IMPORTANT QUESTIONS

1) What is Data Communication? (only Definition)

Ans: Data communications are the exchange of data between two devices via
some form of transmission medium such as a wire cable
2) Name the 5 components of Data Communication?
Ans: 1. Message. The message is the information (data) to be communicated.
Popular forms of data are texts, numbers, images, audio and video.
2. Sender. The sender is the device that sends the data message. It can be a
computer, workstation, telephone headset, video camera and so on.
3. Receiver. The receiver is the device that receives the message. It can be a
computer, workstation, telephone headset, television and so on.
4. Transmission medium. The Transmission medium is the physical path by
which the message travels from sender to receiver. Some examples of transmission
media include twisted-pair wire, co-axial cable, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves.
5. Protocol. A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communication. It
represents an agreement between the communicating devices. Without a protocol
two devices may be connected but they cannot communicate.
3) What is Half Duplex & Full Duplex?
Ans: Half-duplex
In half-duplex mode each station can both transmit and receive but not at the same
time. When one device is sending, the other can only receive, and vice versa.
E.g Walkie-talkies and CB (Citizens Band) radios
In Full-Duplex mode (also called duplex), both stations can transmit and receive
simultaneously. The full-duplex mode is like a two-way street with traffic flowing
in both directions at the same time e.g. Telephone Network
4) What is Distributed Data Processing?
Ans: Most networks use distributed processing in which a task is divided among
multiple computers. Instead of one single large machine being responsible for all
aspects of a process separate computers handle a subtask.
5) What is Network?
Ans: A network is a set of technologies-including hardware, software, and media-
that can be used to connect computers together, enabling them to communicate,
exchange information, and share resources in real time.
6) What are the advantages of network?
Ans: 1. It allows users to share software, hardware and data.
2. It allows users to communicate among themselves.
3. It allows secure and efficient storage of data.
7) Name & Define the types of networks?
Ans : Local Area Networks (LANs). A local area network (LAN) is a data
communication system consisting of several devices such as computers and
printers. This type of network contains computers that are relatively near each
other and are physically connected using cables, infrared links, or wireless media.
MAN or (Metropolitan Area Network) is large scale network that connects
multiple corporate LAN’s together and in terms of size are between the LAN and
WAN.
Wide Area Networks (WANs) typically, a wide area network and is the largest of
the three. It is a collection of many servers and includes gateways which connect
one network with another. The internet is an example of WAN.
8) What is Intranet & Extranet?
Ans: The Company’s internal version of the Internet is called an intranet, an
intranet uses the same Web server software that gives the public access to Web
sites over the Internet. The major difference is that an Intranet usually limits access
to employees and selected contractors having on-going business with the company.
An extranet is a partially accessible internal company Web site for authorized users
physically located outside the organization.
9) What is Server based network?
Ans: A server-based networks include many nodes and one or more servers,
which control user access to the network's resources. In this environment, users
gain access to files, printers, and other network-based objects by obtaining rights
and permissions given through a centrally controlled server or groups of servers.
Users must log on to the network to gain access to its resources.

10) What is Client Server network?

Ans: One popular type of server-based network is the client/server network, where
individual computers share the processing and storage workload with a central
server.
11) What is Peer to Peer (P2P) network?
Ans: In a peer-to-peer network (abbreviated as P2P) and sometimes called a work-
group), all nodes on the network have equal relationships to all others, and all have
similar types of software that support the sharing of resources.
12) What is Star Topology?
Ans: In a star network, all nodes are connected to a device called a hub and
communicate through it. Data packets travel through the hub and are sent to the
attached nodes, eventually reaching their destinations.
13) What is Ring Topology?
Ans: The Ring topology connects the network's nodes in a circular chain, with
each node connected to the next, each device has dedicated point-to-point
connection with only two of the devices on either side of it. The last node connects
to the first, completing the ring. Each node examines data as it travels through the
ring. If the data-known as a token-is not addressed to the node examining it, that
node passes it to the next node using the repeaters to regenerate the bits to maintain
the strength of the signal.
14) What is Bus Topology?
Ans: A bus topology network uses one cable and is multi-point. All the nodes and
peripheral devices are connected in a series to that cable. A long cable acts as a
backbone to link all the devices in the network. A special device, called a
terminator ( cable end ), is attached at the cable's start and end points, to stop
network signals so they do not bounce back down the cable. This topology's main
advantage is that it uses the least amount of cabling of any topology and is easy to
install.
15) What is Network media-physical wire, wireless network, fibre-optic cable,
wire based media?
Ans: Media refers to the means used to link a network's nodes together. There are
many different types of transmission media, the most popular being twisted-pair
wire (normal electrical wire), coaxial cable the type of cable used for cable
television), and fiber optic cable (cables made out of glass. In wireless networks
the atmosphere itself acts as the medium because it carries the Wireless signals that
nodes and servers use to communicate
16) Define Hub, Bridge, Router and Switch?
Hubs. A hub is an affordable connection point for different types of devices on a
network .This is not a particularly fast connection because it broadcasts the packets
it receives to all nodes attached to its ports.
Bridges. A bridge is a device that connects two LANS or two segments of the same
LAN. A bridge looks at the information in each packet header and forwards data
that is traveling from one LAN to another.
A switch is a device that learns which machine is connected to its port by using
the PC, printer, or other devices IP address. This is a very popular and sought-
after device used to connect a LAN. A switch substantially reduces the amount of
broadcast traffic and is currently the most popular network-linking device
A router looks at each packet's header to determine where the packet should go
and then determines the best route for the packet to take toward its destination. A
router will not allow broadcast traffic to cross the device unless modified to do so.
Thus, a packet must be addressed to a specifically identified destination to pass
through the router. A router is connected to at least two networks, commonly two
LAN’s or WAN or a LAN and its ISP'S network. Routers are located at gateways,
the places where two or more networks connect.
17) What is a TCP/IP Protocol?
Ans : TCP/IP a kind of coding system that lets computers electronically describe
data, like the contents of this story, to each other over the network.
The term actually refers to two separate parts: the transmission control protocol
(TCP) and the Internet protocol (IP). Together they form the language of the
Internet. Every computer that hooks on to the Internet understands these two
protocols and uses them to send and receive data from the next computer along the
network.
18) What is OSI?
Ans : An Open System is a set of protocols that allows any two different systems
to communicate regardless of their underlying architecture. The OSI is an abstract
model of how network protocols and equipment should communicate and work
together (interoperate). Its purpose is to show how to facilitate communication
between different systems without requiring changes to the logic of the underlying
hardware and software.
19) Name the 7 layers of OSI?
Ans : Application, Presentation ,Session are the upper layers and Transport,
Network, Data Link and Physical from the lower layers of the OSI.

