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InfoComm CTS Exam > Networks > Flashcards

Networks Flashcards

1
Q

What is a LAN?

A

A LAN or Local Area Network connects various devices within a building or campus. The LAN is where end user devices are normally connected.

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2
Q

What is a WAN?

A

A WAN or Wide Area Network is a large network covering a wide geographic area. User devices are not normally connected directly to a WAN.

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3
Q

What is a WLAN?

A

A WLAN, or Wireless LAN, is simply a local Area Network that allows devices to connect wirelessly, usually via WiFi.

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4
Q

What is a VLAN?

A

A Virtual LAN is where a network is configured so that devices across different LANs, perhaps in different places around the world, appear as though they are connected together on the same LAN. The separate segments are joined together to create a logical group.

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5
Q

Network Topology describes the overall “shape” of the network. What the three main network topologies in common use?

A

Star Topology
Bus Topology
Ring Topology

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6
Q

What is a Star topology network?

A

A star topology network has all devices connected to a central point, such as a switch or router.

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7
Q

What is a Bus topology network?

A

A bus topology network is where all the devices are connected to a single cable, a bit like bus stops along a bus route. The weak point here though is that a single cable failure early in the network could affect multiple devices.

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8
Q

What is a Ring topology?

A

As the name sounds, a ring topology network is where the circuit connecting the devices connects back at both ends.

It provides added resilience in case there’s a break in the circuit, as traffic has an alternative route.

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9
Q

What is a Mesh topology network?

A

A meshed network provides the highest level of protection against failure. Imagine multiple ring networks that interconnect a various different places.

The biggest mesh network is the Internet.

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10
Q

What is the IEEE?

A

The IEEE is the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, and among other things, wrote the 802 standards that define Ethernet and WiFi.

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11
Q

What is an Ethernet 8P8C connector better known as?

A

RJ45

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12
Q

What are the two possible wiring formats for Ethernet connections?

A

T568-A

T568-B

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13
Q

What do you call a cable that has T568-A one end and T568-B the other end?

A

A crossover cable.

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14
Q

Why is a crossover cable used?

A

End user devices usually connect directly to a switch or router. If you want to connect them directly to each other, you’ll find the Send and Receive pins will be back to front at the far end.
A crossover cable reverses the Send & Receive so that two end devices can connect directly.

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15
Q

What is Single-Mode fibre optic cable?

A

In a single-mode fibre, there is one central path for the light to take, the core is very narrow, but the light can travel distances up to 50 times longer than multi-mode. The LASER based equipment at each end is very expensive.

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16
Q

What is Multi-Mode fibre optic cable?

A

Multi-mode fibre offers high bandwidth, but only over distances for up to 10 miles. Both the fibre and the LED equipment at each end are cheaper than single-mode systems.

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17
Q

What does the IEEE 802.11 standard define?

A

802.11 describes the specifications for WiFi networks, dating from the original 1997 spec at 1Mbit/s up to the latest standards offering up to 20Gbit/s (with up to 100Gbit/s expected by 2020).

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18
Q

What is MIMO technology?

A

MIMO stands for Multiple Inputs, Multiple Outputs, where radio networks simultaneously use multiple antennae to establish more than one radio path, offering much greater transmission bandwidth, and therefore, higher speeds.

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19
Q

What happens to a WiFi connection if the signal weakens?

A

The rate of data transfer slows down.

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20
Q

What’s the approximate maximum distance for WiFi?

A

Approximately 50 metres.

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21
Q

What can reduce the speed of a WiFi connection?

A

Signal strength
Distance from the base station
Number of concurrent users

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22
Q

What are the two main wavelength band where WiFi operates?

A

2.4 GHz and 5 GHz.

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23
Q

What is the name of the standard that defines how computers and devices connect to each other?

A

The OSI Reference Model

or the OSI 7 Layer Model

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24
Q

What does OSI stand for?

A

Open Systems Interconnection

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25
Q

Who developed the OSI Model?

A

OSI was developed by ISO who, confusingly, are now known as the International Organisation for Standardisation.

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26
Q

What happens at Layer 1 of the OSI Model?

A

Layer 1 is the Physical layer, and is concerned with details such as wiring specifications, pin connections, etc. It deals with transporting individual bits of data.

