SVS COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING

COIMBATORE-642 109
DEPARTMENT OF ELECTRONICS AND COMMUNICATION ENGINEERING

CS6551-COMPUTER NETWORKS

TWO MARKS QUESTIONS WITH

ANSWERS
III B.E. ECE - VI SEM

Prepared by,
Ms. C. Viji,
Assistant Professor,
ECE Department,
SVS College of Engineering.
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UNIT-1 FUNDAMENTALS & LINK LAYER

Building a network – Requirements - Layering and protocols - Internet Architecture – Network

software – Performance ; Link layer Services - Framing - Error Detection - Flow control.

1. Define flow control. MAY/JUNE 2016

 Flow control refers to a set of procedures used to restrict the amount of data that can be
sent before receiving an acknowledgement.
 Flow control tells the sender that how much data to be sent in a network.
Categories
a) Stop and Wait- send one frame at a time.
b) Sliding window- send several frames at a time.

2. Write the parameters used to measure a network performance. MAY/JUNE 2016

1. Arrival time
2. Jitter
3. Latency
4. Throughput
5. Round Trip Time (RTT)

3. List the services provided by data link layer. NOV/DEC 2016

 Framing
 Error Control
 Flow Control
 Service interface to the network layer
 Deals with transmission errors (Regulating data flow)

4. Write the mechanism of stop and wait protocol. NOV/DEC 2016

The simplest ARQ (Automatic Repeat-Request) scheme is the stop-and-wait algorithm. In
this algorithm after the transmission of a frame, the sender waits for an acknowledgment
before transmitting the next frame. If the acknowledgment does not arrive after a certain
period of time, the sender times out and retransmit the original frame.

Stop and wait protocol

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5. Differentiate between packet and circuit switching.

MAY /JUNE 2015, APR/MAY 2014, NOV/DEC 2014, APR/MAY 2017

Circuit switching Packet switching

Physical link is divided into N channels
by using FDM or TDM.
Circuit switching involves establishing a
dedicated path (circuit) between the
source and destination.
Physical connection between sender and
receiver.
Waste of bandwidth is possible
Call setup delay is possible
Path is established for entire conversation
Efficient communication
Sending message is divided into many
packets of fixed or variable size.
Packet switching uses store-and-forward
switching of discrete data units which are
called packets and implies statistical
multiplexing.
No Physical connection exists between
sender and receiver.
Waste of bandwidth is impossible
Packet transmission delay is possible
Route is established for each packet
Less efficient communication

6. List out the limitations of unguided transmission medium. MAY /JUNE 2015
 Searching and tracking mechanisms increases complexity.
 Insecure communication.
 Less information propagation.

7. Mention the functions of data link layer. MAY /JUNE 2015

 Provides a well-defined service interface to the network layer.
 Determines how the bits of the physical layer are grouped into frames (framing).
 Deals with transmission errors (CRC and ARQ).
 It deals with both flow control and error control.
 Provides link layer management.

8. Define the term protocol. NOV/DEC 2015 MAY /JUNE 2012

Protocol is a set of rules that governs data communication and the entities in communication
must agree on a protocol.
Eg:
The TCP/IP consists of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) which uses a set of
rules to exchange messages with other internet points where the Internet Protocol (IP) uses a
set of rules to send and receive messages at the internet address level.

9. State the issues in data link layer. NOV/DEC 2015

 Framing
 Flow Control
 Error Control
 Synchronization
 Link Configuration Control

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10. What is the difference between port address, logical address and physical address?
APR/MAY 2014
 Logical address is IP address which regularly changes depends upon the network
layer and not fixed.
 Physical address is also called as MAC address which is fixed for every system and
it depends upon the network layer.
 Port address is used for every process from client to server and it depends on the
transport layer.

11. What is meant by framing? MAY /JUNE 2012 , NOV/DEC 2014

Frame is also called as packet. It detects or corrects the errors in the raw bit stream from the
physical layer. The data link layer breaks the bit stream up into discrete frames called as
framing.
It computes the checksums to detect the errors in each frame.

12. Define hamming distance. NOV/DEC 2014

 The Hamming Distance is a number used to denote the difference between two binary
strings.
 Specifically, Hamming's formula allows a computer to detect and correct the error.
Error Detection: d-1
Error Correction: (d-1)/2
d – Distance

13. Differentiate persistent and non-persistent CSMA. NOV/DEC 2014

Persistent CSMA is an aggressive transmission algorithm. When the transmitting node is
ready to transmit, it senses the transmission medium for idle or busy. If the medium is idle,
then it transmits immediately or it senses the transmission medium continuously until it
becomes idle. Then the message (a frame) is transmitted unconditionally (i.e. with
probability=1).