20) What is internet?

Ans : The internet is a network of networks – a global communications system that
links together thousands of individual networks.

21) Name the different types of connection?

Analog (up to 56k) Also called dial-up access, it is both economical and slow.
Using a modem connected to your PC, users connect to the Internet when the
computer dials a phone number (which is provided by ISP’S like VSNL, MTNL)
and connects to the network. Typical Dial-up connection speeds range from
2400 bps to 56 Kbps.

ISDN
Integrated services digital network (ISDN) is an international communications
standard for sending voice, video, and data over digital telephone lines or normal
telephone wires. Typical ISDN speeds range from 64 Kbps to 128 Kbps.

DSL
DSL is also called an always on connection because it uses existing 2-wire copper
telephone line connected to the premise and will not tie up your phone as a dial-up
connection does. There is no need to dial-in to your ISP as DSL is always on. The
two main categories of DSL for home subscribers are called ADSL and SDSL.

ADSL
ADSL is the most commonly deployed types of DSL. Short for Asymmetric
Digital Subscriber Line ADSL supports data rates from 1.5 to 9 Mbps when
receiving data (known as the downstream rate) and from 16 to 640 Kbps when
sending data (known as the upstream rate). ADSL requires a special ADSL
modem.

Wireless Internet Connections

Wireless Internet, or wireless broadband, is one of the newest Internet connection
types. Instead of using telephone or cable networks for your Internet connection,
you use radio frequency bands. Wireless Internet provides an always-on
 connection which can be accessed from anywhere — as long as you are
geographically within a network coverage area.

22) What is WWW?

Ans : The World Wide Web, abbreviated as WWW and commonly known as The
Web, is a system of interlinked hypertext documents contained on the Internet.
With a web browser, one can view web pages that may contain text, images,
videos, and other multimedia and navigate between them by using hyperlinks.
23) What is Hypertext and what is Hyperlink?
Ans: Hypertext is text which contains links to other texts. Hypertext is text which
is not constrained to be linear. A hyperlink is simply a part of the webpage that is
linked to a URL. A hyperlink can appear as text, as an image, or a navigational tool
such as button or an arrow. You can click on a hyperlink and “jump” from your
present location to the URL specified by the hyperlink
24) What is HTTP?
Ans: To support hypertext documents the Web uses a special protocol called the
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). A hypertext document is a specially
encoded file that uses the Hypertext Transfer Protocol. This language allows a
documents author to embed hypertext links also called hyperlinks or just links in
the document. HTTP and hypertext links are the foundations of the WWW.
25) What is HTTPS?
Ans: HTTPs is "Hyper Text Transfer Protocol" with an added "s", for Secure
Sockets Layer, a protocol primarily developed with secure, safe Internet
transactions in mind.
26) What is hyperlink?
Ans: A hyperlink is simply a part of the webpage that is linked to a URL. A
hyperlink can appear as text, as an image, or a navigational tool such as button or
an arrow. You can click on a hyperlink and “jump” from your present location to
the URL specified by the hyperlink
27) What is an IP Address?
Ans: An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a numerical identification and logical
address that is assigned to devices participating in a computer network utilizing the
Internet Protocol for communication between its nodes. Although IP addresses are
stored as binary numbers, they are usually displayed in human-readable notations,
such as 208.77.188.166
28) What is a URL?
Ans: The hypertext transfer protocol uses Internet addresses in a special format,
called a URL or Uniform Resource Locator. The URL’s have a typical format
which looks like
Type://address/path
In the URL type specifies the type of server in which the file is located, address is
the address of the server, and path is the location of the resource within the file
structure of the server.
29) What is a Domain Name System (DNS)?
Ans: The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system for
computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network.
It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the
participants. Most importantly, it translates domain names meaningful to humans
into the numerical (binary) identifiers associated with networking equipment for
the purpose of locating and addressing these devices worldwide. An often-used
analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that it serves as the "phone book"
for the Internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP
addresses. For example, www.example.com translates to 192.0.32.10.
30) What are Boolean Operators?
Ans : While searching on the net a user can use Boolean operators to broaden
and/or narrow search The operators commonly used are AND , OR and NOT
31) What is Advanced Search?
Ans: To overcome the problems of duplicate and irrelevant results, many search
engines provide a set of advanced search options, sometimes called advanced tools.
The goal is to help the user to refine the search criteria to get the best results.
32) What is Meta Search?
Ans: In addition to the advanced search tools another type of web based search
engine is the meta search engines. These search engines use multiple search
engines simultaneously to look up sites that match the keyword typed by the user.
This leads to a more comprehensive listing of websites as different search engines
use different criteria to search the internet for information.