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27
Q

What happens at Layer 2 of the OSI Model?

A

Layer 2 is the Data Link Layer, and sends frames of data over the physical network of Layer 1. It establishes and terminates the connection between devices and deals with things like MAC addresses.

28
Q

What happens at Layer 3 of the OSI Model?

A

Layer 3 is the Network layer, sending packets of data across the data link layer, and managing addressing, routing and traffic control, using the IP network standards.

29
Q

What happens in Layer 4, the middle of the OSI Model?

A

Layer 4 is the Transport layer and reliably sends segments and datagrams over the network layer, dealing with things like acknowledgement and multiplexing. This layer implements TCP across IP networks.

30
Q

What is Layer 5 of the OSI Model?

A

Layer 5 manages the individual Session for this specific connection.

31
Q

What goes on in Layer 6 of the OSI Model?

A

Layer 6 is the Presentation layer, and takes the data from the Session layer and presents it in a usable way to the application. It is sometimes called the Syntax layer.

32
Q

What is Layer 7 of the OSI Model?

A

The highest layer, this looks at the connection to the Application itself, identifying resources and synchronising communication.

33
Q

How is the OSI Model used in a data connection?

A

Data from one device enters the OSI Model at Layer 7, and works all the way down to Layer 1 where it is then transported across to the other device. There, it enters at Layer 7 and works its way back up through the levels to interact with the user’s application at the far end.

34
Q

What is an NIC?

A

A Network Interface Card is the interface from a device to the network. Initially it was a separate card, and although this is still common, many NICs are now integral to device itself, as most items are now designed with network connectivity from the outset.

35
Q

What is a MAC address?

A

A Media Access Control address (MAC address) identifies a specific NIC, and is unique to that device. In the postal system, it would be the name of the person you are trying to reach.

36
Q

What is an IP address used for?

A

If the MAC address is the name of the device, the IP address is where you’d find it. It sits on Layer 3 of the OSI Model.

37
Q

What are the two main formats of IP addresses?

A

IPv4 has been around since 1982, but is limited in the number of unique addresses it can provide, about 4 billion (a 10 digit number). A sample IPv4 address would be 10.225.105.87, where each block is a number between 0 and 255.
The newer IPv6 designed to replace it has an unfathomable number of combinations (a 39 digit number!)
A sample IPv6 address is DACB:8C5D:39F5:216F:490B:9001:BAF3:7C5A where each value is a hexadecimal number.

38
Q

What is Hexadecimal?

A

Hexadecimal is a system of counting that uses a base of 16 rather than 10, using the numbers 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E and F.
As there are 16 possible values, each one can be represented by 4 bits in a digital binary number (16 is 2 to the power of 4, or 2x2x2x2).

39
Q

What makes IPv6 a unique address?

A

An IPv6 is so long it can contain the unique MAC address of the device, guaranteeing that there won’t be two devices using the same address.

40
Q

What is a Subnet Mask?

A

As subnet mask is a way of describing which part of an IP address is the network prefix, and which is the host address or device.
Imagine a telephone number 01621 456000, where the first 5 digits (01621) form the code for the area, and the last six (456000) is the number of the actual business you’re trying to contact.
An example subnet mask would be 255.255.255.0, meaning the first 3 octets are prefix, and the last octet are the devices themselves. This network example will allow 256 different devices.

41
Q

What is an octet?

A

An octet is one of four groups of numbers in an IPv4 address, as it is represented by 8 binary numbers.
The value of the octet can be from 0-255, as 2 to the power of 8 or 2x2x2x2x2x2x2x2 gives 256 possible values.

42
Q

What is a Static IP address?

A

Some devices must always be on the same IP address, so that other devices can find them, such as video conferencing units. They would use an allocated static IP address.

43
Q

What is Dynamic IP addressing?

A

In dynamic IP addressing, the IP address is assigned to each connected device from a pool, as and when required.

44
Q

What does DHCP stand for?

A

Dynamic Host Control Protocol, which is the way dynamic IP addresses are issued.

45
Q

What is the minimum required to assign a static IP address?

A

The minimum is the IP address to be used and the subnet mask. Additional information could be device name, DNS server and gateway.

46
Q

Why is a hybrid approach sometimes used on a DHCP network?