Non persistent CSMA is a non aggressive transmission algorithm. When the transmitting
node is ready to transmit the data, it senses the transmission medium for idle or busy. If the
medium is idle, then it transmits immediately or it waits for a random period of time before
repeating the whole logic cycle again. This approach reduces collision. (i.e. with probability=
p-1).

14. Differentiate guided and unguided transmission medium. MAY/JUNE 2013

 Guided media are most commonly known as wired media in which electrical or optical
signals are transmitted through a cables or wires.
 Unguided media are most commonly known as wireless media in which
electromagnetic signals are sent through space with no direction.
 Both the types of media can be used for long-distance and short-distance communication

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15. State the role of Digital Subscriber Line. MAY/JUNE 2013

 DSL (Digital Subscriber Line) is a family of standards for transmitting data over
twisted pair telephone lines at multimegabit-per-second speeds.
 It provides high-bandwidth information to homes and small businesses over
ordinary copper telephone lines.

16. What is the similarity between transport layer and data link layer? NOV/DEC 2013
Basically data link layer provides error-free transmission across a single link where as
transport layer ensures the communication between source and destination (Provide end-to-
end delivery).
Thus to ensure the communication, both the layers will provide following services;
1. Flow Control (Which controls the flow of data ensuring no overhead to the destination)
2. Error Detection and Correction

17. What are the features of datagram networks? NOV/DEC 2013, NOV/DEC 2017
In datagram approach, each packet is treated independently from all others. Packets are
referred to as datagram.
Features:
 Connectionless network.
 Resources are allocated on demand.
 A datagram network is a best effort network.
 Delivery is not guaranteed.
 Reliable delivery must be provided by the end systems (i.e. user's computers) using
additional protocols.

18. Define frame relay and list its characteristics. NOV/DEC 2013
Frame relay is a packet-switching telecommunication service designed for cost-efficient
data transmission for discontinuous traffic between Local Area Networks (LANs) and
endpoints in Wide Area Networks (WANs).
Characteristics:

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 Simplicity.
 Packet switching with virtual circuit service.
 “Connection” is associated with the virtual circuit.
 No flow control
 Frame relay is used to construct Virtual Private Networks (VPNs).

19. Define Network. MAY /JUNE 2012

 A computer network is a set of computers connected together for the purpose of
sharing resources.
 The most common resource sharing is connection to the internet.
 Other shared resources can include a printer or a file server.

To characterize the networks according to their size is listed below

 LANs (Local Area Networks)
 WANs (Wide Area Networks)
 MANs (Metropolitan Area Networks)

20. What is client process? MAY /JUNE 2012

The client process is a program that sends a message to a server process (program) and it
requests the server to perform a task (service).
Client programs usually manage the following processes
 User-interface portion of the application
 Data validation entered by the user
 Dispatch requests to server programs

21. What is the use of IP address? MAY /JUNE 2012

 An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each
device.
 It is assigned to a computer network for communication.
 An IP address serves two principal functions:
 Host or network interface identification.
 Location addressing.
 Primary types of IP address formats are IPv4 and IPv6.

22. What are the two multiplexing strategies used in TL? MAY /JUNE 2012
Definition:
Combining distinct channels into a single lower-level channel is called as multiplexing.
Eg: Separate TCP and UDP channels are multiplexed into a single host-to-host IP channel.

There are two types of multiplexing strategies

1. Upward Multiplexing
 It support minimum number of network connections only.
 It is also called as connectionless multiplexing.
2. Downward Multiplexing
 It support multiple network connections and are opened by the transport layer and
the traffic is distributed among them.
 It is necessary that this capacity must be handled well by the subnet’s data links.
 It is also called as connection oriented multiplexing.

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23. Compare datagram networks with virtual circuit. NOV/DEC 2012

Virtual circuit: It is connection oriented service. In virtual circuit there is a reservation of
resources and dedicated path for a connection session, since all the packets follow the same
path.
Datagram Networks: It is connectionless service. In datagram networks there is no need for
reservation of resources and no dedicated path required for a connection session. All packets
are free to take any path by using dynamically changing routing tables.

24. Define Bandwidth and Latency. APR/ MAY 2017

Bandwidth: The bandwidth of a network is defined as the number of bits that can be transmitted
over the network in a certain period of time in bits per seconds.
Latency: Latency is also termed as delay. It is defined as “a measure of how long a single bit
takes to propagate from one end of a link to other end.

