Networking interview questions and answers

Q.1 Describe Domain Name System.

There are two types of client/server programs.
First is used directly by the user, such as e-mail, Second supports other application programs. The Domain Name
System (DNS) is a supporting program that is used by other programs such as to find the IP address of an e-mail
recipient.
Q.2 Describe Hierarchical Namespace.
In a hierarchical name space, each name is combination of several parts as:
Type of the organization.
Name of an organization.
Departments in the organization.
A central authority can assign the part of the name that defines the nature and name of the organization. The other
things of the name the organization provides itself. The organization can add suffixes (or prefixes) to the name to
define its host.
The company need not worry about the prefix if it is same as that of another organization because, even if part of an
address is the same, the whole address is different.
Example:
Suppose central authority has given names ABC.com and XYZ.com to two separate organization but these
organization can add prefix as career so the name becomes career.XYZ.com and career.ABC.com. The names are
unique without the need for assignment by a central authority. The central authority controls only part of the name,
not the whole.

Q.3 Define Fully Qualified Domain Name and Partially Qualified Domain
Name.
In hierarchical name space, names are defined in an inverted-tree structure with the root at the top. The tree can
have only 128 levels: level 0 (root) to level 127.
Each node in the tree has a label, which is a string with a maximum of 63 characters.
The root label is a null string (empty string). In this tree, all the labels have different name, which guarantee the
uniqueness of the domain names.
A full domain name is a sequence of labels separated by dots (.). The domain names are always read from the node
up to the root.
Fully Qualified Domain Name
If a label is terminated by a null string or empty string, it is called a fully qualified domain name (FQDN).
Partially Qualified Domain Name
If a label is not terminated by a null string, it is called a partially qualified domain name (PQDN). A PQDN starts from
a node, but it does not end with the root.
What is transmission impairment?
Signals need transmission media for travel from one point to another. Transmission media are not perfect because it
provides resistance. The imperfection causes signal impairment. This means that the signal at the beginning of the
medium is not the same as the signal at the end of the medium. What is sent is not what is received. There are three
causes of impairment are attenuation, distortion, and noise.

Q.5 Describe attenuation, distortion, and noise in brief.
Attenuation: When a signal travels through a medium, it loses some of its energy due to resistance of the medium.
This loss of energy is called Attenuation. This is the reason why a wire carrying electric signals gets warm. Some of
the electrical energy in the signal is converted to heat. To overcome for this problem, amplifiers are used to amplify
the signal.
Unit of the decibel is used to find out if a signal has lost or gained strength. The decibel (dB) measures the relative
strengths of two signals or one signal at two different points. If decibel is negative then a signal is attenuated and if
positive signal is amplified.
Formula:

Where PI and P2 are the variable and the powers of a signal at points 1 and 2, respectively.
Distortion
When the signal travels through the medium from one point to another it may chance to change the form or shape of
signal. It is called distortion.
Distortion can occur in a composite signal, made up of different frequencies. Each signal component has its own
propagation speed through a travelling medium and, therefore, its own delay in reaching at the final destination.
Means signal components at the receiver have phases different from what they had at the sender.
Noise
The third cause of impairment is Noise. Following types of noise are possible.
-Thermal noise.
-Induced noise.
-Crosstalk noise.
-Impulse noise.
These noise may corrupt the signal.
Thermal noise is produced due to the random motion of electrons in a wire which creates an extra signal not originally
sent by the transmitter.
Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and other electronic appliances.
These devices act as a sending antenna, and the transmission medium acts as the receiving antenna.
Crosstalk is the effect of one wire on the other.
Impulse noise comes from power lines, lightning etc.
Q.6 Describe composite single.
Composite Signals are the combination of more than one sine waves. Simple sine waves can be used to carry
electric energy from one place to another or we can use a single sine wave to send an alarm to a security center
when a thief opens a door or window in the house.
A single frequency sine wave is not useful in data communications we need to send a composite signal. A composite
signal can be periodic or non-periodic.
The figure of composite periodic signal is given below.

Q.7 Describe MIME
Electronic mail has a simple structure. It can send messages only in NVT 7-bit ASCII format. It cannot be used for
those languages that are not supported by 7-bit ASCII characters so languages such as French, German, Hebrew,
Russian, Chinese etc cannot use this format. Also, it cannot be used to send binary files or video or audio data.
We need a protocol that allows non-ASCII data to be sent through e-mail. So Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions
(MIME) is the answer. MIME transforms non-ASCII data at the sender site to NVT (Network Virtual Terminal) ASCII
data and delivers them to the client MTA to be sent through the Internet. The message at the receiving side is
transformed back to the original data. Main task of MIME is to transform non-ASCII data to ASCII data and vice
versa.

MIME header
Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions defines five types of header.

Q.8 SMTP is push protocol Justify your answer.
SMTP is a push protocol; it pushes the message from the client to the server. For sending email SMTP is used two
times, between the sender and the sender's mail server and between the two mail servers. To send mail, a system
must have the client MTA (Message transfer agents), and to receive mail, a system must have a server MTA. SMTP
uses commands and responses to transfer messages between an MTA client and an MTA server. Commands are
sent from the client to the server and Responses are sent from the server to the client. SMTP is not used in pulling
the message.