A

Some devices require a state IP address, so the DHCP server can be programmed to only assign specific IP address to certain devices, and have a pool of the remaining IP addresses for sharing between the rest.

47
Q

What is the Lease Time on a DHCP network?

A

The lease time is the duration that the DHCP IP address is assigned to before it expires. If an IP address is still required by the device then another allocation will be made, it may or may not be the same IP address.

48
Q

What does DNS stand for?

A

DNS stands for Domain Name System, which is away of assigning a name to an IP address location, rather than having to remember a series of numbers. A DNS sever would translate the website address you entered into an IP address it can direct your request to. A DNS might be used to identify AV equipment on a network, to reduce the chance of typos when rebooting a VC unit, for example.

49
Q

What does WINS stand for?

A

WINS stands for Windows Internet Naming Service, which is a Microsoft feature broadly equivalent to using a DNS.

50
Q

What does a network switch do?

A

A network switch connects to each of the end devices (usually via Ethernet or WiFi) and sends incoming traffic to devices it recognises as connected. Switches usually work in the Datalink Layer (2) of the OSI model.

51
Q

What is an unmanaged switch?

A

A unmanaged switch has pretty much no manual adjustment or configuration at all, it just plugs in and works, often in a home environment.

52
Q

What is a managed switch?

A

A managed switch allows the network manager to make configuration changes, such as adjust settings for specific devices, configure VLANs and partitions, and manage traffic and quality. These are much more common than unmanaged devices in a corporate environment.

53
Q

What does a router do?

A

Routers work in Layers 3 and 4 of the OSI model, the Network and Transport layers respectively. If the switch was the equivalent of a postman, the routers would be the local postal service.

54
Q

What is a Gateway router?

A

A gateway is the highest level of the routers, and provides a connection to the outside world, all traffic being sent to other destinations would be sent here for onward transmission.

55
Q

What does a Bridge do?

A

A bridge is used to connect two networks together, allowing traffic across the bridge if necessary. Keeping networks smaller but allowing traffic to bridge between them if necessary can make networks more efficient and reduce data collisions.

56
Q

What is the importance of network security?

A

When company, government or personal is stored on a network, access to that network and it’s data must be strictly controlled. Attacks come in many forms, perhaps to steal data or to disrupt operations.

57
Q

What is the relevance of IT networking the the AV specialist?

A

Most AV equipment these days in some ways runs on or connects to an IT network. An understanding of IT and the importance of areas such as network security are increasingly beneficial for the AV professional.

58
Q

What is NAC and why is it used?

A

Network Access Control (NAC) determines the security measures that need to be satisfied in order to connect equipment to a network. It may for example, prevent the connection of external USB drives to devices, or require a certain level of software and security patching.

59
Q

What is an Access Control List (ACL)?

A

An access control list is used by routers to decide what traffic can be passed, based on source, destination, data types etc. It is likely that any AV equipment connected to a network will need the correct ACL settings otherwise certain features will not work.

60
Q

What is a Firewall?

A

A firewall is a device for protecting networks, a bit like security staff at a building entrance or airport.

61
Q

What is Port Address Translation (PAT)?

A

Port address translation is a firewall technique whereby multiple devices on a secure network can use one single IP address as their originating details.
Any outgoing traffic only shows the single IP address, leaving the internal address information private, in the same way that most banks don’t publish a floor-plan showing the location of the safe.

62
Q

Name four types of firewall technologies.

A

Packet filtering
Network address translation
Port address translation
Port forwarding

63
Q

How can NAT and PAT help with IP address shortages?

A

By translating the IP address of all devices on a single local network, and using a single outgoing IP address, means that the same IP addresses can be re-used on multiple networks without clashing, as the addresses are only published within their own network. Incoming traffic only knows the single IP address of the local network.

64
Q

Why is it important for AV professionals to work closely with their IT counterparts?

A

AV networks will only function correctly if all of the required data traffic is permitted to cross the network efficiently.
In order to configure the IT and security networks correctly, the IT teams will need specific details about the ports and protocols used by the various connected devices.

65
Q

How can easily tell the difference between a single mode and multi mode optical fibre?

A

Single mode optical fibres have a yellow outer jacket, whilst multi mode fibres use orange.

InfoComm CTS Exam (16 decks)

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