Name: ________________________

Fundamentals of computer
networks
Class: ________________________

Date: ________________________

Time: 97 minutes

Marks: 91 marks

Comments:

Page 1 of 13
Q1.
Most schools have a computer network.

Some schools allow teachers to access the school network from their home computers.

Give one reason why some schools allow this and one reason why some schools do not
allow this.

Reason for: _____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Reason against: __________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q2.
State three advantages of using a computer network.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 3 marks)

Q3.
PANs and LANs are two different types of network.

(a) Describe one difference between a PAN and a LAN.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(1)

(b) Give one example of where a PAN could be used.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(1)
(Total 2 marks)

Q4.

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 When two computers on a network communicate with each other they need to use the
same protocol.

Define the term network protocol.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q5.
For questions (a) to (c) shade one lozenge to indicate the most suitable protocol to use in
the situation described.

(a) Used to retrieve email stored on a server.

A HTTP

B HTTPS

C FTP

D SMTP

E IMAP

(1)

(b) Used to make a payment securely when purchasing goods from a website.

A HTTP

B HTTPS

C FTP

D SMTP

E IMAP

(1)

(c) Used to send an email from a client machine to an email server.

A HTTP

B HTTPS

C FTP

Page 3 of 13
 D SMTP

E IMAP

(1)
(Total 3 marks)

Q6.
TCP/IP is a protocol used in networking. There are 4 layers in the TCP/IP stack.

Complete the table by placing the four layers of the TCP/IP stack into order (1-4) where 1
is the top layer and 4 is the bottom layer.

Layer Order (1-4)

Transport

Link

Internet

Application
(Total 3 marks)

Q7.
A games café is evaluating the security for their network.

(a) State two reasons why using a biometric authentication measure is better than
password authentication for staff accounts.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(2)

(b) Explain why it would not be appropriate for the café to use MAC address filtering on
their wireless network.

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

Page 4 of 13
 ___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(2)
(Total 4 marks)

Q8.
Explain two differences between a LAN and a WAN.

Difference 1: ____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Difference 2: ____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 4 marks)

Q9.
HTTP and HTTPS are two application layer protocols.

Explain why HTTPS is often used rather than HTTP.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 1 mark)

Q10.
The application layer and the network (internet) layer are two of the layers within the
TCP/IP stack.

What are the names of the other two TCP/IP stack layers?

1. _____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Page 5 of 13
 2. _____________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q11.
What is the purpose of the network (internet) layer within the TCP/IP stack?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q12.
Explain how MAC address filtering works.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q13.
List three different measures that can be used to maintain the security of a computer
system.

For each measure:

• Outline what the measure is.

Q14.

Most schools have a computer network.

Some schools allow teachers to access the school network from their home computers.

Give one reason why some schools allow this and one reason why some schools do not
allow this.

Reason for: ____________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Reason against:_________________________________________________________

Page 6 of 13
 _______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q15.

PANs and LANs are two different types of network.

Describe one difference between a PAN and a LAN.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 1 mark)

Q16.

Give one example of where a PAN could be used.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 1 mark)

Q17.

“Schools should use a wireless network instead of a wired network”.

Discuss this statement.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 6 marks)

Q18.

When two computers on a network communicate with each other they need to use the

Page 7 of 13
 same protocol.

Define the term protocol.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q19.

Shade one lozenge to indicate the most suitable protocol to use in the situation described.

(a) Used to retrieve email stored on a server.

A HTTP

B HTTPS

C FTP

D SMTP

E IMAP
(1)

(b) Used to make a payment securely when purchasing goods from a website.

A HTTP

B HTTPS

C FTP

D SMTP

E IMAP
(1)

(c) Used to send an email from a client machine to an email server.

A HTTP

B HTTPS

C FTP

D SMTP

E IMAP

Page 8 of 13
 (1)
(Total 3 marks)

Q20.

TCP / IP is a protocol stack used in networking. There are four layers in the TCP / IP
stack.

Complete the table by placing the four layers of the TCP / IP stack into order (1 – 4),
where 1 is the top layer and 4 is the bottom layer).

Layer Order (1‑4)

Link

Internet

Application
(Total 3 marks)

Q21.

Define the term network.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q22.

Describe three advantages of using a computer network rather than standalone

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 3 marks)

Page 9 of 13
Q23.

One disadvantage of using a computer network is that there are increased security risks.
Describe three other disadvantages of using a computer network.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 3 marks)

Q24.

Barnes Pest Control is a small business with four employees. Each of their employees
has a standalone desktop computer. They have decided to use a network instead of
standalone machines.

Two security measures that Barnes Pest Control could use are authentication and
encryption. Explain each of these security measures and how Barnes Pest Control could
use them.

Authentication:___________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Encryption:______________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 4 marks)

Q25.

Draw a diagram showing a four-computer network using a bus topology.

Page 10 of 13
 (Total 3 marks)

Q26.

Barnes Pest Control is a small business with four employees. Each of their employees
has a standalone desktop computer. They have decided to use a network instead of
standalone machines.

Barnes Pest Control decides to use a star network topology. State two reasons why this
topology may not be the most suitable choice.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Q27.

The application layer and the internet layer are two of the layers in the four-layer TCP / IP
model. Describe the roles of each of the four layers in the TCP / IP model. In your answer
you should also state the names of the other two layers of the TCP / IP model.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

Page 11 of 13
 _______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 6 marks)

Q28.

The diagram below shows a client–server network. The clients are connected to a switch.

(a) What network topology is shown in the diagram above?

___________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(1)

(b) State two advantages of this particular topology.

1. _________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________

2. _________________________________________________________________

___________________________________________________________________
(2)
(Total 3 marks)

Page 12 of 13
Q29.
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of connecting a computer to a network.

In this question you will be marked on your ability to use good English, to organise
information clearly and to use specialist vocabulary where appropriate.

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 6 marks)

Q30.

What is a computer network?

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________

_______________________________________________________________________
(Total 2 marks)

Page 13 of 13