Q.9 Describe the POP3 protocol.
Post Office Protocol, version 3 is used for accessing the message. POP3 is very simple protocol and has limited
functionality. POP has different version but currently version 3 is used. A POP3 server listens on well-known port 110.
POP3 supports two types of mode.
Delete Mode: In this mode, the mail is deleted from the mailbox after each retrieval.
Keep Mode. The mail remains in the mailbox after retrieval.
Q.10 Describe IMAP4 (Internet Mail Access Protocol) in detail.
This protocol is also used in Internet for accessing the mail. IMAP4 has more feature than POP3 and is more
powerful.
Main difference in POP3 and IMAP4 are as follows.

Q.11 What is Anonymous FTP?
Some sites provide the functionality that user can access the file with limited access. To access these files, a user
does not need to have an account or password. For using FTP, the user enters "anonymous" as a user ID and guest
as password. Usually, you can enter anything as a password.
Q.12 What is User Agent?
User agent is a software that provides the service to the user to make the process of sending and receiving a
message easier. The following are User Agent services.


Networking interview questions - posted on Feb 04, 2014 at 12:45 PM by Nihal Singh
Q.1 Describe Classful Addressing
Ans. IPv4 addressing uses the concept of classes. In classful addressing, the address space is divided into five
classes:A, B, C, D, and E. We can find the class of an address when the given address is in binary notation or dotted-
decimal notation.
Example

Q.2 Find the error, if any, in the following IPv4 addresses.
a. 200.56.045.78
b. 22.34.7.8.20
c. 75.45.279.14
d. 11100010.23.24.66
Solution
a. There must be no leading zero (045).
b. There can be no more than four numbers in an IPv4 address.
c. Each number needs to be less than or equal to 255 (279 is outside this range).
d. A mixture of binary notation and dotted-decimal notation is not allowed.
Q3.Describe how many types are wireless transmission?
In general we can divide five types of wireless transmission
1. The Electromagnetic Transmission
2. Radio Transmission
3. Microwave Transmission
4. Infrared Transmission
5. Light Transmission
1. The Electromagnetic Transmission
When electrons move, they create electromagnetic waves that can propagate through space and in a vacuum. The
electromagnetic waves can be broadcast efficiently and received by a receiver some distance away.
2. Radio Transmission
Radio waves are easy to generate, can travel long distances, and can penetrate buildings easily, so they are widely
used for communication. These waves can travel in all directions.
3. Microwave Transmission
Microwaves travel in a straight line, so if the towers are too far apart, the earth will get in the way. Thus, repeaters are
needed periodically. The higher the towers are, the farther apart they can be. Unlike radio waves at lower
frequencies, microwaves do not pass through buildings well.
4. Infrared Transmission
It is used for short-range communication. The remote controls used for televisions, VCRs, and stereos, use infrared
communication. They are relatively directional and can not pass through solid objects.
5. Light Transmission
These types of wave can easily effected by wind and temperature changes. They normally work well on sunny days.
Q.4 Explain Random Excess Method.
In Random Excess Method, any station can send the data at any time without the permission of other station. At any
time, if a station has information to send to other station, it uses a specific method defined by the protocol to make a
decision on whether or not to send.
There is no scheduled time for a station to transmit the data that is why it is called Random Excess Protocol. Random
protocol has the following types.


Q5.Explain Channelization in networks.
Channelization is a multiple-access method in which the available bandwidth of a link is shared in time, frequency, or
through code, between different stations. There are three basic approaches to achieve channelization.

Q.6 Describe FDMA and TDMA in short.
In frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), the available bandwidth is divided into frequency bands. Each station
is allocated a band to send its data. Different frequency bands are used by different stations.
In time-division multiple access (TDMA), the stations share the bandwidth of the channel in time. Each station is
allocated a time slot during which it can send data. Each station transmits its data in is assigned time slot.

