Networks - What are networks?

Question 1

What does LAN stand for?

Answer 1

Local Area Network

Question 2

What are the attributes of a LAN?

Answer 2

Hardware is owned by corporation that uses it
Wired or wireless
Often found in businesses, schools and universities
Lots of homes have a LAN to connect to different devices

Question 3

What is WAN?

Answer 3

A Wide Area Network that connects LANs

Question 4

What are the attributes of WAN?

Answer 4

Connects LANs in different geographical locations (countries)
Very expensive
Connected using telephone lines, satellite links or radio links
Example of WAN is the internet

Question 5

Why is WAN so expensive?

Answer 5

Organisations have to hire infrastructure from telecommunications companies who own and manage the WAN.

Question 6

What is PAN?

Answer 6

A Personal Area Network that connects devices over a short range

Question 7

What are the attributes of a PAN?

Answer 7

Centred around a single user (usually)
Often used to transmit between smartphone or wearable devices
Often use Bluetooth - strong but short range
Don’t require additional hardware - good

Question 8

What does NIC stand for?

Answer 8

Network Interface Card

Question 9

What does an NIC do?

Answer 9

It is a piece of hardware inside a device that allows it to connect to networks - wired and wireless

Question 10

What are switches used for?

Answer 10

To connect devices on a LAN

Question 11

How are routers used?

Answer 11

To transmit data between different networks

Question 12

What factors affect the choice of cable needed in a wired network?

Answer 12

Cost
Bandwidth
How far you need to transmit data

Question 13

What are the 3 types of cables?

Answer 13

Fibre optic
Cat 5e / Cat 6
Coaxial cables

Question 14

What is bandwidth?

Answer 14

The amount of data that can be sent across a network in a given time

Question 15

What do “Fibre Optic” cables do?

Answer 15

Transmit data as light
High performance
Expensive
Don’t suffer interference
Transmit over very large distances - at high bandwidth without loss of signal quality

Question 16

What are Cat 5e / Cat 6 cables?

Answer 16

Common types of Ethernet
Contain pairs of copper wires twisted together to reduce internal interference
Cheaper than fibre optic cables
Decent bandwidth
Commonly used in homes and offices for a LAN

Question 17

What are coaxial cables?

Answer 17

Made of single copper wire surrounding by plastic layer for insulation
A metallic mesh which provides shielding from outer interference
Very cheap
Low bandwidth

Question 18

What are benefits of networking computers?

Answer 18

Sharing files is easier - users can access the same files…
Share the same hardware between multiple devices
Install and update software all at once (rather than 1 by 1)
Can communicate across a network cheaply and easily (e.g email)
Users can log in from any device on the network

Question 19

What are the disadvantages of networking computers?

Answer 19

Expensive to set up - need lots of hardware
Vulnerable to hacking and malware - all the computers are connected
Some networks are dependent on servers - if they go down it is very disruptive
Large networks are difficult to manage and may need to employ a specialist to maintain them