Computer Networks Exam - 2nd term – June, 1st 2007

Name: ______________________________________________
Rules: Each correct answer scores 2%. Exam duration 2 hours.

Chapter 4
1. Name three functions of the network layer?
TRANSPORT DATA FROM HOST TO HOST. ON THE SENDER FRAGMENT DATA APPROPRIATELY. ON THE RECEIVING
END DELIVER DATA TO THE RIGHT UPPER PROTOCOL.

2. What tasks are performed by a router?

ROUTING AND FORWARDING
3. What types of service can be found on the network layer?
CONNECTION-ORIENTED AND CONNECTION-LESS SERVICES

4. Between which entities does the network layer provide communication?

BETWEEN END-SYSTEMS (HOSTS)
5. Mention two types of packet switching networks.
VIRTUAL CIRCUIT AND DATAGRAM NETWORKS

6. What is the purpose of IP network mask?

TO DETERMINE THE NETWORK ID TO WHAT WE BELONG (=MY_IP & MASK )
7. What is IP fragmentation?
IP FRAGMENTATION IS THE PROCESS OF SPLITTING A DATAGRAM (THAT IS TOO LARGE TO FIT ON A GIVEN
NETWORK MTU) INTO A SEQUENCE OF SMALLER DATAGRAMS

8. What is the default gateway IP configuration parameter for?

IT SERVES AS THE DEFAULT ROUTE WHEN ANY OF THE OTHERS ROUTING ENTRIES DOES NOT MATCH THE
DESTINATION

9. What other protocol can be found on the network layer accompanying IP?
ICMP
10.Why source and destination addresses are not transmitted on packets over
a Virtual Circuit packet switching network?
BECAUSE THE VIRTUAL CIRCUIT ID IS USED INSTEAD

11.Mention two switching techniques used by routers.

BUS-BASED SWITCHING AND CROSSBAR SWITCHING

12.What does it mean for a network to provide a guaranteed service? Put one
example.
THE NETWORK ENSURES A GIVEN SERVICE RATE. EXAMPLE: BANDWIDTH GUARANTEE

13.What matching function does an IP router use?

LONGEST MATCH FIRST

14.What do you use to interconnect several subnets together?

A ROUTER

15.What protocol can a computer use to obtain its IP configuration over the
network?
DHCP (DYNAMIC HOST CONFIGURATION PROTOCOL)

16.What mechanism does use a broadband router to support several

computers over a single public IP address?
NAT (NETWORK ADDRESS TRANSLATION)

17.How does ping program work?

PING SENDS AN ICMP ECHO REQUEST TO AN IP ADDRESS. UPON RECEIVING SUCH A REQUEST, ANY IP END-
SYSTEM HAS TO SEND BACK AN ECHO REPLY. ELAPSED TIME IS MEASURED AND PRINTED TO THE USER.

18.How does traceroute program work?

UDP DATAGRAMS ARE SENT DO ANIP ADDRESS. THEIR TTL VALUE IS SET WITH A COUNTING ACTION,
STARTING BY ONE, WHICH TRIGGERS ICMP'S TIME EXCEEDED MESSAGES FROM THE VARIOUS ROUTERS TO THE
DESTINATION. THE PROCESS END WHEN DATAGRAMS REACH THE DESTINATION IP.

19.What is the size (in bytes) of an IPv4 address? and Ipv6's?

IN BYTES, LET ME REPEAT, BYTES: IPV4:4 BYTES AND IPV6:16 BYTES

20.Why is tunneling used sometimes combined with IPv6?

WHENEVER AN IPV4-ONLY NETWORK NEEDS TO BE CROSSED BETWEEN TWO IPV6 NETWORKS.

21.How often does a router update its routing table?

IT DEPENDS: SOME DO IT ON A TIMELY BASIS, OTHERS ARE TRIGGERED BY EVENTS LIKE LINK CHANGES.

22.Name the routing protocols you know of.

RIP, OSPF, [BGP]
23.What is the algorithm used in Distance Vector algorithms?
BELLMAN-FORD ALGORITHM
24.What is the basic idea of a Link state routing algorithm?
ALL NODES BROADCAST THEIR LINKS' COST. ALL NODES OBTAIN A GLOBAL VIEW OF THE NETWORK AND APPLY
DIJKSTRA ALGORITHM OVER IT.
25.What layer does IP protocol belong to?
NETWORK LAYER
26.What is an autonomous system?
IT IS ONE (OR MORE) SUBNET(S) UNDER THE SAME ADMINISTRATIVE DOMAIN

Chapter 5
27.What is the main goal of the data link layer?
TO PROVIDE COMMUNICATION BETWEEN TWO SYSTEMS DIRECTLY CONNECTED BY MEANS OF A LINK

28.Mention three tasks carried out by the data link layer?