FIG: TDMA
Q.7 Explain CDMA in wireless networks.
CDMA differs from FDMA and TDMA because only one channel occupies the entire bandwidth of the link and also
there is no timesharing. In CDMA a code is available for every station wanting to send the data. In this protocol the
assigned codes have two properties.
1. If we multiply each code by another, we get zero.
2. If we multiply each code by itself, we get the number of stations.
So suppose there are three stations and code and data are (c1, d1), (c2, d2), (c3, d3) respectively. The data that go
on the channel are the sum of all these terms. Any station wanting to receive data from one of the other two,
multiplies the data on the channel by the code of the sender. For example, suppose stations 1 and 2 are talking to
each other. Station 2 wants to hear what station I is saying. It multiplies the data on the channel by cl the code of
station 1.
Because (cl . cl) is 3, but (c2 . cI) and (c3 . cI) are all Zero, station 2 divides the result by 3 to get the data from stat ion
1.
Q.8 Describe the functionality of data link layer.
Data Link Layer is the second layer from the bottom in OSI model. This layer has two main functions
Data link control
Media access control.
Data link control provides the functionality of include framing, flow and error control that provide smooth and reliable
transmission of frames between nodes. Media Access Control (MAC) handles the sharing of link.
Q.9 Explain Stop-and-Wait Automatic Repeat Request for noisy channel.
In this protocol the sending device keeps a copy of the last frame transmitted until it receives an acknowledgment for
that frame. A data frames uses a sequence number; an ACK frame uses an acknowledgment number. The sender
has a control variable, which we call Sn (sender, next frame to send), that holds the sequence number for the next
frame to be sent (0 or 1).
Q.10 what is the difference between Pure ALOHA and Slotted Aloha protocol?
In Pure Aloha, station can send data in a continuous time manner whereas in Slotted Aloha, time is divided in slots.
Pure ALOHA doesn't check whether the channel is busy before transmission. In slotted ALOHA, a frame can be sent
only at fixed times, whereas in pure ALOHA, you can send any time. Pure ALOHA has a vulnerable time of 2 x Tfr.
Whereas in Slotted ALOHA vulnerable time = Tfr {Tfr: Average transmission time for a frame} .
Download Networking interview questions and answers
Comment on Data Encryption Standard (DES) weakness and strength.
The Data Encryption Standard (DES) is a symmetric key block cipher which takes 64-bit plaintext and 56-bit key as
an input and produces 64-bit cipher text.............
Read Answer
Describe the Packet Format of ARP (Address Resolution Protocol)
What are the advantages of IPv6 over IPv4?
What are the different design goals of ATM?
If you are a victim of Denial of Service (Dos) then what you do?
The function of a denial of service attack is to flood its target machine with too much traffic and prevents it from being
accessible to any other requests or providing services..............
Read Answer
Networking interview questions - posted on J une 27, 2013 at 16:45 PM by Kshipra Singh
1. Differentiate between hub and switch.
a.) Hub is a layer 1 device while Switch is layer 2 device.
b.) Hub works on single collision and single broadcast domain while switch works on per port collision and single
broadcast domain.
2. What is FQDN?
- FQDN is the abbreviation for Fully Qualified Domain Name.
- It contains both the hostname and a domain name.
- It uniquely identifies a host within a DNS hierarchy
3. Tell us something about LMHOSTS files.
- It is a text file that resolves NetBIOS names to IP addresses.
- It can be compared with the HOSTS file which is a static method of resolving domain names into IP addresses.
- LMHOSTS files must be manually configured and updated.
4. What are the main qualities of an effective and efficient network?
a. Performance
b. Reliability
c. Security
5. What are 10Base2, 10Base5 and 10BaseT Ethernet LANs?
10Base2 -
- It is an Ethernet term which means a maximum transfer rate of 10 Megabits per second that uses baseband
signaling, with a contiguous cable segment length of 100 meters and a maximum of 2 segments.

10Base5
- It is an Ethernet term meaning a maximum transfer rate of 10 Megabits per second that uses baseband signaling,
with 5 continuous segments not exceeding 100 meters per segment.

10BaseT
- It is an Ethernet term meaning a maximum transfer rate of 10 Megabits per second that uses baseband signaling
and twisted pair cabling.
6. What is anonymous FTP? What is its use?
- It is an FTP that enables the users to connect to a host without a valid login and password.
- The login used is anonymous or guest, with the password usually requesting the user's ID.
- It enables a large number of users to access the files on the host without needing to set up a login for all of them.
- It exercises a strict control over the areas an anonymous user can access.
7. Which factors mark the reliability of the network?
a. Frequency of failure
b. Downtime / Time taken for recovery.
8. Name the factors that tell us about the security of the network.
a. Virus attacks on the system.
b. Unauthorized access to the system.
9. Define Bandwidth and Latency?
- Bandwidth/ Throughput It means the number of bits which can be transmitted over the network in a specified
time.
- Latency It is the time taken by a message to travel from one side to another.

Bandwidth and latency describe the performance of a network.
10. What is point to point link?
- Direct connection between two computers on a network is called as point to point link.
- No other network devices other than a connecting cable are required for point to point connection.
- The cable connects the NIC card of both the devices.
11. When is a switch said to be congested?
- Sometimes a switch receives the packets faster than they can be accommodated in the shared link. These packets
are stored in the memory for sometime.
- However, after sometime the buffer space will exhaust and some packets will start getting dropped off.
- The switch is called as congested in this state.
12. Explain a.) Uni-casting, b.) Multicasting and c.) Broadcasting
a.) Uni-casting - Message is sent from a source to a single destination node.
b.) Multicasting - Message is sent from a source to some subsets of other nodes.
c.) Broadcasting - Message is sent from a source to all the nodes in the network.
13. What are the various types of Multiplexing?
The various types of multiplexing are:
a. Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
b. Time Division Multiplexing (TDM)
i. Synchronous TDM
ii. Asynchronous TDM
c. Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM)
14. Which layers of OSI are referred to as network support layers?
The following 3 layers of OSI are referred to as network support layers:
a. Physical Layer
b. Data link Layer and
c. Network Layers
15. Which layers of OSI are referred to as user support layers?
The block of user support layers consists of:
a. Session Layer
b. Presentation Layer and
c. Application Layer
16. What does the Data Link Layer do?
- The Data Link Layer transforms the physical layer to a reliable link.
It takes care of:

