2.1 Network Fundamentals
This type of network consists of computers interconnected within a small geographical location, such as a single office, home, or campus.
What is a LAN (Local Area Network)?
This system uses a distributed database and caching to manage billions of requests per day, scaling easily to resolve domain names globally.
What is DNS (Domain Name System)?
This is the maximum rate of data transfer across a given network path.
What is bandwidth?
This security system monitors and controls incoming and outgoing network traffic based on a set of rules, typically comprising allow and deny lists.
What is a firewall?
Adding an "S" to the end of this standard web protocol indicates that the communication is securely encrypted for things like online booking.
What is HTTPS?
This is a secure connection that runs across the public internet to provide private communication between your network and a remote server.
What is a VPN (Virtual Private Network)?
This type of network topology features all individual nodes emanating from a central point, such as a hub or a switch.
What is a star topology?
This highly scalable tool breaks large pieces of data into smaller chunks that transmit across the network independently and reassemble at their destination.
What is packet switching?
This is the overarching term used to describe a classic range of attacks, including computer viruses, worms, and trojan horses.
What is malware (or malicious software)?
Because every node has an immediate, direct connection to every other node, critical infrastructure such as military and aviation environments often use this topology for robust resilience.
What is a mesh topology?
In this type of system, multiple computers are connected together to achieve common goals, offering fault tolerance but coming at the cost of increased design and maintenance complexity.
What is a distributed system?
In this common network model, powerful centralized computers provide resources, data, and services to user devices.
What is the client-server model?
Because it uses light waves instead of electrical signals, this type of cabling has very low signal loss over long distances and is not susceptible to electromagnetic interference.
What is fibre-optic cabling?
This social engineering attack attempts to steal sensitive information by masquerading as a trustworthy entity in an email or electronic communication.
What is phishing?
Because it uses electrical signals, this common type of Ethernet cable (like Category 6a) is susceptible to electromagnetic interference and typically has a limited range of about 100 meters.
What is twisted-pair cabling?
It is the hardware component on an individual device, such as a laptop or mobile phone, that allows it to connect to the network.
This computing architecture delivers services like storage, databases, and software over the internet, often on a pay-as-you-go basis.
What is cloud computing?
These vital network devices sit at gateways and use routing tables to ensure data packets find the optimal path to their destination across complex networks.
What are routers?
This form of encryption uses two different keys: a public key shared openly to encrypt the data, and a private key kept secret to decrypt it.
What is asymmetric encryption?
Centered around an individual person, this type of network typically covers a very small range of about 10 meters and commonly relies on Bluetooth connectivity.
What is a PAN (Personal Area Network)?
It is used to convert between digital and analog signals.
What is a modem?
This technology logically separates a single physical network into multiple distinct broadcast domains, enhancing both network security and efficiency.
What is a VLAN (Virtual Local Area Network)?
This newer iteration of the Internet Protocol was developed to handle the massive influx of modern devices, utilizing 128-bit addresses instead of 32-bit.
What is IPv6?
This type of attack attempts to overwhelm a target server or network with a flood of internet traffic from multiple compromised computer systems.
What is a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack?
This network security method restricts access by only allowing devices that have their unique physical hardware identifier on a pre-approved list.
What is MAC address filtering?