Big Idea 4-Computer Systems and Networks

Question 1

A ____________ is a physical artifact that can run a program.

Answer 1

computing device

Comment: Some examples include personal computers, tablets, servers, routers, and smart sensors.

Question 2

A ___________ is a group of computing devices and programs working together for a common purpose.

Answer 2

computing system

Question 3

A __________ is a group of interconnected computing devices capable of sending or receiving data.

Answer 3

computer network

Comment: A computer network is a type of computing system.

Question 4

A ________ between two computing devices on a computer network (a sender and a receiver) is a sequence of directly connected computing devices that begins at the sender and ends at the receiver.

Answer 4

path

Question 5

_________ is the process of finding a path from sender to receiver.

Answer 5

Routing

Question 6

The ________ of a computer network is the maximum amount of data that can be sent in a fixed amount of time.

Answer 6

bandwidth

Question 7

Bandwidth is usually measured in _________.

Answer 7

bits per second

Question 8

_________ is a computer network consisting of interconnected networks that use standardized, open (nonproprietary) communication protocols.

Answer 8

The Internet

Question 9

Access to the Internet depends on the ability to _______ a computing device to an ___________ device.

Answer 9

connect, Internet-Connected

Question 10

A _______ is an agreed-upon set of rules that specify the behavior of a system.

Answer 10

protocol

Question 11

The protocols used in the Internet are _____, which allows users to easily connect additional computing devices to the Internet.

Answer 11

open

Question 12

Routing on the Internet is usually _________; it is not specified in advance.

Answer 12

dynamic

Question 13

The _______ of a system is the capacity for the system to change in size and scale to meet new demands.

Answer 13

scalability

Question 14

The Internet was designed to be _______.

Answer 14

scalable

Question 15

Information is passed through the Internet as a data stream. Data streams contain chunks of data, which are encapsulated in ________.

Answer 15

packets

Question 16

Packets contain a chunk of ________ used for routing the packet between the origin and the destination on the Internet, as well as for data reassembly.

Answer 16

data and metadata

Question 17

True of False: Packets may arrive at the destination in order, out of order, or not at all.

Answer 17

True

Question 18

IP, TCP, and UDP are common _______ used on the Internet.

Answer 18

protocols

Question 19

The _________ is a system of linked pages, programs, and files.

Answer 19

World Wide Web

Question 20

______ is a protocol used by the World Wide Web.

Answer 20

HTTP

Question 21

The World Wide Web uses the _______.

Answer 21

Internet

Question 22

The Internet has been engineered to be ________, with abstractions for routing and transmitting data.

Answer 22

fault-tolerant

Question 23

________ is the inclusion of extra components that can be used to mitigate failure of a system if other components fail.

Answer 23

Redundancy

Question 24

One way to accomplish network redundancy is by having more than one ______ between any two connected devices.

Answer 24

path

Comment: If a particular device or connection on the Internet fails, subsequent data will be sent via a different route, if possible.

Question 25

When a system can support failures and still continue to function, it is called _________. This is important because elements of complex systems fail at unexpected times, often in groups, and ___________ allows users to continue to use the network.

Answer 25

fault-tolerant, fault tolerance

Question 26

The redundancy of routing options between two points increases the _______ of the Internet and helps it _______ to more devices and more people.

Answer 26

reliability, scale

Question 27

_____________ is a computational model in which operations are performed in order one at a time.

Answer 27

Sequential computing

Question 28

____________ is a computational model where the program is broken into multiple smaller sequential computing operations, some of which are performed simultaneously.

Answer 28

Parallel computing

Question 29

__________ is a computational model in which multiple devices are used to run a program.

Answer 29

Distributed computing

Question 30

Comparing _________ of solutions can be done by comparing the time it takes them to perform the same task.

Answer 30

efficiency

Question 31

A _________ takes as long as the sum of all of its steps.

Answer 31

sequential solution

Question 32

A ________ solution takes as long as its sequential tasks plus the longest of its parallel tasks.

Answer 32

parallel computing

Question 33

Solutions that use parallel computing can scale more _________ than solutions that use sequential computing.

Answer 33

effectively

Question 34

____________ allows problems to be solved that could not be solved on a single computer because of either the processing time or storage needs involved.

Answer 34

Distributed computing

Comment: Distributed is parallel computing but on multiple computers instead of just multiple processors within the same computer.

Question 35

__________ allows much larger problems to be solved quicker than they could be solved using a single computer.

Answer 35

Distributed computing

Question 36

Comment: When increasing the use of parallel computing in a solution, the efficiency of the solution is still limited by the sequential portion. This means that at some point, adding parallel portions will no longer meaningfully increase efficiency.