Section 1
Exercises
What is a computer network?
How are computers connected together?
To what does the word node (host) refer?
Name and describe two key issues related to computer networks.
What is a synonym for data transfer rate?
Describe the client/server model and discuss how it has changed how we think about computing.
Just how local is a local-area network?
Distinguish between the following LAN topologies: ring, star, and bus.
How does the shape of the topology influence message flow through a LAN?
What is Ethernet?
What is a WAN?
What is a gateway and what is its purpose?
What is the Internet?
What is a MAN and what makes it different from a LAN and a WAN?
Distinguish between the Internet backbone and an Internet service provider (ISP).
Name at least two national ISPs.
Name and describe three technologies for connecting a home computer to the Internet.
What role do ISPs play with the three technologies in Exercise 17?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of each of the technologies in Exercise 17?
Phone modems and digital subscriber lines (DSLs) use the same kind of phone line to transfer data. Why is DSL so much faster than phone modems?
Why do DSL and cable modem suppliers use technology that devotes more speed to downloads than to uploads?
Messages sent across the Internet are divided into packets. What is a packet and why are messages divided into them?
Explain the term packet switching.
What is a router?
What is a repeater?
What problems arise due to packet switching?
What are proprietary systems and why do they cause a problem?
What do we call the ability of software and hardware on multiple platforms from multiple commercial vendors to communicate?
What is an open system and how does it foster interoperability?
Compare and contrast proprietary and open systems.
What is the seven-layer logical breakdown of network interaction called?
What is a protocol stack and why is it layered?
What constitutes the foundation of Internet communication?
What is the role of the IP protocol?
What is the role of the TCP protocol?
Define TCP/IP.
Compare TCP and UDP.
What is the functionality of the utility program ping?
What is the functionality of the utility program Traceroute?
List four high-level protocols and what they specify.
What do we call a numeric designation corresponding to a particular high-level protocol?
Define MIME type.
What is a firewall, what does it accomplish, and how does it accomplish it?
What is a host name and how is it composed?
What is an IP address and how is it composed?
What is the relationship between a hostname and an IP address?
Into what parts can an IP address be split?
What are the relative sizes of Class A networks, Class B networks, and Class C networks?
How many hosts are possible in Class C networks, in Class B networks, and in Class A networks?
What is a domain name?
What is a top-level domain name?
How does the current domain name system try to resolve a hostname?