Chapter 11: Wide-Area Networks and the Internet

TRUE/FALSE 1. Leased lines are the least expensive way to connect a WAN. ANS: F 2. A WAN can be implemented using circuit switching. ANS: T 3. A WAN can be implemented using packet switching. ANS: T 4. A WAN can be implemented using analog lines. ANS: T 5. A WAN can be implemented using digital lines. ANS: T 6. Packet switching uses the shortest route. ANS: F 7. With packet switching, you never get a "busy signal". ANS: T 8. With packet switching, you always get a "real-time" connection. ANS: F 9. Packets may not arrive at the destination in the same order they were sent. ANS: T 10. Packets are often blocked by channels that are too full or are disconnected. ANS: F 11. Packets received out of order is a failure mode in packet switching. ANS: F 12. In digital communications, errors within frames are detected and corrected at the data-link layer of a protocol stack. ANS: T

13. Protocols are the various pieces of hardware used to transmit and receive digital data. ANS: F 14. The ISO OSI is a protocol. ANS: F 15. The network layer sets up the path through the network. ANS: T 16. X.25 is a protocol. ANS: T 17. An X.25 frame is similar to an HDLC frame. ANS: T 18. Each frame contains a virtual circuit. ANS: F 19. Some packets only carry control bits. ANS: T 20. X.25 gives reliable service even over relatively poor cables. ANS: T 21. Frame relay uses more error detection and correction than does X.25. ANS: F 22. Frame relay requires better quality cables than does X.25. ANS: T 23. Frame relay is faster than X.25. ANS: T 24. Variable-length frames allow faster data rates than do fixed-length frames. ANS: F 25. Frame relay allows for variable-length packets. ANS: T

26. ATM is faster than frame relay. ANS: T 27. ATM uses relatively large fixed-length frames. ANS: F 28. ATM is designed to carry real-time information such as video. ANS: T 29. ATM is best suited to fiber-optic cables. ANS: T 30. Most WANs are set up to work as extensions of the LANs they interconnect. ANS: T 31. There are only two ways to set up a WAN. ANS: F 32. The term "bridge" is another name for a repeater. ANS: F 33. Bridges must examine the address field of each packet they see. ANS: T 34. Bridges function at the data-link level. ANS: T 35. Routers operate at the network level. ANS: T 36. TCP/IP predates ISO OSI. ANS: T 37. TCP/IP contains additional levels beyond the seven described by ISO OSI. ANS: F 38. The task of IP is to get packets to their intended destination. ANS: F 39. IP is simple but very "robust".

ANS: T 40. A problem with IP is that packets can get stuck traveling the network in an endless loop. ANS: F 41. IP continues to function even if parts of the network are destroyed. ANS: T 42. One task of TCP is to detect lost packets. ANS: T 43. One task of TCP is to reorder received packets into their correct sequence. ANS: T 44. UDP is a more sophisticated version of TCP. ANS: F 45. The Internet is a large network of other networks running the TCP/IP protocols. ANS: T 46. The current 32-bit address scheme used on the Internet is highly efficient. ANS: F 47. A domain-name server stores the address of every computer attached to the Internet. ANS: F 48. An intranet is essentially a private Internet. ANS: T MULTIPLE CHOICE 1. MAN stands for: a. Manchester Access Network b. Multiple-Area Network ANS: C 2. Packet switching is based on: a. store-and-forward b. switched circuits ANS: A 3. SNA stands for: c. real-time delivery d. all of the above c. Metropolitan-Area Network d. Multiple Access Network

a. Standard Network Access b. Small Network Access ANS: D 4. The number of layers in ISO OSI is: a. 3 b. 5 ANS: C

c. Standard Network Architecture d. Systems Network Architecture

c. 7 d. 8

5. The lowest-level layer in ISO OSI is called the: a. physical layer c. cable layer b. link layer d. transport layer ANS: A 6. Bad frames are usually detected by the: a. frame layer b. physical layer ANS: D 7. A virtual circuit is set up by the: a. user b. link layer ANS: C 8. Frame Relay: a. is faster than X.25 b. does less error checking than X.25 ANS: D 9. ATM stands for: a. Asynchronous Transfer Mode b. Asynchronous Transmission Mode ANS: A 10. A bridge: a. separates a network into "collision domains" b. looks at the address of each packet c. operate at the data-link level d. all of the above ANS: D 11. IP stands for: a. Internet Process b. Internet Protocol ANS: B 12. TCP stands for: a. Transmission Control Process c. Transfer Connection Protocol c. Interconnect Protocol d. Interconnect Procedure c. Asynchronous Transmission Model d. Automatic Test Mode c. allows for variable length packets d. all of the above c. network d. frame c. error-check layer d. link layer

b. Transmission Control Protocol ANS: B 13. Together, TCP/IP consists of: a. 5 layers b. 7 layers ANS: A 14. IP is a: a. connection-oriented protocol b. virtual circuit ANS: C

d. none of the above

c. an application and a process d. datagrams

c. connectionless protocol d. non-robust protocol

15. The "lifetime" of a packet in an IP network: a. is essentially forever b. depends on elapsed time since transmission c. depends on number of "hops" between nodes d. is approximately 200 milliseconds ANS: C 16. UDP stands for: a. User Datagram Protocol b. User Data Protocol ANS: A 17. HTTP stands for: a. High-speed Transmission Test Procedure b. High-Level Transfer Test Procedure c. Hypertext Transmission and Transport Procedure d. Hypertext Transport Protocol ANS: D 18. HTTP allows the use of: a. dumb terminals b. file transport ANS: C 19. HTML stands for: a. Hypertext Markup Language b. Hypertext Transfer-Mode Level ANS: A 20. HTML allows: a. telneting b. high-speed file transfer ANS: C 21. FTP stands for: c. web page layout d. all of the above c. Hypertext Transfer-Mode Layer d. High-speed Transfer-Mode Language c. browsers d. none of the above c. User Data Packet d. Universal Data Packet

