Chapter 1 Review Question Answers

1. What was the purpose of creating the OSI Reference Model?:- To establish an open, flexible and standard networking software architecture which would be used as a framework to guide the compatible implementation of protocols and technology 2. The OSI Reference Model has seven layers performing seven categories of functions necessary for computer communication. The TCPIP protocol stack has only four layers. What functionality, if any, is missing in the TCP/IP protocol stack?:- No functionality is missing. The TCP/IP stack incorporates the functions of the OSI Application, Presentation and Session layers in its Application layer. This is an example of the flexibility of the OSI architecture concept. Another example is the NetWare stack that does not have seven layers. 3. NMP is p of which layer in he TCP/IP protocol stack?;- SNMP is part of the Application layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack 4. A Network Management System (NMS) is part of which layer if any in a protocol stack?:- A NMS is set of applications and does not belong to any layer. It can be thought of as residing above the Applications layer and being serviced by that layer 5. What two elements does a PDU contain?:- The Protocol Data Unit (PDU) contains the data element provided by the application and an element consisting of the headers created by appropriate protocols in the stack. The header element encapsulates the data element. 6. What headers would an SNMP packet contain?:- An SNMP packet would contain the Application layer, Transport Layer and Network layer and Network Interface layer headers. 7. What protocol does a web browser use?:- A Web Browser uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) of the Application Layer 8. Why might you want to configure a switch to drop frames intended for a particular device?:- That switch may be configured not to accept packets from a specified hardware address because it is inappropriate for that address to be communicating with the device. 9. What is the advantage of a switched LAN over a 10BASE2 LAN?:- In a switched LAN one can configure Virtual Private Networks (VPNs). These are independent virtual circuits that can transmit and receive data simultaneously without the collisions that would occur in a 10BASE2 LAN under such circumstances. 10. Are switches always layer-2 devices?:- No they are not always layer-2 devices these days. The architecture of some switches enables hardware, network and transport layer headers to be examined before switching the PDU to the destination device. 11. What is the advantage of networking using hubs versus using coaxial cables?:- Hubs enable the devices on the LAN to be connected directly to a central location which provides easy access for network configuration.

12. The IEEE 802.3 implements the Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CMSA/CD) specification. This specification takes into account signal loss and signal transit time between devices. To meet the criteria determined by values of these parameters, two devices can be no further than 200 meters apart. Thus no device can be connected to the hub with a 10BASET cable that is longer than 100 meters. 13. The bridge table maps the source address of a packet received by the bridge to the port from which the packet was received. This enables the bridge to drop packets that are addressed to a device on the same segment. The result is the only packets whose destination is a device on the other segment are transmitted, greatly reducing unnecessary traffic. 14. Switch tables map destination addresses to the port to which the destination device is attached. 15. Routing tables map destination network addresses to port numbers 16. The Ethernet II frame contains a Type field that follows the Source Address field. This field specifies the first protocol header in the Data field. For TCP/IP, this is usually the network layer protocol IP. The IEEE 802.3 frame has two fields that follow the Source Address field before the Data field. The first is the Length field and the second is the LLC field. The LLC field contains the Logical Link Control header that enables reliable communication on a single network. The length field is the number of bytes in the LLC and Data fields. 17. The NDIS makes it possible for multiple media specifications (e.g. Ethernet II) to be compatible with the TCP/IP protocol stack. If the media driver is written to the NDIS standard, it will interface correctly with the Network Interface layer.

Chapter 2 Review Question Answers

1. What is the principal difference between SGMP and the SNMP?:- The Simple Gateway Management Protocol (SGMP) was the precursor to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). It was designed to manage only objects of relevance to Gateways (Routers); for example the number of Gateway ports. This capability was considered sufficient at the time. Today, SNMP can manage objects relevant to any device that has an SNMP agent installed. 2. What is a MIB?:- A MIB is a virtual Management Information Base for a device. Each object in a MIB has an Object Identifier that defines its location in the iso tree of objects. An object contains a configured value for a device such as an IP address. These values are accessed or changed by a Network Management System (NMS) in order to manage the device. The use of the adjective virtual means that the values of objects are not centralized but maintained by relevant software such as the network driver for the device.