a. Node to node delivery.
b. Framing
c. Physical Addressing
d. Flow Control
e. Error Control
f. Access Control
17. What is NIC?
- NIC stands for Network Interface Card.
- It is a peripheral card attached to a PC to helps it connect to a network.
- The MAC address of the card helps the network in identifying the PC.
18. What are the responsibilities of Network Layer?
- The Network Layer aids in source-to-destination delivery of packet across multiple networks.
- It performs:
a. Logical Addressing
b. Routing
19. Name the various error detection methods.
The various error detection methods are:
a. Vertical Redundancy Check (VRC)
b. Longitudinal Redundancy Check (VRC)
c. Cyclic Redundancy Check (VRC)
d. Checksum
20. . What is Bit Stuffing?
- Bit stuffing means adding one extra 0 whenever five consecutive 1s follow a 0.
- This is done so that the pattern 0111110 is not mistaken for a flag.
21. How does dynamic host configuration protocol aid in network
administration?
- In a large set up where it is difficult to manually configure the IP address of each system, dynamic host configuration
protocol comes very helpful.
- Using this protocol, the administrator can create a pool of IP addresses which are called scopes. These can be then
dynamically assigned to the systems.
Routing and Switching
What are Brute Force Attacks?
Brute forcing is a mechanism which is used by an attacker to break the encryption of data by applying a set of various
key.............
Read Answer
How do you use RSA for both authentication and secrecy?
RSA is a public key encryption algorithm. The RSA algorithms are...........
Read Answer
Can you differentiate among encoding, encryption and hashing?
Encoding: Basically encoding is used to protect the integrity of data as it crosses through communication network to
keep its original message.............
Read Answer
If you have to generate a hash function then what characteristics are needed in a secure hash function?
A secure hash function should have the following characteristics:................
Read Answer
What is digital signature? Differentiate between Physical and Digital Signature
A digital signature is an electronic analogue of a written signature; the digital signature can be used to provide
assurance...........
Read Answer
What is Authentication Header and how it provides the protection to IP header?
Basically Authentication Header protects IP header and provides the complete authenticity to the IP packets.............
Read Answer
Explain SSL Protocol. How does it protect internet users from various threats?
The SSL protocol (Secure Socket Layer protocol) was originally developed by Netscape, to ensure security of data
transported.............
Read Answer
What is PIX firewall security? How does it differ from a firewall?
PIX (Private Internet Exchange)...........
Read Answer
What are Malware? Explain different types of Malware
Malware is a software program which is developed to destroy a computer system..............
Read Answer
What are replay attacks? Give an example of replay attack
Replay attacks are the network attacks in which an attacker spies the conversation between the sender and
receiver..........
Read Answer
If you have to encrypt as well as compress data during transmission then which would you do first and
why?
Data should be transmitted over any communication network in such a way that the data integrity and
authenticity.............
Read Answer
What is the goal of Information Security in an organization?
Mainly there are three Information security goals in an organization: Confidentiality, Integrity and Availability..............
Read Answer
What is Symmetric-Key cryptography and Asymmetric-Key cryptography?
Symmetric-Key Cryptography: Symmetric-key cryptography uses a single key for both encryption and decryption.
Encryption and decryption algorithm are inverse of each other.............
Read Answer
Explain the services provided by IP (Internet Protocol) - Addressing, Fragmentation, Packet timeouts and
options
Latest answer: Addressing: For the purpose of delivering datagram packets, IP needs to know about the address of
the destination. By including the host addressing, this task is carried out by IP. As IP operates in an internet, its
systems are designed to accept the addressing of devices which are unique.............
Read answer
Explain the classes of IP address
Latest answer: IP addresses are organized into classes. For convenience of humans, IP addresses are expressed in
the decimal format. Every number in each class is represented as binary to computers..................
Read answer
Define Broadcast, Unicast and Multicast.
Latest answer: Unicast: A term used in communication to describe a piece of information to send from one point to
another. There are only sender and receiver................
Read answer
What is Network Mask?
Latest answer: A network mask is used for determination of what subnet an IP address belongs to. An IP address
has network address and the host address.................
Read answer
Define Subnetting.
Latest answer: A subnet describes a set of networked computers which have common IP address routing
prefix..................
Read answer
What is the User Datagram Protocol (UDP)?
Latest answer: User datagram protocol allows computer applications to send messages as datagram packets from
source to destination on an Internet Protocol,..................
Read answer
Explain TCP Windowing concept.
Latest answer: TCP Windowing is a concept that is used for avoiding congestion in the network traffic..................
Read answer
What is the Domain Name System (DNS)? What are the advantages of it?
Latest answer: A hierarchical naming system for computer systems, services or for that matter any resource
participating in the internet...................
Read answer
What is the TTL (Time to Live)? Why is it required?
Latest answer: TTL is a value in data packet of Internet Protocol. It communicates to the network router whether or
not the packet should be in the network for too long or discarded.................
Read answer
Explain the use of Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)
Latest answer: Internet Control Message Protocol is one of the important protocols in the Internet Protocol suite. It is
mainly used in operating system of networked computers..................
Read answer
What is the use of IGMP protocol?
Latest answer: Internet Group Management Protocol: - It allows internet hosts to participate in multicasting. The
IGMP messages are used to learn which hosts is part of which multicast groups..............
Read answer
What are Ping and Tracert?
Latest answer: Ping and tracert are the commands used to send information to some remote computers to receive
some information. Information is sent and received by packets..............
Read answer
Explain RSVP. How does it work?
Latest answer: Resource Reservation protocol is used to reserve resources across a network. It is used for
requesting a specific Quality of Service (QoS) from the network...............
Read answer
Explain the concept of DHCP.
Latest answer: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol is used assigning IP addresses to computers in a network. The
IP addresses are assigned dynamically...............
Read answer
What are the differences between a domain and a workgroup?
Latest answer: In a domain, one or more computer can be a server to manage the network. On the other hand in a
workgroup all computers are peers having no control on each other.............
Read answer
Explain how NAT works.
Latest answer: Network Address Translation translates and IP address used in a network to another IP address
known within another network. A NAT table is maintained for global to local and local to mapping of IPs................
Read answer
What is PPP protocol? Explain PPP packet format.
Latest answer: Point to Point protocol helps communication between 2 computers over a serial cable, phone line or
other fiber optic lines. E.g. Connection between an Internet Service Provider and a host................
