network. This device might be a workstation, laptop, smartphone with wireless capabilities, tablet, or variety of other end-user terminal devices.

Question 4

Client/Server network

Answer 4

In a client/server network, a dedicated server (for example, a file server or a print server) provides shared access to a resource (for example, files or a printer). Clients (for example, PCs) on the network with appropriate privilege levels can gain access to those shared resources.

Question 5

Full-mesh topology

Answer 5

Directly connects every site to every other site.

Question 6

Hub

Answer 6

An Ethernet hub is an older technology used to interconnect network components, such as clients and servers. Hubs vary in their number of available ports. A hub does not perform an inspection of the traffic it passes. Rather, a hub simply receives traffic in a port and repeats that traffic out all of its other ports.

Question 7

Hub-and-spoke topology

Answer 7

When interconnecting multiple sites (for example, multiple corporate locations) via WAN links, a hub-and-spoke topology has a WAN link from each remote site (a spoke site) to the main site (the hub site).

Question 8

Local-area network (LAN)

Answer 8

Interconnects network components within a local region (for example, within a building).

Question 9

Logical topology

Answer 9

The actual traffic flow of a network determines the network’s logical topology.

Question 10

Media

Answer 10

Devices need to be interconnected via some sort of media. This media could be copper cabling. Alternatively, it could be a fiber-optic cable. Media might not even be a cable, as is the case with wireless networks, where radio waves travel through the media of air.

Question 11

Metropolitan-area network (MAN)

Answer 11

Interconnects locations scattered throughout a metropolitan area.

Question 12

Partial-mesh topology

Answer 12

A hybrid of a hub-and-spoke topology and a full-mesh topology. A partial-mesh topology can be designed to provide an optimal route between selected sites, while avoiding the expense of interconnecting every site to every other site.

Question 13

Peer-to-peer network

Answer 13

Allows interconnected devices (for example, PCs) to share their resources with one another. These resources could be, for example, files or printers.

Question 14

Personal-area network (PAN)

Answer 14

A network whose scale is smaller than a LAN. As an example, a connection between a PC and a digital camera via a USB cable is considered to be a PAN.

Question 15

Physical topology

Answer 15

The way a network’s components are physically interconnected determines the network’s physical topology.

Question 16

Ring topology

Answer 16

In a ring topology, traffic flows in a circular fashion around a closed network loop (that is, a ring). Typically, a ring topology sends data, in a single direction, to each connected device in turn, until the intended destination receives the data.

Question 17

Router

Answer 17

A router is considered a Layer 3 device, meaning that it makes its forwarding decisions based on logical network addresses. Most modern networks use IP addressing.

Question 18

Server

Answer 18

As its name suggests, a server serves up resources to a network. These resources might include e-mail access as provided by an e-mail server, web pages as provided by a web server, or files available on a file server.

Question 19

Star topology

Answer 19

In a star topology, a network has a central point (for example, a switch) from which all attached devices radiate.

Question 20

Switch

Answer 20

Like an Ethernet hub, an Ethernet switch interconnects network components. Like a hub, switches are available with a variety of port densities. However, unlike a hub, a switch doesn’t simply take traffic in on one port and forward copies of that traffic out all other ports. Rather, a switch learns which devices reside off of which ports. As a result, when traffic comes in a switch port, the switch interrogates the traffic to see where it’s destined. Then, based on what the switch has learned, the switch forwards the traffic out of the appropriate port and not out all of the other ports.

Question 21

Wide-area network (WAN)

Answer 21

Interconnects network components that are geographically separated.

Question 22

Wide-area network (WAN) link

Answer 22

An interconnection between two devices in a WAN.