25. Compare Byte-oriented versus Bit-oriented protocol. APR/ MAY 2017

Bit-oriented protocol is the process of inserting noninformation bits into data to break
up bit patterns to affect the synchronous transmission of information.
100001111100001111
Stuffed
100001111 0 100001111 0

Byte-oriented protocol is the process of inserting noninformative character(ESC)

into data to break up string patterns to affect the synchronous transmission of information.
Bandwidth
Stuffed
BandESCwidth

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UNIT-2 MEDIA ACCESS & INTERNETWORKING

Media access control - Ethernet (802.3) - Wireless LANs – 802.11 – Bluetooth - Switching and
bridging – Basic Internetworking (IP, CIDR, ARP, DHCP, ICMP).

1. Define hidden node problem. MAY/JUNE 2016

It is a situation that occurs on a wireless network where two nodes A and C are sending to a
common destination at the same time because A and C not aware of each other’s transmission.
Eg:
A and C both are within the range of B but not each other. Suppose both A and C wants to
communicate with B. But A and C are unaware of each other and so their frames collide with
each other at B. As A and C is unaware of this collision they are said to be hidden nodes with
respect to each other.

A,B,C are nodes in networking

2. What is Bluetooth? NOV/DEC 2012, MAY/JUNE 2016

 Bluetooth is designed for communication over short distances (on the order of 10 m) with
a bandwidth of 1 Mbps.
 It fills the place of very short-range communication between mobile phones, PDAs,
notebook computers, and other personal or peripheral devices.
 For example, Bluetooth can be used to connect mobile phones to a headset, or a notebook
computer to a printer.
Advantages:
 It creates adhoc connection immediately without any wires.
 It has low power consumption.
 It has range better than Infrared communication.
 Bluetooth devices are available at very cheap cost

3. Write the types of connecting devices in internetworking. MAY/JUNE 2016

1. Hub
2. Repeater
3. Modem, NIC (Network Interface Card)
4. Media Converters, Basic Switches and Bridges

4. Expand ICMP and write the function. MAY/JUNE 2016 , MAY /JUNE 2015
 IP is always configured with a companion protocol known as the Internet Control
Message Protocol (ICMP).
 It defines a collection of error messages that are sent back to the source host whenever a
router or host is unable to process an IP datagram successfully.

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For example, ICMP defines the following error messages

 Source Quench
 Time Exceeded
 Parameter Problem
 Redirection
 Destination Unreachable

5. What is meant by exponential back-off? NOV/DEC 2016

 It is a retransmission strategy that doubles the timeout value each time, when a packet is
retransmitted.
 Once an adaptor has detected a collision and stopped its transmission, it waits a certain
amount of time and tries again. Each time it tries to transmit but if it fails again, then the
adaptor doubles the amount of time. This strategy of doubling the delay interval between
each retransmission attempt is a general technique known as exponential back-off.

6. What is scatternet? NOV/DEC 2016

 A scatternet is a type of ad hoc computer network consisting of two or more piconets.
 It is defined as a number of interconnected piconets that supports communication
between more than 8 devices.
 Upto 8 devices can communicate in a small network and is called as piconets.
 The terms "scatternet" and "piconet" are typically applied to bluetooth wireless
technology.

7. Define subnetting. NOV/DEC 2015

 A subnetwork or subnet is a single IP network address to denote multiple physical
networks.
 Routers within a subnetwork use a subnet mask to discover the physical network to
which a packet should be forwarded.
 Subnetting effectively introduces a third level to the two-level hierarchical IP address.
Advantage:
Address space utilization

Subnetting

8. What is the need of ARP? NOV/DEC 2015

 ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is a mechanism to determine the MAC address of
the node.
 It is used to translate global IP addresses into local link-layer addresses.

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9. Identify the class of the following IP address: NOV/DEC 2015

(a) 110.34.56.45
(b) 212.208.63.2
Answers:
Ranges for communication:

CLASS A : 0.0.0.0 to 127.255.255.255

CLASS B : 128.0.0.0 to 191.255.255.255
CLASS C : 192.0.0.0 to 223.255.255.255
CLASS D : 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255
CLASS E : 240.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255

(a) 110.34.56.45 - Class A

(b) 212.208.63.23- Class C

10. What is the average size of an Ethernet frame? APR/MAY 2014, NOV/DEC 2017
 The Ethernet IEEE 802.3 standard defined the minimum Ethernet frame size as 64 bytes
 The Ethernet IEEE 802.3 standard defined the maximum Ethernet frame size as 1518 bytes.
 The maximum was later increased to 1522 bytes to allow for VLAN classification.

Ethernet frame format

11. What are the access methods used by wireless LAN? APR/MAY 2014
 Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
 Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)
 Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
 Space Division Multiple Access (SDMA)

12. State the uses of valid transmission timer. NOV/DEC 2014

 The Valid Transmission Timer (TVX) calculates the period between correct frame
transmissions, therefore it is used to check for faults on the ring. If it expires then a new
claim process begins.