Read answer
What is IP Spoofing and how can it be prevented?
Latest answer: IP spoofing is a mechanism used by attackers to gain unauthorized access to a system. Here, the
intruder sends messages to a computer with an IP address indicating that the message is coming from a trusted
host...............
Read answer
Explain IP datagram, Fragmentation and MTU.
Latest answer: IP datagram can be used to describe a portion of IP data. Each IP datagram has set of fields
arranged in an order. The order is specific which helps to decode and read the stream easily..............
Read answer
What is an application gateway?
Latest answer: An application gateway is an application program that runs on a firewall between two networks. An
application gateway is used for establishing connection between client program and destination service..................
Read answer
Explain Circuit Level Gateway.
Latest answer: A circuit level gateway is used to find if a session in TCP handshaking is legitimate or not. It can be
considered as a layer between application layer and transport layer..................
Read answer
What is 'Gateway Of Last Resort'?
A Gateway of Last Resort or Default gateway is a route used by the router when no other known route exists to
transmit the IP packet. Known routes are present in the routing table.................
Read answer
What are switches? Explain the concepts of Layer-3 switches.
Latest answer: It is a device that connects multiple network segments.
A switch analyzes the MAC address and then determines where to send the data..............
Read answer
What is Router? Explain components of Routers.
Latest answer: The way switches connect multiple computers, a router connects multiple networks. Routers
comprise of data consisting of large tables of networks and addresses..................
Read answer
Overview of OSI layer.
Latest answer: OSI stands for Open Systems Interconnection
The OSI reference model gives an overview of the layered communications and computer network protocol
design...................
Read answer
Explain different layers in the OSI model.
Latest answer: Application Layer: Closest to the end user, Interact directly with the software application.
Presentation Layer: Translates application to network format, and vice versa, Works to transform data into the form
that the application layer can accept, Formats and encrypts data to be sent across a network.........................
Read answer
Explain the concept and capabilities of Unicast IP Addresses.
Latest answer: It is an IP address that uniquely identifies a host in a network.
The datagram with a unicast IP address is received and processed by only a single host.
Read answer
What is IP Multicasting?
Latest answer: It is an IP address that identifies a particular group of hosts in network.
This group of hosts is called a multicast group..............
Read answer
Explain the classes of IP addresses. Why do we need them?
Latest answer: Class A:
Range: from 0.0.0.0 to 127.255.255.255.
Leftmost bit: 0.
First 8 bits: netid.
Remaining 24 bits: hostid..............
Read answer
What is Subneting? Explain the advantages of using Subneting.
Latest answer: Subneting is dividing a network into several subnets.
This is usually done for the following purposes:..................
Read answer
What is Superneting? Explain the concept of custom Subneting.
Latest answer: Supernetting or Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) : It is a way to aggregate multiple Internet
addresses of the same class..............
Read answer
What is VLSM, Variable length subnet masking?
Latest answer: VLSM is a means of allocating IP addressing resources to subnets according to their individual need
rather than some general network-wide rule................
Read answer
What is Data Fragmentaion? Explain how Data Fragmentaion works.
Latest answer: Fragmentation occurs when storage space is used inefficiently due to which storage capacity and
performance is reduced................
Read answer
Explain the concepts and capabilities of IP Datagram.
Latest answer: Data transmitted over an internet using IP is carried in messages called IP datagrams. Like all
network protocol messages, IP uses a specific format for its datagrams...................
Read answer
What is MAC address?
Media Access Control address is an identifier for assigned to most network adapters or Network Interface Cards by
the manufacturer for the purpose of identification...............
Read answer
Describe the Packet Format of ARP (Address Resolution Protocol)?
The fields of the packet format of ARP are as follows:
-Hardware type: It is a 16-bit field . Each LAN has been assigned an integer based on its type. For example, Ethernet
is given the type 1.
-Protocol type: This is a 16-bit field defining the protocol. For example, the value of this field for IPv4 protocol is 0800.
-Hardware length: This is an 8-bit field defining the length of the physical address in bytes. For example, for Ethernet
the value is 6.
-Protocol length: This is an 8-bit field defining the length of the logical address in bytes. For example, for IPv4
protocol the value is 4.
-Operation: This is a 16-bitfield defining the type of packet. Two packet types are defined: ARP request (1), ARP reply
(2).
-Sender hardware address: This is a variable-length field defining the physical address of the sender. For example,
for Ethernet this field is 6 bytes long.
-Sender protocol address: This is a variable-length field defining the logical (for example, IP) address of the sender.
For the IP protocol, this field is 4 bytes long.
-Target hardware address: This is a variable-length field defining the physical address of the target. For example, for
Ethernet this field is 6 bytes long.
-Target protocol address: This is a variable-length field defining the logical (for example, IP) address of the target. For
IPv4 protocol, this field is 4 bytes long.
What are the advantages of IPv6 over IPv4?
the next generation IP, or IPv6 has some advantages over IPv4 that can be summarized as follows:
- Larger Address Space: An IPv6 address is 128 bytes long where IPv4 has 32-bit address only, this is a huge
increase in the address space.
- Better Header Format: IPv6 uses a new header format which simplifies and speeds up the routing process because
most of the options do not need to be checked by routers.
- New Options: IPv6 has new options to allow for additional functionalities.
- Allowance for extension: In IPv6 new technologies can easily embedded.
-Support For Resource Allocation: In IPv6, flow label has been added to enable the source to request special
handling of the packet. This mechanism can be used to support traffic such as real-time audio and video.
-Support For More Security: The encryption and authentication options in IPv6 provide confidentiality and integrity of
the packet.
What are the different design goals of ATM?
Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM) is the cell relay protocol.
The Design Goals of ATM are as follows:
- A technology is needed to take advantage of high rate transmission media and less susceptible to noise
degradation for maximizing the data rates.
-The system must interface with existing systems and provide wide-area inter-connectivity between.
-The implementation of design must be cheaper enough so that everyone can afford it. If ATM is to become the
backbone of international communications, as indeed, it must be available at low cost to every user who wants it.
-The new system must be able to work with and support the existing telecommunication hierarchies.
- The new system must be connection-oriented to ensure accurate and predictable delivery.
- One objective is to move as many of the functions to hardware as possible (for speed) an eliminate as many
software functions as possible (again for speed).
Test your Networking skills!
Networking (40 questions)
Wireless communication
Iphone
Android
Linux (27 questions)
Basic Networking interview questions and answers

