1.3.3 Networks Flashcards
What is a LAN?
A network spread oer a small geographical area.
What is a WAN?
A network spread over a large geographical area, multiple LANs connected together.
What is physical topology?
The physical layout of wires and components which form the network
What is logical topology?
The layout which shows how data flows
What is the bus topology.
All terminals are connected to a backbone cable.
What are the advantages of bus topology?
● Relatively inexpensive to set up
● Doesn’t require any additional
hardware
What are the disadvantages of bus topology?
● If backbone cable fails , the entire
network gets disconnected
● As traffic increases, performance
decreases
● All computers can see the data
transmission
What is star topology?
Devices connected to a central node, often a switch . MAC addresses used to identify devices. Switch connected to server.
What are the advantages of star topology?
● Performance is consistent even with
heavy network traffic
● If one cable fails, only that single
terminal is affected
● Transmits data faster , giving better
performance than bus topology
● Easy to add new stations.
● No data collisions
What are the disadvantages of star topology?
● Expensive due to switch and cabling
● If the central switch fails , the rest of
the network fails
What is a mesh topology?
Every node connected to every other node.
What are the advantages of mesh topology?
● If using a wireless network, there is
no cabling cost
● As the number of nodes increase,
the reliability and speed of network
becomes better
● Nodes are automatically
incorporated
● Nodes don’t go through a central
switch, improving speed
What are the disadvantages of mesh topology?
● If using a wireless network, devices
with wireless capability (which
increases cost ) must be purchased
● If using a wired network, a large
quantity of cable is required
compared to other network
topologies like bus and star. This is
expensive.
● Maintaining the network is difficult
What are protocols?
A set of rules which define how two computers communicate with each other. They are standard so all devices have a method of communicating despite manufacturer.
What are the common protocols?
- HTPP
- TCP/IP
- POP3
- IMAP
- FTP
What is the internet structure?
A network of networks. Continets are linked to each other using large international backbone cables.