3. What principal feature did the RMON1 standard add to the MIB-2 standard?:- The RMON 1 standard added network-based MIB objects. These objects contained values that specified network performance rather than device performance. An example is the number of packets on the network from a specific Ethernet address. A special device called a network monitor or probe was used to capture packets on a network segment and determine these values for the segment. 4. What is the function of an agent process on a Management Agent?:- The agent process is a virtual Database Manager. It accesses requested values of device objects directly or uses the support of a specialized subagent to do so. These values are the delivered to the protocol SNMP for return to the NMS. 5. Should we always strive for more network management?:- The degree of network management is a tradeoff between management information desired and the network traffic required to obtain that information. Too much network management will reduce network performance. 6. What network management protocol does the OSI protocol stack use?:- The OSI protocol stack uses the CMIP for network management. CMIP stands for Common Management Information Protocol. It is more comprehensive than SNMP. 7. What function does CMIP play in the OSI Reference Model?:- CMIP is the management protocol of the OSI Application layer 8. Why are some vendors hesitant to incorporate an SNMP agent on their devices?:Because device management reduces cycle time available to the device for performing its primary functions. 9. Did SNMP become a de facto or de jure Internet Standard?:- SNMP is a de facto Internet standard because its pervasiveness exists by agreement of the users that evolved by the use of RFCs rather than committee.

Chp 3 Review Question Answers

1. Why is a network important to organizations today?:- Timely access to information and communication are critical components of the successful operation of an organization today 2. Write down three reasons why a network implementation strategy is important?:Reasons an network implementation strategy is needed Implementation of a network is costly The network needs to fit the business of the organization The network needs to be able to scale with technology and organizational size

3. What do you think of the most costly aspect of implementing a network for an organization?:- Optimum design of the network. This is why it is not usually done 4. Do you think remote network management is worth the bandwidth required?:- It is worth the bandwidth required as long as the use of that bandwidth does not reduce performance and throughput to unacceptable levels 5. Assuming you think remote network management is important, write down three reasons that a network management strategy is needed?:- Reasons a network management strategy is needed To determine how to do the desired management without excessive use of bandwidth To decide which are the most important objects to manage To be able to decide which management tool(s) will be the best fit to the strategy To evaluate the tradeoff of cost versus strategy and implementation 6. He OI has defines fie categories of network management. Can you pick one that is the most important? If not why?:- All are typically necessary today. In addition, some aspect of one usually depends on aspects of the others. It may be possible to pick one depending on the nature of the business. One might argue that Fault Management is most critical because all the others depend on it always. 7. What you think is the most important criteria to apply when choosing a network management system?:- Chose the one that satisfies the need of the organization while requiring the minimum training to make effective use of it. 8. Write down one practical example of an activity for each of the five types of ISO Management Categories that comes in mind from your experience?:- Examples of ISO Management Categories Performance Management - timing the throughput of an application request of a server Fault Management - identifying no packets are being transmitted by a switch port Capacity Management- comparing the specified throughput of a router with the number of packets it is receiving in a given time Accounting Management - identifying the cost centers with bandwidth use Security Management - identifying the location of a source sending undesirable packets 9. There are three versions of SNMP. Why it is usually chosen to emphasize version 1?:Emphasis has been placed on SNMPv1 because: SNMPv1 is the protocol that is implemented by almost all vendors SNMPv1 is the simplest of the protocols yet contains almost all of the features that are needed to demonstrate network management

Chapter 4 Review Question Answers

1. What is the purpose of having IRQs?:_ The Interrupt Request (IRQ) number determines the process that needs to be executed.