Difference between the communication and transmission.
The differences between the communication and transmission are: Physical movement
of information and concerning about bit priority, synchronization, clock etc is referred as
transmission................
Read answer
What is the difference between TFTP and FTP application layer protocols?
The differences between FTP and TFTP: FTP is connection oriented, where as TFTP is
not. TFTP uses error checking and flow control, where as TFTP does not cause error
checking.................
Read answer
Difference between bit rate and baud rate
The differences between bit rate and baud rate: Bit rate is measured as number of data
bits transmitted / second in communication channel...............
Read answer
What are NETBIOS and NETBEUI?
Network Basic Input Output System provides session layer of OSI model related
services which allows the applications on different computers for communicating over a
LAN...............
Read answer
Difference between ARP and RARP
The differences between ARP and RARP: Address Resolution Protocol is utilized for
mapping IP network address to the hardware address that uses data link
protocol..............
Read answer
What is the difference between POP3 and IMAP Mail Server?
POP3: All emails are to be downloaded again if used by another desktop PC for
checking the email. May leads to confusion if used for checking email in office and at
home pc.............
Read answer
What is a Transaction server?
A transaction server is software that is used for implementing transactions. A
transaction comprises of multiple steps that must automatically be completed..............
Read answer
What is Message Oriented Middleware (MOM)?
An infrastructure focuses on sending and receiving messages to increment
interoperability, flexibility and flexibility of an application..............
Read answer
What is Groupware server?
Groupware server is software that allows the collaboration of users, irrespective of
location through the internet or intranet..............
Read answer
What are TP-Lite and TP-Heavy Monitors?
TP-Lite Monitor: The integration of TP monitors functions in a database engines is
called as TP-Lite monitor...............
Read answer
What is LAN?
Latest answer: LAN is a computer network that spans a relatively small area. Most
LANs are confined to a single building or group of buildings. However, one LAN can be
connected to other LANs over any distance via telephone lines and radio
waves...............
Read answer
What's the difference Between an Intranet and the Internet?
Latest answer: There's one major distinction between an intranet and the Internet: The
Internet is an open, public space, while an intranet is designed to be a private
space.................
Read answer
Define the term Protocol.
Latest answer: Protocol is a standard way of communicating across a network. A
protocol is the "language" of the network. It is a method by which two dissimilar systems
can communicate..........
Read answer
Define File Transfer Protocol.
Latest answer: File Transfer Protocol (FTP), a standard Internet protocol, is the
simplest way to exchange files between computers on the Internet. Like the Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP)................
Read answer
Explain the 7 Layers of OSI.
Latest answer: Layer 1: Physical layer
It represents all the electrical and physical specifications for devices............
Read answer
What is a network? What are the different kinds of network? Explain them.
Latest answer: A network is a group of computers or nodes connected together. They
are connected with each other by communication paths................
Read answer
What are network topologies? Explain Ring, Bus and Star topology.
Latest answer: A network topology describes the layout of a network. It describes how
different nodes and elements are connected to each other. Different types of
topology.................
Read answer
Explain IP, TCP and UDP.
Latest answer: TCP Transmission control Protocol is used to establish
communication between nodes or networks and exchange data packets. It guarantees
delivery of data packets in the order they were sent.................
Read answer
How would you define IP address?
Latest answer: Computers using the TCP/IP for communication are uniquely identified
by a 32 bit address called as an IP address. The routers use the IP address information
to forward the packet to the destination computer.............
Read answer
What is multicasting?
Latest answer: Multicasting allows a single message to be sent to a group of
recipients. Emailing, teleconferencing, are examples of multicasting..................
Read answer
Explain the functionality of PING.
Latest answer: Ping Is particularly used to check if the system is in network or not. It
also gives packet lost information. In windows ping command is written as ping
ip_address................
Read answer
Explain the core naming mechanism, Domain Name System (DNS).
Latest answer: A Domain Name system is used to convert the names of the website on
the internet to IP addresses. The domain names for each IP addresses are stored in a
database that is distributed across different servers.................
Read answer
10 Killer Interview Questions for
Network Professionals