13. What is the purpose of Network Interface Card? MAY/JUNE 2013

 A network interface controller or card is a computer hardware component that connects a
computer to a computer in a network society.
 It manages or controls the wired & wireless connection to exchange the information
between PC’s & internet.

14. What are Virtual LANs? MAY/JUNE 2013

 To increase the scalability of extended LANs .
 VLANs allow a single extended LAN to be partitioned into several separate LANs.
 Each virtual LAN is assigned an identifier and packets can only travel from one segment to
another if both segments have the same identifier.

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Advantages:
Like a router, it partitions the network into logical segments, which provides better
administration, security, and management of multicast traffic.

Virtual LANs

15. Why IPV6 is preferred than IPV4? NOV/DEC 2013, MAY/JUNE 2013 , APRIL/ MAY 2017
IPng or IPV6 were
 Support for real-time services.
 Security support is more.
 Auto configuration (i.e., the ability of hosts to automatically configure themselves
with such information as their own IP address and domain name)
 Enhanced routing functionality, including support for mobile hosts
Internet Protocol (also known as IPv4).
 Support connectionless service
 Support best-effort delivery service of datagram across the internet
Compared with IPv4 and IPv6, IPv6 supports multiple networking features than IPv4.

16. What is the use of multicast routing? NOV/DEC 2013

 Multicast routing protocols are used to distribute data (for example, audio/video
streaming broadcasts) to multiple recipients simultaneously.
 In multicast, a source can send a single copy of data to a single multicast address, which
is distributed to an entire group of recipients.

17. Why Ethernet is said to be an I-persistent protocol? NOV/DEC 2012

An adaptor with a frame transmits with probability “1” whenever a busy line
goes idle is said to be a I-persistent protocol.

18. Define ICMP. NOV/DEC 2012

Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP).
 This protocol is an integral part of IP.
 It allows a router or destination host to communicate with the source, typically to
report an error in IP datagram processing.

19. When is ICMP redirect message used? APR/ MAY 2017

 The ICMP redirect message is used to notify a remote host to send the data packets
on an alternative route.
 Redirects the message only through gateways.

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20. What is DHCP? NOV/DEC 2012

The Dynamic Host Configuration protocol has been derived to provide dynamic
configuration. DHCP is also needed when a host moves from network to network or is
connected and disconnected from a network.

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UNIT-3 ROUTING

Routing (RIP, OSPF, metrics) – Switch basics – Global Internet (Areas, BGP, IPv6),
Multicast – addresses – multicast routing (DVMRP, PIM).

1. Define VCI. NOV/DEC 2016

 Virtual circuit identifier (VCI) also known as a virtual channel identifier that
uniquely identifies the connection at the switch which will be carried inside the
header of the packets.
 Whenever a new connection is created, a new VCI for that connection is
established.

2. Give the comparison of unicast, multicast and broadcast routing. NOV/DEC

2016,MAY/JUNE 2017
Unicast (One to One)
Unicast is the term used to describe the communication where a piece of information
is sent from one point to another point. In this case there is one sender and one
receiver.
Multicast (Many to Many)
Multicast is the term used to describe the communication where a piece of information
is sent from one or more points to a set of other points. In this case there may be one
or more senders and one or more receivers.
Broadcast (One to Many)
Broadcast is the term used to describe the communication where a piece of
information is sent from one point to all other points. In this case there is one sender,
but the information is sent to all connected receivers.

3. Define routing. NOV/DEC 2015

The process of determining how to forward messages towards the destination
node based on its address is called routing.

4. Define BGP. NOV/DEC 2014,NOV/DEC 2017

 Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an interdomain routing protocol in which
theautonomous systems exchange reachability information.
 This protocol is sometimes classed asdistance-vector routing protocol.
 The most recent version of BGP is BGP-4.

BGP State diagram

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5. What is the use of Network Address Translation? MAY/JUNE 2013

The basic idea behind NAT is that all the hosts that communicate with each other over
the internet need not have global unique address. Instead, a host could be assigned a
“private address” that is not globally unique but it is unique with in some certain
region.
Advantages:
 To save the address space.
 To share a single internet connection with a single routable IP allocation.

6. What is TCP/IP? NOV/DEC 2012

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) /Internet protocol (IP).
Transmission Control Protocol:
 Connection-oriented transport protocol of the Internet architecture.
 TCP provides a reliable, byte-stream delivery service.
Internet Protocol (also known as IPv4):
 A protocol that provides a connectionless, best-effort delivery service of
datagrams across the internet.
 TCP/IP is used to exchange the data in networks.

