Flashcards
Networking
Cards in this deck (29)
- 1What is a computer network?A computer network is a set of computers connected together for the purpose of sharing resources. The most common resource shared today is connection to the Internet. Other shared resources can include a printer or a file server. The Internet itself can be considered a computer network
- 2What is a LAN?A LAN is a local area network. It covers a small geographical area, e.g. A school, library, house
- 3What is a WANA WAN is a wide area network. It covers a large geographical area, e.g. a telephone network
- 4What are the advantages of a computer network?A network allows you to connect with other people and share resources and information.
- 5What are the disadvantages of a computer network?While being on a network, people can gain access to personal information
- 6What devices are needed for a LAN?A broadband connection.
A router.
A modem (if there isn't one built in to your router)
Hub/switch
Network Interface Card - 7What is the purpose of an NIC?An NIC (Network Interface Card) is a component in a computer which allows it to connect to a network. It is needed by all devices to connect to a network.
- 8What is the purpose of a Router?Will either support wired or wireless connections. A home and business may use this device to connect to connect their network to another network such as the internet.
- 9What is the purpose of a Hub?It connects multiple Ethernet devices together to one unit. It works on a physical layer.
- 10What is the purpose of a Switch?A Switch connects multiple devices/computers on one LAN. It works on a data link layer
- 11What is the purpose of a WAP?Required to allow wireless devices to connect to a network. They convert data from cables into wireless signals.
- 12What is the purpose of a web browser?A web browser is an application that allows you to access and view websites.
- 13What is the difference between a Hub and a Switch?A Hub works on a physical layer whilst a Switch works on a data link layer. A switch is more efficient than a Hub. A switch joins multiple computers in one LAN, whilst a Hub connects multiple Ethernet devices together as a single segment.
- 14What is the Internet?The internet is a global computer network which provides a variety of information and communication facilities. It is a "network of networks" in that it consists of interconnected networks using standardised communication protocols.
- 15What is the World Wide Web?An information system on the Internet which allows documents to be connected to other documents by hypertext links, enabling the user to search for information by moving from one document to another.
- 16What is an IP Address?An IP Address (Internet Protocol) is a set of numbers that can be read by a computer to identify a device on a network.
- 17What is a URL?A URL is a set of logical words which can be easily read and remembered by humans. It is used to convert a complicated, and forgettable IP Address into an easy-to-remember set of words.
- 18Explain the role of the DNSA DNS (domain name server) is used to translate domain names into IP Addresses, which computers can then understand.
- 19How is a URL constructed?A URL is constructed from 3 parts, the protocol, the domain name and the path. The protocol comes before the domain name which comes before the path. This can be seen here: Protocol-https:// Domain Name -www.youtube.com/Path -feed/library
- 20What are the three different network topologies?The three network topologies are a bus topology, a star topology and a ring topology.
- 21What are the advantages / disadvantages of a Star topology?An advantage of a star topology is that it's extremely fast because there are no data collisions as each device is on a different wire connection. A disadvantage is that it's extremely expensive to set up as it has lots of extra components and wires.
- 22What are the advantages / disadvantages of a Bus topology?An advantage of a bus topology is that it's cheap to install as there is only one wire. It's also easy to add/remove devices. A disadvantage is that it can get slow when there are more devices on it as there is more traffic.
- 23What are the advantages / disadvantages of a Ring topology?An advantage of a ring topology is that it is fast as the data only travels in one direction. It's also cheap to set up. A disadvantage is that it's unreliable. Because data passes through all devices, meaning if one device fails then the whole network goes down.
- 24List examples of data that need to be kept securePasswords, name, age, data of birth, location, phone numbers, accounts, other personal information
- 25What is a Pigpen Cypher?The pigpen cipher is a geometric simple substitution cipher, which exchanges letters for symbols which are fragments of a grid.
- 26What is a Caesar Cypher?A Caesar cipher is one of the simplest and most widely known encryption techniques. It is a type of substitution cipher in which each letter in the plaintext is replaced by a letter some fixed number of positions down the alphabet.
- 27What is encryption?Encryption is when you scramble a message or data (called Plaintext) using a cipher to make it difficult to read.
The scrambled message is called Ciphertext. A key is used to decrypt data back to Plaintext - 28What is decryption?Decryption is when you unscramble Ciphertext to make it readable. This is done using a key, which shows how to decrypt the message or data.
- 29Why encrypt data?Data should be encrypted because it stops people being able to intercept and read data, however it does not help all the time, e.g. it won't stop you manually downloading malware.