FRAMING, ERROR CONTROL, ADDRESSING

29.Why checksum algorithm is not used at the data link layer?

THERE IS NOT AN EFFICIENT WAY TO DO THE REQUIRED ADDITIONS (PLUS IT IS NOT THAT GOOD)

30.What is the preferred error control algorithm for data link layer?
CRC (CYCLIC REDUNDANCY CHECK)

31.What is a media access control protocol for?

A MAC PROTOCOL REGULATES THE ACCESS OF MULTIPLE TRANSMITTERS TO A SHARED LINK

32.Why wireless links cannot use CSMA/CD?

BECAUSE THEY CAN'T LISTEN WHILE TALKING.

33.What is the maximum throughput of channel using Aloha? And Slotted-

Aloha?
ALOHA 18% AND SLOTTED-ALOHA 36% (S-ALOHA DOBLES PURE ALOHA).
34.What is it random on the so-called Random Access Protocols?
THE ACCESS TIME. STATIONS CAN TRY TO START A TRANSMISSION AT ANY [RANDOM] TIME

35.Why CSMA/CD cannot completely avoid collisions?

BECAUSE IT CANNOT OVERCOME DELAYS ON THE LINK. THE CHANNEL MAY LOOK IDLE BUT IT IS NOT (IT WAS A
MOMENT AGO)

36.Why is there a minimum length for Ethernet frames?

TO ENSURE A TRANSMISSION DOES NOT END BEFORE A POSSIBLE COLLISION IS DETECTED

37.How many bytes long is an Ethernet MAC address?

I MEANT BYTES! ==> 6 BYTES (AKA 48 BITS).

38.What happens on a Token Ring network if the token is lost?

NODES CANNOT TRANSMIT (THIS DOES NOT LAST FOREVER THOUGH)

39.Is there a mechanism on a Token Ring network to limit how long a system
can hold the token? Why?
YES IT IS. THERE IS A (LIMITED) MAXIMUM TOKEN-HOLDING TIME. AFTER THAT THE NODE HAS TO RELEASE
THE TOKEN NO MATTER THERE IS STILL DATA LEFT OR NOT.

40.What is the purpose of the Address Resolution Protocol?

ARP SERVES TO OBTAIN THE MAC ADDRESS FOR A GIVEN IP ADDRESS.

Chapter 6
41.What is the idea behind CSMA/CA media access?
CSMA/CA WILL TRY TO AVOID COLLISIONS (AS THEY CANNOT BE EASILY DETECTED ON WIRELESS LINKS)

42.How does a wireless network fight the hidden terminal problem?

BY USING THE RTS/CTS DIALOG BEFORE A DATA TRANSMISSION

43.Which operational modes can be used for an 802.11 interface?

AD-HOC MODE OR INFRASTRUCTURE-BASED MODE

44.Why 802.11 frames need more than two MAC addresses?

A THIRD ADDRESS IS NEEDED TO ENCODE THE ACCESS POINT ADDRESS (IN INFRASTRUCTURE-BASED MODE)
Chapter 8
45.Is public key cryptography only using keys that are public?
NO , A PRIVATE (SECRET) KEY FOR EACH PUBLIC KEY IS USED TOO

46.What do you do to digitally sign a document?

MESSAGE (OR ITS HASH) IS ENCRYPTED USING THE SENDER'S PRIVATE KEY

47.What is a digital certificate?

IT'S A DOCUMENT THAT MATCHES A GIVEN USER IDENTITY WITH HIS/HER PUBLIC KEY. A CERTIFICATION
AUTHORITY SIGNS (DIGITALLY) THIS DOCUMENT.
48.What is the so-called “key distribution problem”?
IT REFERS TO THE DIFFICULTIES OF SECRETLY COMMUNICATING SECRET KEYS TO (LARGE NUMBERS OF) USERS.

49.Where do you put a firewall in your company network?

USUAL PLACE IS BETWEEN YOUR PRIVATE NETWORK AND THE PUBLIC INTERNET (SOMETIMES IT IS EMBEDDED ON
THE MAIN ROUTER)

50.How do you know the web server you are accessing is not a fake one?
IF SSL (SECURE SOCKET LAYERS), AS YOU ACCESS AN “HTTPS://”
YOU USE URL, THE SERVER HAS TO
AUTHENTICATE ITSELF. A FAKE ONE WILL GIVE YOU AN ERROR HERE.