7. Write the keys for understanding the distance vector routing. NOV/DEC 2012
There are three keys for understanding the distance vector routing ,
 Knowledge about the whole networks.
 Routing only to neighbors.
 Information sharing at regular intervals.

8. Differentiate constant bit rate and variable bit rate. MAY/JUNE 2013
Constant Bit Rate (CBR) is a class of service in ATM (Asynchronous Transfer
Mode) that guarantees transmission of data at a constant bit rate.
Eg: Real-time audio or video services.
Variable Bit Rate (VBR) is a class of service in ATM (Asynchronous Transfer
Mode) that guarantees transmission of data at a variable bit rate
Eg: Compressed video.

9. Define Switching.
Switching is a mechanism that allows us to interconnect multiple links to form a large
network to communicate efficiently.
A switched network consists of a series of interlinked node, called switches.
Three types of switching are,
 Circuit Switching
 Packet Switching

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 Messaging Switching

10. Expand DMA.

Direct memory access (DMA) is a method that allows an input/output device to send
or receive data directly (without involvement of CPU) to or from the main memory.
Advantages:
 Bypassing the CPU to speed up memory operations.
 The process is managed by a chip known as a DMA Controller (DMAC).

11. List the objectives of routers.

 Correctness
 Simplicity
 Robustness
 Stability
 Fairness
 Optimality

12. Define DVR.

DVR (Distance Vector Routing) is a lowest-cost-path algorithm used in routing. Each
node advertises reachability information and costs to its immediate neighbors. It uses
the updates to construct its forwarding table. The routing protocol RIP used in
distance-vector algorithm.

13. What is meant by AS?

Autonomous system (AS): A group of networks and routers connected to a common
authority and uses the same intradomain routing protocol.

14. Define RIP

 RIP (Routing Information Protocol) is a simple intradomain routing protocol
which builds its forwarding table dynamically.
 It is used inside an autonomous system based on distance vector routing
algorithm, in which each routers share information /data at regular intervals.

15. What are the uses of bridges? APR / MAY 2017, NOV/DEC 2014, APR / MAY 2015
Bridge is a connecting device which is used to connect the multiple networks to form a
large internetworking. A class of switches that are used to forward packets between
shared-media LANs via bridges.
Advantages and Functions:
 Message forwarding.
 It is used to interconnecting a set of LANs.
 Error Detection
 Framing

16. What you meant by PIM?

 Protocol Independent Multicast: PIM was developed in response to the scaling
problems of earlier multicast routing protocols, where a relatively small
proportion of router wants to receive traffic for a certain group.
 A multicast routing protocol that can be built on top of different unicast routing

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protocols.

17. Differentiate between forward table and routing table. NOV/DEC 2017
Routing table Forward table
Routing table decides how to forward a Routing table are updated periodically is
packet based on the destination address. called as forward table.
A switch in a network uses a routing Forward table contains of both
table. destination address as well as port
number.
18. How does a router differ from a bridge? APR / MAY 2015

Router Bridge

The router uses the routing tables to The bridge does not use any device to transfer
route the data to the destination. the data to the destination.

Router communicates with other The bridges listen to the network traffic and
routers to decide (select) the best then decides the best path to transfer the data
path to transfer the data. depends on MAC addresses of network device.

Routers are used to connect the

Bridges are used to connect the LAN links.
LAN and WAN links.

19. What are the metrics used by routing protocols? APR / MAY 2015
 Cost
 Bandwidth
 Delay
 Reliability

20. Why is IPV4 to IPV6 transition required? APR / MAY 2017

Reasons to migrate from IPv4 to IPv6 are,
 Larger address space
 Better header format
 Support for real time services
 Support for resource allocation
 More security
 Auto configuration

21. Define Subnetting?

Subnetting provides an elegantly simple way to reduce the total number of network
numbers that are assigned. The idea is to take a single IP network number and allocate
the IP address with that network to several physical networks, which are now referred
to as subnets.

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22. What is DR?

A host send a message to a group, it will construct a packet with the destination
address as appropriate multicast group address and sends it to its local network router,
which is called designated router.

23. What is DVMARP?

Distance Vector Multicast routing Protocol is a multicast distance vector routing uses
the source based least cost trees, but the router never create routing tables.

24. Define multicast router.

A router with a list of loyal members related to each router interface that distributes
the multicast packet is called as multicast router.

25. Define fragmentation in multicast.

Fragmentation is the division of a datagram into smaller units to accommodate the
maximum transmission unit of a data link protocol.

26. Draw the packet format for IPv6.

Base header payload

Extension Header Packet from upper layer

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UNIT - IV TRANSPORT LAYER

Overview of Transport layer - UDP - Reliable byte stream (TCP) - Connection management - Flow
control - Retransmission – TCP Congestion control - Congestion avoidance (DECbit, RED) – QoS –
Application requirements.

