Network Basics
This conceptual framework organizes network communication functions
What is the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model?
This topology connects all devices to a central hub or switch, making it easy to add new devices but creating a single point of failure.
What is a star topology?
Name one type of wired transmission media.
What is Twisted pair, coaxial cable, or fibre optic cable?
This is a unit of data transmitted across a network, containing both the actual information being sent and metadata like source address, destination address, and error-checking codes.
What is a data packet?
What is an intranet?
A private network used inside an organization.
This type of network uses Bluetooth technology to connect devices within approximately 10 meters, such as wireless headphones to a smartphone or a fitness tracker to a laptop.
What is a PAN (Personal Area Network)?
This protocol suite consists of two main protocols working together: one breaks data into packets and ensures reliable delivery, while the other handles addressing and routing across networks.
What is TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol)?
Which type of cable transmits data using pulses of light?
What is Fibre optic cable?
What term describes the amount of data that can be transmitted in a given time?
Bandwidth
wireless routers, access points, and network interface cards, plus programs like network drivers, security protocols, and network management software.
What are hardware and software components of wireless networks?
This technology uses encryption protocols, tunneling protocols, and authentication mechanisms.
What is VPN?
This system translates human-readable domain names into IP addresses that computers use to locate and connect to web servers.
What is DNS (Domain Name System)?
Which cable is commonly used for Ethernet connections in networks?
What is Twisted pair cable (Ethernet cable)?
Data is broken into smaller packets that travel independently through the network, each containing source and destination addresses, and may take different routes before being reassembled at the destination, providing efficient bandwidth use and fault tolerance.
What is packet switching?
Reduced security vulnerability to interception, slower speeds than wired connections, and health concerns about long-term electromagnetic radiation exposure.
What are the disadvantages of wireless networks?
Without these internationally agreed-upon specifications developed by organizations like IEEE and IETF, devices from different manufacturers and countries couldn't communicate, creating isolated technology ecosystems and preventing the global interoperability we rely on today.
What are network standards?
While TCP provides reliable, connection-oriented communication with error checking and packet ordering, this alternative transport layer protocol sacrifices reliability for speed, making it ideal for streaming and gaming.
What is UDP (User Datagram Protocol)?
What type of transmission media uses radio waves instead of cables?
What are Wireless media?
This mechanism prevents the sender from overwhelming the receiver by using techniques like sliding windows and acknowledgment signals to regulate the rate of data transmission between devices with different processing speeds.
What is flow control?
This wireless technology provides internet access over larger geographical areas than WiFi, covering up to 30 miles radius, making it suitable for rural broadband and metropolitan area networks.
What is WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access)?
VPN adoption has enabled remote work flexibility but raises these three concerns: work-life boundary erosion, job displacement in high-cost regions, and enabling both freedom of expression and illegal activity.
What are the social and ethical implications of VPN use?
HTTPS, FTPS, and SSH all implement this security approach: they encrypt data in transit, authenticate server identity through certificates, and establish secure channels before transmitting sensitive information, protecting against eavesdropping and man-in-the-middle attacks.
What are secure protocol implementations (or what is protocol encryption/security)?
TWO wireless technologies used in networking.
What are Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, infrared, microwave, satellite (any two)?
Checksums calculate values based on packet contents, parity bits that detect single-bit errors, and cyclic redundancy checks (CRC) that use polynomial division to verify data hasn't been corrupted during transmission.
What are error checking mechanisms? OR What is data integrity check mechanisms?
Encryption scrambles data using WEP, WPA, or WPA3 protocols; User authentication requires valid userID and password combinations; MAC address filtering allows only trusted device addresses to connect.
What are network security methods?