What should you be asking candidates for your networking jobs? Even if youve got a
recruitment agency sifting through resumes and conducting preliminary interviews for you, youll
have to meet and interview candidates for enterprise administration and networking roles, and
you'll both get a better experience if youre prepared for the interview. Heres our roundup of 10
killer questions that you should ask all your candidates. And if you're a job candidate, enjoy this
sneak peek as you get ready to ace all your networking interview questions.

1. What types of network do you have experience with?
This should be one of the first things you ask. It might be critical to you that the
candidate has prior experience with the type of network model you use, but even
candidates that don't could be good fits, assuming they are willing to learn and have
other critical skills. In fact, candidates with lots of experience on networks very similar to
yours could be too set in their ways to adapt to the way your business does things.
2. What can you tell me about the OSI Reference Model?
The OSI Reference Model provides a framework for discussing network design and
operations. It groups communication functions into 7 logical layers, each one building on
the next. This question will demonstrate whether candidates have the theoretical
knowledge to back up their practical skills.

Enhancing Data Security, Privacy, and Availability in the Cloud
Download Now
3. What monitoring tools or approaches do you rate?
You can extend this to ask about what tools candidates have used in other jobs.
Hopefully they will be able to give you a range of products and techniques, and the
rationale for their favorites. This can tell you about the depth of their experience and
also whether their choices of tools are a good fit for your architecture.
4. What are the benefits of subnetting?
Subnetting helps reduce network traffic and the size of the routing tables. Its also a way
to add security to network traffic by isolating it from the rest of the network. You dont
just want candidates who can technically deploy and administer networks you also
want people who understand the rationale behind your network model.
5. How would you recommend we support our mobile workers?
Look for answers that talk about bandwidth availability, user experience, and traffic
security. Its also interesting to see if candidates ask what sort of applications mobile
workers use and then tailor their answers to reflect the way the network will be used.
6. Whats your experience of configuration management?
This question probes candidates' thoughts and experiences of the structure and
governance that surrounds networking. You want someone with deep technical
knowledge and domain experience, but also someone who isnt a maverick who will
make changes without following the proper protocols.
7. How does the networking team interact with other areas of IT?
While candidates will be networking specialists, the best will have an overall awareness
of how what they do affects other areas of IT. Answers could cover working with
platform and application specialists, being involved in projects, or collaboration with
telephony experts.
8. What do you know about our industry?
While industry knowledge isnt a prerequisite for success at a networking job, it's useful
to find out what, if anything, the candidate knows about the environment that they will be
working in. The network requirements for a hospital are very different from those of an
international retailer. And this question will show you which candidates have done any
homework about the job before coming to the interview.
9. What would you like your job to not include?
This question will help you avoid someone who ends up leaving after a couple of weeks.
Ideally, youll have sent your candidates a job description, and they wont have applied if
they didnt like the look of the role, but that doesnt always happen you cant rely on
candidates to have read the job specs!
10. Do you have any questions for us?
Always give candidates opportunities to ask you questions. Candidates who whip out
lists of questions show that they have prepared for the interview. Candidates who try to
negotiate pension contributions at this first stage probably dont have the enthusiasm for
the role that you are looking for. Candidates who ask nothing at all, meanwhile, are
underprepared and not that interested in the company or the job.
Interviews are a two-way street. Not only do they allow you to establish whether
candidates would be assets to your team, but they also provide an opportunity for
candidates to find out about the company and decide if the role you're offering is a good
fit for them. Asking the right questions at interviews helps both parties get the most out
of the time and, hopefully, will secure you a professional, motivated and knowledgeable
candidate for your networking team.
. Define Network?
A network is a set of devices connected by physical media links. A network is
recursively is a connection of two or more nodes by a physical link or two or
more networks connected by one or more nodes.
2. What is a Link?