1. What do you mean by slow start in TCP congestion? APR/MAY 2014, MAY/JUNE 2016
 Slow-start is a part of congestion control strategy used by TCP.
 Slow-start increases the congestion window exponentially, rather than linearly.
Initially, the source starts with congestion window with the value of 1 packet. When the
ACK arrives, TCP adds 2 packet to congestion window and the corresponding ACKs
Arrived. TCP increments congestion window by 4. The end result is TCP effectively doubles
the number of packets for every RTT.

TCP doubles the number of packets every RTT

2. List the different phases used in TCP connection. MAY/JUNE 2016

 Three-Way Handshake.
 Data Transfer.
 Connection Termination

3. Define URL. MAY/JUNE 2016

An URL is the string identifier that identifies a page on the World Wide Web.
It consists of

4. What is fragmentation and reassembly? NOV/DEC 2016

Fragmentation is the process of breaking a packet into smaller pieces to fit within the network.
The receiving system reassembles the pieces into original packets.
Eg:
The length of the transmission packet can exceed MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) of the
network interface. The packet is split into fragments no larger than MTU. The fragments are sent
separately and reassembled at the recipient.

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5. Differentiate between TCP and UDP. NOV/DEC 2014, NOV/DEC 2012, NOV/DEC 2016
APR/MAY 2017

TCP (Transmission Control Protocol UDP (User datagram Protocol)

TCP is connection-oriented protocol
TCP is more reliable than UDP
Data transfer level is less compared to UDP
Ordered communication (i.e they are
received in the same order as they are sent)
Heavy weight
It have an error checking process
Examples: World Wide Web (Apache TCP
port 80)
UDP is connectionless protocol
Less reliable than TCP
Data transfer level is more
Unordered communication
Light weight
No error checking process
Examples: Domain Name System (DNS
UDP port 53)

6. What is persistent HTTP? NOV/DEC 2016

Persistent HTTP connection is also called as HTTP keep-alive or HTTP connection reuse. The
client and server can exchange multiple request/response messages over the same TCP
connection.
Advantages:
 Eliminate the connection setup overhead.
 Efficient communication.

Persistent HTTP

7. What is SYN flooding attack? MAY /JUNE 2015

SYN is a short form “synchronize”. A SYN flood is a type of denial of service (DoS) attack that
sends a series of "SYN" messages to a computer. In a SYN flood attack, a computer sends a large
number of SYN requests but does not send back any ACK messages. Therefore, the server waits
for multiple responses. If the server maintains the same level, they can’t respond to legitimate
requests. This result leads to slow or unresponsive server. This process is known as SYN flooding
attack.

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8. What is the difference between congestion control and flow control? NOV/DEC 2015,
NOV/DEC 2017
Flow Control Congestion Control
Flow Control is a mechanism in which Congestion control is used to describe
the receiver of data throttles the the efforts made by network nodes to
transmission rate of the sender. prevent or respond to overload
conditions.
Flow control prevents senders from Congestion control prevents too much
overrunning the capacity of receivers. of data from being injected
into the network.
Done by server machine Done by router
Deals with end to end issues Deals with hosts and networks issues
It affects more on network
It affects less on network performance
performance
Uses buffering Does not use buffering
9. What do you mean by QoS? NOV/DEC 2014 , NOV/DEC 2012 , NOV/DEC 2015,
NOV/DEC 2017
QoS (Quality of Service) instruct the internet to offer a best-effort delivery service.
In every effort the packet is delivered but not guaranteed.
Network performance measures are
 Availability (Uptime)
 Bandwidth (Throughput)
 Latency (Delay)
 Error rate.

10. What is the use of UDP? APR/MAY 2014

 The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is a transport layer protocol for use with the IP
network layer protocol.
 It provides a best-effort datagram service to an end system (IP host).
 UDP provides no guarantee for delivery and no protection from duplication but the
simplicity of UDP reduces overhead from the protocol and can be adequate for some
applications.
 UDP is low-overhead transmissions.

11. What is three way hand shaking? MAY/JUNE 2013

TCP uses a three-way handshake:
Step 1: The client (the active participant) sends a segment to the server
(the passive participant) (Flags = SYN, SequenceNum = x).

Step 2: The server responds with a single segment that both acknowledges the client’s and
sequence number (Flags = SYN +ACK, SequenceNum = y, Ack = x + 1)

Step 3: Finally, the client responds with a third segment that acknowledges
the server’s sequence number (Flags = ACK, Ack = y + 1).

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12. What is meant by choke packet? How it is use for congestion control? NOV/DEC 2013
 Choke packet is a specialized packet that is used for flow control.
 A router detects congestion by measuring the percentage of buffers in use, line utilization
and average queue lengths.
 When congestion detected, source sends choke packets across the network and reduce the
traffic.

