Introduction to Computer Network

Introduction to COMPUTER NETWORK

1. What is a computer network?

Ans. A computer nerwork is a set of computers and other units that are connected with each other.

2. Give some example of wired technology.

Ans. Coaxial cable, twisted pair cable, optical fiber cable, etc are example of  wired technology.

3. Give some example of wiredless technology.

Ans. Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, WiMAX, etc are example of wiredless technology.

4. How many types of computer network are there based on the size of the network?

Ans. There are four types of computer network. Example:- PAN (Personal Area Network), LAN (Local Area Network), MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network).

5. What is Personal Area Network?

Ans. Personal Area Network is the simplest computer network. It is normally set up for individual use within a limited geograplical range of about 10 meters from a central device to the other communicating device.

For example, someone can set up a Personal Area Network between his laptop and other electronic gadgets like a smartphone, PDA, tablet, printer, etc.

6. Which one is the wired technology of computer network?

a) Wi-Fi b) Coaxial cable

c) Bluetooth d) WiMAX

Ans. b) Coaxial cable

7. Which is the simplest type of computer network?

a) PAN b) LAN

c) MAN d) WAN

Ans. a) PAN

8. Write a short note on PAN.

Ans. PAN : PAN stands for Personal Area Network. It is the simplest computer network which is normally set up for individual use within a limited geographical range. It, in normal circumstances, offers a network range of about 10 meters from a central device to the other communicating devices.

    For example, someone can set up a PAN between his laptop and other electronic gadgets like a smartphone, PDA, tablet, printer, etc.

9. Write a short note on LAN.

Ans. Local Area Network (LAN) is the most commonly used network. Here, a number of units are connected to each other in a small area such as a building, office, etc. with the help of a common communication path like a switch or a similar connecting device. We can observe such networks in banks, cyber cafes, or even in our school's laboratory. Most of the time this type of network is set up to share common facilities like internet connection, network printer, etc. 

  For example, if there is a LAN in our school and all computers of our school's laboratory are connected to the LAN, only one internet connection can be shared by all computers of our school. In such a scenario, there is no need for individual internet connections for each computer to access the internet. Similarly, if a network printer is connected to the LAN, we can print a page from any computer at our school.

10. Which one of the following is the most commonly used network?

a. PAN      b. LAN

c. MAN      d. WAN

Ans. b. LAN

11. The type of network that we usually observe in banks, cyber cafes, or even in our school's laboratory is -

a. PAN          b. LAN

c. MAN          d. WAN

Ans. b. LAN

12. what is the full from of MAN?

Ans. The full from of MAN is Metropolitan Area Network.

13. Metropolitan Area Networks are normally spread over -

    a. within a limited geographical range

    b. in a small area  such as a building, office etc.

    c. entire city or a wide geographic location.

    d. None of the above

Ans. c. entire city or a wide geographic location.

14. Which of the following statement is not correct?

a) Metropolitan Area Networks are normally spread over entire city or a wide geographic location.

b) MAN is formedby interconnecting multiple LANs.

c) Metropolitan Area Networks have to be in metropolitan or urban areas only.

d) MANs typically merge the networks of multiple organisatins to establish communication.

Ans. c) Metropolitan Area Networks have to be in metropolitan or urban areas only.

15. What do MANs usually do?

Ans. MANs usually merge the networks of multiple organisatins to establish communication or to share common resources.

16. What is the full form of ISP?

Ans. Intrnet Service Provider

17. What is the full form of OFC?

Ans. Optical Fibre Cable.

18. What is the full form of WAN?

Ans. Wide Area Network

19. How id WAN formed?

Ans. WAN is formed by connecting

20. Give an example of WAN.

Ans. Internet

21. Give three examples of external storage devices.

Ans. Three examples of external storage devices are - pen drive, CD and DVD.

22. Give an advantage of Computer Network.

Ans. An advantage of Computer Network is that we can copy files from a computer to an another computer through it without visiting the computers physically.

23. How can we refer to a computer in a network?

Ans. We can refer to a computer in a network by it’s hostname, IP address, or MAC address.

24. What is network address?

Ans. A Network Address is a logical or physical address that uniquely identifies a host or a machine in a telecommunication network. We can refer to a computer in a network by it’s hostname, IP address, or MAC address.

25. What is hostname?

Ans. The hostname is the name of a computer or any connected device in a computer network. Some people calls it computer name also.

26. Why is hostname used for?

Ans. A hostname is used to distinguish a device within a computer network.

27. Why can two hostnames of two computers may be the same?

Ans. Two hostnames of two computers may be the same because there’s options to change hostname of a computer independently.

28.What is IP address?

Ans. An Internet Protocol address is a numerical label that is assigned to network device to identify them uniquely.

29. How many types of IP addresses are there? What are they?

Ans. There are two types of IP addresses. They are -

i. IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) and 

ii. IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6)

30. What is the length of IPv4 and IPv6 address?

Ans. The lengths of IPv4 and IPv6 address are 32 bit and 128 bit respectively.

31. How many segments do an IPv4 address have and what is its length?

Ans. An IPv4 address have 4 segments of eight-bit of length each and 32 bit in total.

32. Give an example of an IPv4 address.

Ans. 172.16.254.2 is an example of an IPv4 address.

33. What is the full from of  DHPC ?

Ans. The full of DHPC is Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol.

34. What does DHPC server  do ? 

Ans. DHPC server maintains a pool of IP addresses and based on a request, it assigns an IP address

from thee pool of a computer. Assignment of IP address using a DHPE server overcomes the problem

of IP conflict in a computer network. 

35. What is MAC address?

Ans. A Media Access Control Address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network 

inferface controller.

36. What is the full form of NIC?

Ans. The full form of NIC is Network Inferface Controller.

37. What is NIC?

Ans. NIC stands for Network Inferface Controller. It is the part where a network cable is physically connected.

38. Why are MAC addresses called buned-in addresses, or Ethernet hardware addresses, or Ethernet physical addresses?

Ans. MAC address are assigned by hardware manufacturers and cannot be changed by a user. Therefore, MAC address are also called buned-in address, or Ethernet hardware addresses, or Ethernet physical addresses.

39. Why can MAC addresses can be used as unique identifier of a computer in a computer network?

Ans. MAC addresses are assigned by hardware manufacturers and cannot be modified by a user. Therefore, MAC address can be used as unique identifier of a computer in a computer network.

40. What is the full form of OUI?

Ans. The full form of OUI is Organisational Unique Identifier.

41. How is the uniqueness of the MAC adrreses maintained?

Ans. A Media Access Control Address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network inferface controller represented as six groups of two hexadecimal digits, separated by hyphens or colons, or sometime without any seperator. Such addresses are assigned by hardware manufacturers and cannot be modified by a user. Though many hardware manufactureres manufacture them, still the uniqueness of the MAC adrreses is maintained as a globally recognised committee IEEE registration Authority Committee assigns unique OUI (Organisational Unique Identifier) to hardware manufacturers to use it as a prefix of MAC address. The uniqueness of the remaining six hexadecimal digits is maintained by each manufacturer individually. Thus MAC addresses become globally unique.  

(Satyajeet Saikia, Beltola, Guwahati)