Network Components
Define a computer network.
A computer network is two or more computing devices connected together in order to share resources.
List an Example of a Wired Network and Wireless Network
Wired: Buiness Ethernet Network, Telephone Network, Internet, Cable Television
Wireless: LoRa IoT Sensor Network, Mobile Phone Network, SatNav Network, Bluetooth
What are the Four Internet Protocol Layers
1. Link
2. Internet
3. Transport
4. Application
What is a protocol?
Protocols are sets of rules and requirements that describe how the standardization will work.
There are many different protocols, from ones that describe the physical nature of how data should be transmitted along transmission media, to ones that describe how a piece of software should work across the internet. If the rules and requirements set out in the protocols are not followed, then communication cannot take place.
What type of Typology is the Internet? (Please be specific) And why must it be this type?
Partial MESH.
The internet needs to be a mesh network so that messages, or data, can get to wherever they need to across the network, even if one link is down or congested. This distributed mesh topology of the internet was planned from the outset so that the network could continue to grow and reliably deliver the data required across the world.
The device enables multiple wired devices to connect to a central point in the network.
Uses packet switching to ensure that the correct device receives the data required and that all connected devices can access available resources.
The difference between an IP Address and Mac Address
MAC Address: Unique address assigned to every single network interface card in the world
IP Address: An IP address is a unique identifier assigned to a device or domain that connects to the Internet. Each IP address is a series of characters, such as '192.168.1.1
What is the Internet Protocol?
The Internet Protocol (IP) is a protocol, or set of rules, for routing and addressing packets of data so that they can travel across networks and arrive at the correct destination. Data traversing the Internet is divided into smaller pieces, called packets. IP information is attached to each packet, and this information helps routers to send packets to the right place. Every device or domain that connects to the Internet is assigned an IP address, and as packets are directed to the IP address attached to them, data arrives where it is needed.
Once the packets arrive at their destination, they are handled differently depending on which transport protocol is used in combination with IP.
What is the DNS Protocol and what does it do?
Domain Name System - translates human-readable domain names to IP addresses - users are able to access websites without memorizing this complex series of characters.
The Unit of Measurement for Network Speed/Capacity
What is bits per second - bps
What is a Wireless Access Point?
Define LAN, WAN, PAN and list and example of each
Local Area Network - School, Home, Work Networks,
Wide Area Network - Mobile Phone Network, The Internet, City-wide CCTV Network, Global Positioning System
Personal Area Network - Smartwatch, and Hands-free Headset/Bluetooth
What is the Internet Layer?
What is the FTP Protocol and what does it do?
File Transfer Protocol - This is a method of transferring and sharing files across the internet. Not secure - unencrypted.
What is the Internet?
The Internet is a collection of servers, networks, and routers that covers the globe connecting countries and people together.
Another way to explain this is that the internet is the infrastructure or fabric that creates the global network
What is a Network Interface Card? What are the two types of Interface Cards?
Internal/Ethernet/Wired & External/Wifi/Wireless
The NIC enables a network connection between a computer and another networked device.
Draw a Star Network Typology and Explain the Advantages and Disadvantages
Star topology network, all nodes (computers or other network devices) are connected to a central node. When a node needs to send data to another node on the network, that data will pass through the central node.
Advantages:
If a node or its link breaks, it does not affect the rest of the network.
New Nodes Easily Added
Works well under heavy load
Disadvantages:
The central node is the network’s single point of failure
More expensive.
This layer of the Internet Protocol contains the TCP or UDP data. In this layers the host-to-host communication is established and the port number for sending/receicing application is stored.
What is the Transport Layer?
What is the HTTP/HTTPS Protocol and what does it do? (What is the difference between the two?)
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (Secure) - Protocol for retrieving information from remove servers across the WWW - Primarily used to access web pages
The secure version - HTTPS - encapsulates all the requested info in an encrypted data stream.
What is the World Wide Web (WWW)
The World Wide Web is a collection of data and information, accessed through web pages, generally using a web browser via the internet.
Another way to explain this is that the internet is the infrastructure or fabric that creates the global network, whilst the WWW is one of the services that run across this network. It is important that learners realize that the WWW is not the only service available over the internet. The WWW is ‘served’ over the internet using the HTTP or HTTPS protocol.
Explain what a modem and router are and how they work together.
A modem connects your home network to your ISP. The modem translates the digital binary language from the PC into analog information.
A router connects to the modem and expands the network so they all wired and wireless devices can connect at once. The Router provides all connected devices their own internal IP Address.
Draw and Explain the Two Different Types of Mesh Networks
Mesh topology network, nodes are connected to multiple nodes, providing multiple paths or routes for data to get from one node to another.
A partial mesh topology, there are multiple paths, but not all nodes are connected to all other nodes.
A full mesh topology, all nodes connect directly to all other nodes on the network.
Mesh networks require some sort of calculations to happen between the network nodes to ensure that only one path between nodes is active at any one time. If you did not do this, then you would introduce a loop in the network, which would result in network broadcast storms.
The Application Layer is the layer of the packet where the data being transmitted resides - taking data from application protocols and formatting it so it can be passed to the layers below. It is in this layer that the application level protocols reside (HTTP, DNS, DHCP, FTP).
What are the three protocols we learned that related to messaging and Email?
SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol - Sends Emails
POP - Post Office Protocol - Retrieval of email by an email client from the server to local client application
IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol - Retrieval of emails from servers by email clients applications (stays on server)
List 3/5 Methods you can use to protect your Network.
Antivirus Software
Firewall
System and Security Updates
Two-Factor Authentication
Penetration Testing