a. File Transfer Protocol b. File Transport Protocol ANS: A

c. File Test Procedure d. Fast Transport Packet

22. FTP is used to: a. transfer files between a server on the network and a user b. test files to see if their data has been "corrupted" c. transport packets at maximum speed through the network d. none of the above ANS: A 23. SMTP stands for: a. Short Message Transport Protocol b. Simple Message Transport Protocol ANS: C 24. ISP stands for: a. Internet Service Protocol b. Internet Service Provider ANS: B 25. The standard Internet address (or URL) is: a. a 32-bit binary number b. four groups of base-ten numbers ANS: D 26. DNS stands for: a. Domain Name Server b. Domain Name System ANS: A 27. A DNS: a. has become obsolete on the Internet b. translates words to numbers c. stores all domain addresses d. describes the Internet address-naming procedure ANS: B 28. An intranet connected to the Internet is often protected by: a. a DNS c. a "firewall" b. a "brick wall" d. the use of "spoofing" protocols ANS: C 29. OSI stands for: a. Open Systems Interconnection b. Open Standard Interconnection ANS: A c. Open Systems Internet d. none of the above c. Domain Numbering System d. Domain Naming System c. running out of available values d. all of the above c. Internet Service Procedure d. none of the above c. Simple Mail Transport Protocol d. Secondary Mail Transfer Procedure

COMPLETION 1. A ____________________-Area Network would extend typically across a city. ANS: Metropolitan 2. A ____________________-Area Network could extend across a nation. ANS: Wide 3. A dedicated telephone line can be ____________________ on a monthly basis. ANS: leased 4. The use of digital circuit-____________________ lines is cheaper than dedicated lines. ANS: switched 5. Packet switching is done on a store-and-____________________ network. ANS: forward 6. A ____________________ is a hierarchy of procedures for implementing digital communications. ANS: protocol 7. Voltage levels on a cable are specified at the ____________________ layer. ANS: physical 8. Bad frames are usually detected at the ____________________ layer. ANS: data-link 9. Setting up a path through the network is done by the ____________________ layer. ANS: network 10. The X.25 protocol was developed by the ____________________. ANS: CCITT 11. In X.25, the data-link layer is called the ____________________ layer. ANS: frame 12. In X.25, the network layer is called the ____________________ layer. ANS: packet 13. The physical route of a ____________________ circuit changes each time it is used.

ANS: virtual 14. Frame Relay requires channels with low ____________________ rates. ANS: bit-error 15. Compared to X.25, Frame Relay does ____________________ error checking. ANS: less 16. All ATM frames contain just ____________________ bytes. ANS: 53 17. Small frame size and a high-speed channel allow ____________________-time communications. ANS: real 18. ____________________ simply regenerate and retransmit packets in a network. ANS: Repeaters 19. ____________________ look at the address inside a packet to decide whether or not to retransmit it. ANS: Bridges 20. ____________________ decide the best network path on which to forward a packet. ANS: Routers 21. TCP/IP goes back to the ____________________ of the 1970s. ANS: ARPANET DARPANET 22. Between ISO OSI and TCP/IP, ____________________ was used first. ANS: TCP/IP 23. A ____________________ protocol does not track packets after they are sent. ANS: connectionless 24. HTTP allows the use of ____________________ that jump to other pages on the web. ANS: hyperlinks 25. The Internet "backbone" mostly uses high-speed ____________________ cables. ANS: fiber-optic

26. A ____________________ translates words in an Internet address to numbers. ANS: DNS 27. Intranets usually connect to the Internet through a ____________________ for security. ANS: firewall 28. Voice over ____________________ is telephony done over the Internet. ANS: IP 29. "____________________" is another term for real-time transmission over the Internet. ANS: Streaming 30. Most people gain access to the Internet by subscribing to an ____________________. ANS: ISP SHORT ANSWER 1. Name the three parts of an IP address as used on the Internet. ANS: Network number, Subnet number, Host number 2. Why is a logical channel called a "virtual" circuit? ANS: A logical channel is a way of keeping track of which two nodes on the network have messages for each other. The actual physical path can change while packets are being sent. Virtual means it behaves like direct circuit between 'A' and 'B', but it is not a direct circuit. 3. Why is it faster to send packets of a fixed size compared to packets of variable size? ANS: The processing required to store and forward packets of different lengths is greater than that required for packets of a fixed length. More processing implies more time per packet, which implies fewer packets per second through the network. 4. Why are the tasks involved in digital communications divided into layers in a protocol stack? Why not just have one layer that does it all? ANS: Divide and conquer: it reduces complexity to a manageable job. One big layer could not be adapted to newer media etc as easily as a system of independent layers. Think of subroutines in a computer program. 5. What is a "hop"? ANS:

Every time a packet is forwarded on to the next store-and-forward node in the network, it is considered to be one "hop". 6. What does it mean to say a packet has a lifetime measured in hops? ANS: Each packet contains a number representing the maximum number of allowed hops. At each hop, this number is reduced by one. When it gets to zero, the packet is deleted from the network. 7. Why should packets have a lifetime? ANS: If they didn't, then the number of "lost" packets traveling around the network would continuously increase. At some point, there would be no bandwidth left to carry real traffic.