At the lowest level, a network can consist of two or more computers directly
connected by some physical medium such as coaxial cable or optical fiber.
Such a physical medium is called as Link.
3. What is a node?
A network can consist of two or more computers directly connected by some
physical medium such as coaxial cable or optical fiber. Such a physical
medium is called as Links and the computer it connects is called as Nodes.
4. What is a gateway or Router?
A node that is connected to two or more networks is commonly called as
router or Gateway. It generally forwards message from one network to
another.
5. What is point-point link?
If the physical links are limited to a pair of nodes it is said to be point-point
link.
6. What is Multiple Access?
If the physical links are shared by more than two nodes, it is said to be
Multiple Access.
7. What are the advantages of Distributed Processing?
a. Security/Encapsulation
b. Distributed database
c. Faster Problem solving
d. Security through redundancy
e. Collaborative Processing
8. What are the criteria necessary for an effective and efficient
network?
a. Performance
It can be measured in many ways, including transmit time and response
time. b. Reliability
It is measured by frequency of failure, the time it takes a link to recover
from a failure, and the network's robustness.
c. Security
Security issues includes protecting data from unauthorized access and
virues.
9. Name the factors that affect the performance of the network?
a. Number of Users
b. Type of transmission medium
c. Hardware
d. Software
10. Name the factors that affect the reliability of the network?
a. Frequency of failure
b. Recovery time of a network after a failure
11. Name the factors that affect the security of the network?
a. Unauthorized Access
b. Viruses
12. What is Protocol?
A protocol is a set of rules that govern all aspects of information
communication.
13. What are the key elements of protocols?
The key elements of protocols are
a. Syntax
It refers to the structure or format of the data, that is the order in which
they are presented.
b. Semantics
It refers to the meaning of each section of bits.
c. Timing
Timing refers to two characteristics: When data should be sent and how
fast they can be sent.
14. What are the key design issues of a computer Network?
a. Connectivity
b. Cost-effective Resource Sharing
c. Support for common Services
d. Performance
15. Define Bandwidth and Latency?
Network performance is measured in Bandwidth (throughput) and Latency
(Delay). Bandwidth of a network is given by the number of bits that can be
transmitted over the network in a certain period of time. Latency
corresponds to how long it t5akes a message to travel from one end off a
network to the other. It is strictly measured in terms of time.
16. Define Routing?
The process of determining systematically hoe to forward messages toward
the destination nodes based on its address is called routing.
17. What is a peer-peer process?
The processes on each machine that communicate at a given layer are called
peer-peer process.
18. When a switch is said to be congested?
It is possible that a switch receives packets faster than the shared link can
accommodate and stores in its memory, for an extended period of time,
then the switch will eventually run out of buffer space, and some packets will
have to be dropped and in this state is said to congested state.
133. What is Proxy ARP?
It is using a router to answer ARP requests. This will be done when the
originating host believes that a destination is local, when in fact is lies
beyond router.
134. What is SLIP (Serial Line Interface Protocol)?
It is a very simple protocol used for transmission of IP datagrams across a
serial line.
135. What is RIP (Routing Information Protocol)?
It is a simple protocol used to exchange information between the routers.
136. What is source route?
It is a sequence of IP addresses identifying the route a datagram must
follow. A source route may optionally be included in an IP datagram header.
127. What is BGP (Border Gateway Protocol)?
It is a protocol used to advertise the set of networks that can be reached
with in an autonomous system. BGP enables this information to be shared
with the autonomous system. This is newer than EGP (Exterior Gateway
Protocol).
128. What is Gateway-to-Gateway protocol?
It is a protocol formerly used to exchange routing information between
Internet core routers.
129. What is NVT (Network Virtual Terminal)?
It is a set of rules defining a very simple virtual terminal interaction. The
NVT is used in the start of a Telnet session.
130. What is a Multi-homed Host?
It is a host that has a multiple network interfaces and that requires multiple
IP addresses is called as a Multi-homed Host.
131. What is Kerberos?
It is an authentication service developed at the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology. Kerberos uses encryption to prevent intruders from discovering
passwords and gaining unauthorized access to files.
132. What is OSPF?
It is an Internet routing protocol that scales well, can route traffic along
multiple paths, and uses knowledge of an Internet's topology to make
accurate routing decisions.