2. What happens when an interrupt occurs?:- The request causes the processor to stop the current process, place it on the stack and call the driver referenced by a vector derived from the IRQ number. The driver then processes the data that generated the IRQ. 3. If there are both legacy and plug-n-play NICs on your computers, why is it best to configure the legacy NICs first?:- Because Plug and Play NICs are able to find available NIC configurable parameters after the legacy NIC parameters are configured 4. What role the system BIOS has regarding the operation of Plug-N-Play NICs?:- The BIOS automatically configure Plug and Play NIC parameters so as not to conflict with one another or legacy NICs 5. Why are the NDIS (Network Device Interface Specification) and ODI (Open DataLink Interface) specifications so important to network communications?:- These specifications enable multiple media NICs and their drivers to interface with a single protocol stack 6. What does it mean to bind a protocol stack to a NIC?:- It means using the NDIS or ODI interface to establish the link between the Network Layer software, such as IP, and the driver of the NIC by providing the appropriate addresses in memory. 7. The IP addresses of the devices on our network all begin with the three fields 192.192.192. To what class do such network addresses belong?:- These device addresses belong to a Class C network. Class C networks have addresses in which the first field has values in the range 192 to 223. 8. What is the purpose of having a default gateway?:- If the destination address in a frame is not one on the subnet to which the sender is attached, the default gateway will route the packet according to its routing table 9. What capability does NBT provide?:- NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) enables NetBIOS traffic that is used on Microsoft Networks sent to a destination not on the Microsoft Network, to be encapsulated in a TCP/IP packet and routed by the default router. 10. What is the value of creating a Windows NT domain?:- Value of Windows NT domains Enables sharing of network resources between devices Server provides security-based control over access to resources on all devices that are member of the domain Enables the establishment of multiple domains in an organization, maintains current databases of domain members and permissions, and enables single logon to multiple domains 11. What advantage is provided by having WINS and DNS server processes collaborate?:The DNS database is a static database of URL addresses mapped to IP addresses. Collaboration with the WINS database maintains the currency of the URL device name.

12. What is the purpose of configuring a Community Name for the SNMP agent?:- The SNMPv1 Community Name serves as a password for Read or Write access to the values of objects

Chapter 5 Review Question Answers

1. How would you know if a cable is a crossover cable?:- Crossover cable recognition For flat 10BASET cables, where you can see the colors of the shielding on each wire, hold the connectors on each end side by side with the tabs at the back. If the color of the shielding on the wire attached to pin 1, on the far left of the connector on the left, is the same as that attached to pin 8, on the far right of the right connector, it is a crossover cable If the connectors are DB 25 or DB 9 there is no color guide that you can see. The best way to check these is to use a Data Line Monitor such as one from Black Box Inc. Plug the cable into a serial connector on a PC. Attach the Data Line Monitor to the other end of the cable. The serial connector on the PC transmits on pin 2. If the light next to pin 3 on the Data Line Monitor lights, then you know you have a crossover cable. 2. What is a DTE and what is a DCE?:- A DTE is Data Terminal Equipment such as a PC. A DCE is Data Circuit Terminating Equipment such as a modem 3. When is a crossover cable necessary when configuring a device?:- Local configuration of a device can be done by connecting a PC serial connector to the console connector on the device. The PC is a DTE. If the device is a DCE, a crossover cable is necessary. You will not always know if a device you are configuring is set up as a DCE so you may have to first try a crossover cable and if that does not work, a direct cable. 4. What is the advantage of being able to do out-of-the-band management of a device?:- If the network is down you can still do management 5. What is the principal way the HUBS are distinguished from switches?:- Hubs transmit data received on any port out of all other ports while a switch only passes the data to the port that is mapped to the destination address in the received packet. 6. Community names must be recognized by the device SNMP agent and known by the Management Station. How do you think this cooperation arranged?:- NMS software can send a GetRequest message to the device asking for the Community Name. If the Management Station hosting the NMS has an approved network address, the community name will be returned in a GetResponse message 7. Why is it important to identify WRITE managers on CISCO switches?:- Because, for example, WRITE managers can reconfigure the switch map table to send packets to devices that should not have access to them.

