Networking Basics (2.2, 2.4, 2.7, 2.8 and 3.1)

Question 1

What is a switch?

Answer 1

A smart hub that remembers the ports that are connected to it

Question 2

What is a hub, and how many ports can it have?

Answer 2

A network hardware device for connecting multiple Ethernet devices together and making them act as a single network segment. It can have between 4 and 48 ports.

Question 3

Difference between a managed and unmanaged switch?

Answer 3

Performs functions with configuration; performs functions without configuration

Question 4

What is a router used for?

Answer 4

Connecting different networks together.

Question 5

What is a wireless access point?

Answer 5

A device that allows wireless devices to connect to a wired network.

Question 6

What does a firewall do?

Answer 6

Scans and blocks traffic that enters or leaves a network. Can be based on preconfigured rules.

Question 7

What is a patch panel?

Answer 7

A device that allows cable network jacks to go from a wall into a central area.

Question 8

What is PoE?

Answer 8

Electrical power from a switch port over an ordinary data cable to a power device.

Question 9

What does a power injector do?

Answer 9

Plugs into a wall outlet to get power

Question 10

What does a cable modem do?

Answer 10

Translates coaxial cable signals into radio frequency waves .

Question 11

What does a DSL modem do?

Answer 11

Translates coaxial cable signals into phone lines

Question 12

What does an Optical Network Terminal (ONT) do?

Answer 12

Terminates fiber connection.

Question 13

What is software defined networking?

Answer 13

A way of virtualising the network hardware

Question 14

What does a LAN do?

Answer 14

Connects components within a limited distance; up to a few hundred feet

Question 15

Define a campus area network.

Answer 15

Connects LANs that are building-centric across a university, industrial park or business park; up to a few miles

Question 16

What does a metropolitan area network do?

Answer 16

Connects scattered locations across a city or metro area (up to about 25 miles)

Question 17

What does a wide area network do?

Answer 17

Connects geographically disparate internal networks and consists of leased lines or VPNs; worldwide coverage

Question 18

What is a wireless LAN?

Answer 18

A wireless distribution method for two or more devices that creates a LAN using wireless frequencies

Question 19

What does a storage area network do?

Answer 19

Provisions access to configurable pools of storage devices that can be used by application servers

Question 20

How does a SoHo LAN work?

Answer 20

Uses a centralised server or simply provides clients access to local devices

Question 21

What is the Internet of Things?

Answer 21

A global network of appliances and personal devices that have been equipped with sensors, software, and network connectivity to report state and configuration

Question 22

What does a registered jack do?

Answer 22

Carries voice or data which specifies the standards a device needs to meet in order to connect to the phone or data network

Question 23

What is bandwidth?

Answer 23

The theoretical measure of how much data could be transferred from a source to its destination

Question 24

How far can keep cable run?

Answer 24

Under 70m, from the IDF to the office

Question 25

Define throughput.

Answer 25

The actual measure of how much data is successfully transferred from a source to its destination

Question 26

What is Ethernet Standard?

Answer 26

A designation given to a particular category that provides the ability to understand the bandwidth and the cable type to be used

Question 27

What is a Straight-through cable (patch cable)?

Answer 27

Contains the exact same pinouts on both ends of the cable

Question 28

What is the standard that is preferred when wiring jacks inside of buildings?

Answer 28

568b

Question 29

What special ability does a crossover cable have?

Answer 29

The ability to take send and receive pins from one cable and swap those on the other end

Question 30

What is a medium dependent interface crossover?

Answer 30

An automated way to electronically simulate using a crossover cable

Question 31

What is direct burial?

Answer 31

A cable rating that specifies that a cable has a stronger sheathing and jacket that can withstand more extreme weather conditions

Question 32

What does it mean if a cable is plenum rated?

Answer 32

It is more fire resistant and minimises the amount of dangerous fumes that are released

Question 33

How does fiber optic cable trasmit information? Name two benefits of using fiber optic.

Answer 33

By using light from an LED or laser through a thin glass fiber Greater usable range and greater data capacity

Question 34

List three possible hardware types that can become a limitation on fiber optic

Answer 34

Switches, routers and end-user devices

Question 35

When would you use single mode fiber (SMF), and how is it different to normal fiber optic?

Answer 35

You would use it for longer distances; it has a smaller core size which allows for only a single mode of travel for the light signal

Question 36

What is the diameter of the core size of SMF?

Answer 36

8.3^-10 u

Question 37

Give some characteristics of multimode fiber (MMF).

Answer 37

Used for shorter distances; larger core size which allows for multiple modes of travel for the light signal 50-100u core size diameter 2km or less

Question 38

Is SMF or MMF more expensive?

Answer 38

SMF

Question 39

What is twinaxial cable?

Answer 39

Similar to coaxial cable but uses two inner conductors to carry the data instead of just one.

Question 40

What is coaxial cable?

Answer 40

A type of electrical cable consisting of an inner conductor surrounded by a concentric conducting shield, with the two separated by a dielectric (insulating material)

Question 41

When would you use a snip/cutter?

Answer 41

To cut a piece of cable off a larger spool or run of cable

Question 42

When would you use a cable stripper?

Answer 42

When preparing the end of a cable for attachment to a connector

Question 43

What is a cable crimper used for?

Answer 43

Attaching the connector to the end of the cable

Question 44

What is a wire mapping tool?

Answer 44

Works like a cable tester, but specifically for twisted pair ethernet cables

Question 45

List six problems that might occur in twisted pair cable configurations.

Answer 45

- Open pairs - Shorted pairs - Short between pairs - Reversed pairs - Crossed pairs - Split pairs

Question 46

What tool is used to determine a cable's category or data throughput?

Answer 46

A cable certifier

Question 47

What does a punch-down block do?

Answer 47

Terminates the wires and strips off excess installation and extra wires that are no longer needed

Question 48

How would you use a tone generator and toner probe?

Answer 48

Generate a tone on one end of the connection and use the probe to audibly detect the wire connected on the other side

Question 49

What does a loopback adapter/device do?

Answer 49

Facilitates the testing of simple networking issues

Question 50

What does a tap do?

Answer 50

Connects directly to the cable infrastructure and splits or copies those packets for analysis, security, or general network management

Question 51

What does a wireless analyser do?

Answer 51

Ensures proper coverage and prevents overlap between WAP coverage zones and channels

Question 52

Name the first three layers of the OSI model.

Answer 52

1. Physical layer 2. Data link layer 3. Network layer

Question 53

Name layers 4-7 of the OSI model.

Answer 53

4. Transport layer 5. Session layer 6. Presentation layer 7. Application layer

Question 54

Name the OSI layer fitting this description: "Decides which physical path the data will take."

Answer 54

3. Network layer

Question 55

What does the OSI presentation layer do?

Answer 55

Ensures that data is in a usable format; encrypts data

Question 56

Describe what the OSI application layer does.

Answer 56

It provides protocols that allow software to send and receive information and present meaningful data to users.