13. Define deadlock situation in congestion. NOV/DEC 2013

A deadlock is a situation in which two computer programs shares the same resources that
effectively prevents each other from accessing the resources, results in both programs ceasing to
function. This is known as deadlock situation in congestion.

14. How do fast retransmit mechanism exist in TCP? APR/MAY 2017

TCP that attempts to avoid timeouts in the presence of lost packets.
TCP retransmits a segment after receiving three consecutive duplicate ACKs, it
acknowledges the data to that segment.

15. Define delay.

The delay of a network specifies how long it takes for a bit of data to travel across
the network from one node or endpoint to another. It is typically measured in multiples or fraction
of seconds.

16. What is jitter?

Jitter is defined as a variation in the delay of received packets.
The sender transmits the packets in a continuous stream, due to the network congestion, improper
queuing, or configuration error occurs.
The uneven delay between the packets is called as jitter.

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17. What is meant by RTT?

RTT: Round-trip time. The time it takes for a bit of information to propagate from one end of a
link or channel to the other end and back again. In other words, double the latency of the channel
is called as RTT.

18. What do you meant by RED?

Random Early Detection (RED) is a queuing discipline for router .When a router is almost

congested, it drops the packets randomly to alert the senders in order to slow down the process of
transmission. RED thresholds on a FIFO queue.

19. Define DECbit.

 DECbit (Destination Experiencing Congestion bit) is a technique implemented in routers

to avoid congestion.
 In DECbit congestion-control scheme, the routers notify the endpoints of imminent
congestion by setting a bit rate in the header of routed packets. The endpoints decrease
the sending rates when a certain percentage of packets are received.

Computing average queue length at a router in DEC bit

20. Define AIMD.

AIMD is a technique in which the source sets the congestion window based on the level of
congestion. Decreasing of congestion window happens when the level of congestion goes up and
increasing of congestion window happens when the level of congestion goes down. This
mechanism is commonly called as additive increase/multiplicative decrease (AIMD).

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UNIT-V APPLICATION LAYER

Traditional applications -Electronic Mail (SMTP, POP3, IMAP, MIME) – HTTP – Web Services –
DNS - SNMP

1. Mention the different levels in domain name space.MAY/JUNE 2016, NOV/DEC 2012
Domain name space is divided into three different sections:
 Generic domains (It allows three-character labels (or extensions))
Eg:
Label Description
.com Commercial organizations
.edu Educational Institutions
.gov Government Institutions
.int International organization

 Country domains (It allows two-character country abbreviations

(Eg: us for United States, .in for India))
 Inverse domains (It is used to map an address to a name)

2. Expand POP3 and IMAP4. NOV/DEC 2016

 Post Office Protocol Version3 (Client to retrieve email by using a password for
authentication , A client send a mail to its server and waiting for responses)
 Internet Message Access Protocol Version4 (An application-layer protocol that allows a
user to retrieve an email from a mail server and also used to access mailbox from a
remote machine)

3. What are the main categories of DNS messages? MAY /JUNE 2015
 DNS has two types of messages: query and response.
 The query message consists of a header and the question records.
 The response message consists of a header, question records, answer records,
authoritative records and additional records.

4. Why do we need POP3 or IMAP4 for electronic mail? NOV/DEC 2015

The POP3 or IMAP4 protocols are used for electronic emails and they offer different
functionalities to the users to configure them according to their needs.
The comparisons are as follows:-

 Synchronization with email server - POP3 protocol does not allow to synchronize the
email client with the server whereas IMAP4 has a provision for synchronization .
 Multiple folders - The POP3 protocol does not allow to store emails in different
folders where as the IMAP4 allows to do so.

5. Mention the types of HTTP messages. NOV/DEC 2015

Hyper Text Transport Protocol is used to communicate between Web browsers and Web servers.
HTTP has two messages
Response Messages (Success, Client Error)
Request Messages (GET, POST, PUT)

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6. What is SMTP? NOV/DEC 2015

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is used to exchange electronic mails.
SMTP is the part of TCP/IP protocol suite.
SMTP consists of two parts:
A local part and a domain name
Eg: Local Part @ Domain Name
XYZ @ gmail.com

7. What is PGP? APR/MAY 2014

 Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) is a popular technique used to encrypt and decrypt the email over
the internet.
 It authenticates the messages with digital signatures and encrypts their stored files.

8. What do you mean by TELNET?MAY /JUNE 2012,NOV/DEC 2014

 Telnet is a remote terminal protocol of the internet architecture.
 Telnet allows to connect remote computers (called hosts) over a TCP/IP
network (such as the Internet).
 If telnet client software is available in a computer, it can make a connection to a telnet server
(i.e., the remote host).