8. When an Ethernet address is associated with a switch port, to what device does that address refer?:- It refers to a device that is accessible through that port. 9. What is the difference between a static address and a dynamic address?:- A static address is a permanent address that is configured by a human. A dynamic address is one that is learned by the switch. 10. How is dynamic address is obtained by a device?:- Dynamic addresses are learned from the source addresses received at a port. Dynamic addresses can be configured to have a lifetime so as not to clutter the switch map table. 11. What is Restricted Static Address?:- A Restricted Static Address is one that can be accessed only by packets with source addresses configured in the restriction. 12. What is meant by Address Aging Time?:- Address Aging Time is the time within which a packet from the associated device address must be received on the port to which it is connected or the address will be dropped by the switch map table. 13. What capability is provided by a Switch Monitor Port?:- A switch Monitor Port is one to which copies of packets transmitted or received by other ports can be sent. The Monitor Port can be connected to probe in order to collect statistics about the ports being monitored. 14. What is a principal difference in the way RIP routers and OSPF routers communicate with neighbor routers?:- RIP routers send their entire routing table to all directly attached (neighboring) routers. OSPF routers only send changes in their routing table thus substantially reducing such traffic. 15. What is the advantage of creating an SNMP Access List on a router?:_ An access list configures the network addresses of devices that the router will route. The advantage is that this limits routing to trusted addresses. 16. What is the difference between MIB-2 and RMON MIB variables?:- MIB-2 variables are specific to devices. RMON MIB variables are specific network traffic

Chapter 6 Review Question Answers

1. Which layer of the OSI Reference Model contains management applications?:-No layer contains management applications. Management applications receive their first level of network support from the Applications layer. 2. Which layer of the OSI Reference Model contains SNMP?:- SNMP is and Applications layer protocol

3. How is the agent process distinguished from SNMP?-The Agent process resides in the Applications layer. It or its subagents access object values for SNMP. 4. What is the function of the MIB on the Management Agent?- The MIB on the Management Agent is a virtual database of object values that are available to a Management Station NMS via the software that maintains the object values. 5. What is the function of the MIB on the Management Station?- The MIB on the Management Station is a database of Object Identifiers. These are used in VarBind pairs of a GetRequest PDU to identify the object whose value is being requested of the Agent process on the Management Agent. 6. What fields does the VarBindList in the SNMP PDU contain and what is the content of those fields?- The VarBind list contains pairs of VarBind fields. One of those fields contains the Object Identifier and the other contains the null if a value is being requested or the value in a GetResponse 7. How many commands does SNMPv1 provide?:- SNMPv1 provides five commands. 8. What is the purpose of the Trap command?:-The trap is an automated packet from an SNMP Agent Process. Its purpose is to inform the NMS on the Management Station of an event that occurred on the Management Agent hosting the Agent Process. Such an event could be that the Management Agent is powered up. 9. Whay is there need for proprietary MIBs?:- Proprietary MIBs provide objects specific to a device and that provide more detailed management information. Standard MIBs cannot provides such specialized objects for so many devices. 10. How many objects does MIB-2 contain?:- The original MIB-2 contained 10 groups of objects containing 137 scalar and table objects when the transmission group is not included. The current standard Ethernet-like MIB in the transmission group contains 6 scalar and table objects. Table objects contain additional column objects. In addition, 13 extension groups have been added over time to MIB-2. So there is no simple answer to the question. 11. What significant capability is provided by the GetNextRequest command?:- The GetNextRequest command provides the capability to traverse a table or the entire MIB by using repeated GetNextRequest commands containing the Object Identifier next in lexicographical order 12. What field in the SNMPv1 packet authenticates the Management Station to the Management Agent?:- The PDU Community String field authenticates the Management Station to the Management Agent 13. What authentication options are available to the Management Agent?:- The Authorization options to the access of an object value available to the Management Agent are Read-Only or Read-Write

14. If an object is unavailable you would expect to see that the Error Status field has a value =2 corresponding to "no such name."