9. State the difference between SMTP and MIME. NOV/DEC 2014

SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is
used to exchange electronic mail.
SMTP focuses mail delivery system as well
as how it passes the messages across an
internet from one machine to another.
SMTP have two components
 User Agent (UA)
 Mail Transfer Agent (MTA)
MIME
Multipurpose Internet Mail
Extensions(MIME) is used to convert binary
data (such as image files) to ASCII text,
which is sent back to email.
It is not a mail protocol it is only an extension
of SMTP. MIME forms the non-ASCII data
from the sender site.
It does not have such a type of components

10. List out the key lengths supported by PGP. NOV/DEC 2014
PGP supported the following key lengths
 RSA key length = 3072 bits
 DSA key length = 1024 bits

11. State the difference between fully qualified and partially qualified domain name.MAY/JUNE
2013
Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) is also called as absolute domain name that specifies its
exact location in the tree hierarchy of the Domain Name System (DNS). It specifies all the
domain levels including their root-level domain.
Eg:
URL "www.techterms.com" is an FQDN.
It contains a hostname ("www") and a domain ("techterms.com").

Partially Qualified Domain Name (PQDN) is used to specify a portion of a domain name
normally the host portion. It starts with a host name but it may not reach up to the root.

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Eg:
URL "www.techterms" is an PQDN.
It contains a hostname ("www") and a domain name has missing portions.

12. What is meant by DNS? MAY/JUNE 2013

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a client and server application that identifies each host on
the internet with unique user friendly name.
The DNS is implemented by a hierarchy of name servers.
Eg: Find host names (e.g., cicada.cs.princeton.edu) from their IP addresses (e.g., 192.12.69.35).

13. Define Security in networking. MAY /JUNE 2012

 Network security consists of the policies and practices adopted to prevent and monitor an
unauthorized access, misuse, modification, or denial of a computer network and network-
accessible resources
 It secures and protects the network.
 An example of network security is an anti virus system.

14. What is symmetry key algorithm? MAY /JUNE 2012

 In symmetric-key algorithms, same cryptographic keys are used for both encryption of
plaintext and decryption of ciphertext.
 The key represents a shared secret between two or more parties.

15. Define HTML. MAY /JUNE 2012

 "Hypertext Markup Language" is the language used to create webpage.
 "Hypertext" refers to the hyperlinks that available in an HTML page.
 "Markup language" refers to the tags which are used to define the page layout and
elements within the page.

16. How is a symmetric key different from public key? NOV/DEC 2012
In symmetric-key algorithms same cryptographic keys are used for both encryption of
plaintext and decryption of ciphertext.
.
In public key, there are two keysused: a private key and a public key. The private key is kept
by the receiver and the public key is visible to all.

17. State the usage of conditional get in HTTP. APRIL/ MAY 2017,NOV/DEC 2017
Conditional get is used to request the document from the server.
Eg: HTTP 304 responses from server

18. List out the information contained in a DNS resource record. NOV/DEC 2015
Each domain name is associated with the resource record which contains a set of information
such as IP address and type of resource.
DNS resource record contains five tuples to implement name server
<Name, Value, Type, Class, TTL (time to live)>

19. What do you mean by WSDL? NOV/DEC 2017

Web Services Description Language is used to describe the web services and it is written in
XML.
WSDL Documents contains the following elements
 <types>Defines the (XML Schema) data types used by the web service
 <message>Defines the data elements for each operation
 <portType>Describes the operations that can be performed and the messages
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 <binding>Specifies the interface and defines the binding style

20. Why the HTTP is called as stateless protocol?

Http is a stateless protocol because each transaction is treated independently (i.e.), a new TCP
connection is created between client and server for each transaction and then terminate the
connection as soon as the transaction completes.

21. What is HTTP? List the features of HTTP.

The Hyper Text Transfer Protocol is an application layer protocol based on request/reply
paradigm and used to access data on the WWW.
Features are listed below
 Reliability
 Stateless
 Flexibility

22. Write the components used in e-mail system.

The e-mail components are,
 User agent
 Message transfer agent
 Message access agent

23. Mention the limitations of SMTP.

The limitations are,
 It cannot be used for languages that are not supported by seven –bit ASCII characters.
 It cannot be used to send binary files or to send video/Audio data.

24. Mention the limitations of POP3.

The limitations are,
 It does not allow the user to access mail on the server.
 It does not allow the user to partially check the contents of the mail before downloading.
 User cannot have different folders on the servers.

25. Draw message format for Response message.

STATUS LINE

HEADERS

A BLANK LINE

BODY

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