33) What is E-mail?

Ans: E-mail is the most popular of all internet services. Email was one of the first
uses of internet and became popular because it lets users exchange messages from
anywhere in the world. Further email is less expensive than using a telephone.
 Email services are easy to use and can be used to send files from one computer to
another.
34) What is SMTP?
Ans: SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) is a TCP/IP protocol used in sending
and receiving e-mail.
35) What is POP?
Ans: POP3 (Post Office Protocol 3) is the most recent version of a standard
protocol for receiving e-mail.
36) What is a Blog?
Ans: A blog (a contraction of the term "web log") is a type of website, usually
maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of
events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly
displayed in reverse-chronological order.
37) What is E-commerce?
Ans: Digitally enabled commercial transactions between and among organizations
and individuals is termed as Ecommerce.
38) What are the features of E-commerce?
1. E-commerce is ubiquitous, meaning that is it available just about everywhere,
at all times.
2. Global reach the potential market size for e-commerce merchants is roughly
equal to the size of the world's online population
3. technical standards for conducting e-commerce, are universal standards
4. Richness, Information richness refers to the complexity and content of a
message
5. E-commerce technologies are interactive, meaning they allow for two-way
communication between merchant and consumer
6. Information density, E-commerce technologies reduce information collection,
storage, processing, and communication costs. At the same time, these
technologies increase greatly the currency, accuracy, and timeliness of
information - making information more useful and important than ever.
7. E-commerce technologies permit personalization. Merchants can target their
marketing messages to specific individuals by adjusting the message to a
person's name, interests, and past purchases.
39) What are the types of E-commerce & give definitions of all types?
Ans: The different types on E-commerce are B2C in which online businesses
attempt to reach individual consumers,B2B in which businesses focus on selling to
other businesses,P2P enables Internet users to share files and computer resources
directly without having to go through a central Web server and C2C provides a
way for consumers to sell to each other, with the help of an online market maker
such as the auction site eBay.
40) What are Revenue Models? Names and Definitions.
Ans: A firm's revenue model describes how the firm will earn revenue, generate
profits and produce a superior return on invested capital.
Following are the major revenue models: the advertising model, the subscription
model, the transaction fee model, the sales model, and the affiliate model.
Advertising model
In this model, a Web site that offers its users content, services, and/or products also
provides a forum for advertisements and receives fees from advertisers
Subscription Revenue Model
In this model, a Web site that offers its users content or services charges a
subscription fee for access to some or all of its offerings,
Transaction Fee Revenue Model
In this model, a company receives a fee for enabling or executing a transaction. For
example, eBay.com.
Sales Revenue Model
In this model, companies derive revenue by selling goods, information, or services
to customers. Companies such as Amazon.com, which sells books, music, and
other products.
Affiliate Revenue Model
In this model, sites that steer business to an ''affiliate'' receive a referral fee or
percentage of the revenue from any resulting sales.
41) Name the B2C models?
Ans: Portal, E-Tailer, Content Provider, Service Provider, Transaction Broker,
Market Creator, Community Provider are the various models of B2C.
42) What are the Dimensions of E-commerce security?
Ans: There are six key dimensions to e-commerce security: integrity, non-
repudiation, authenticity, confidentiality, privacy, and availability.
43) Define Confidentiality, Authenticity, Integrity, Non-repudiation, Privacy?
Ans: Confidentiality refers to the ability to ensure that messages and data are
available only to those who are authorized to view them
Authenticity refers to the ability to identify the identity of a person or entity with
whom you are dealing on the Internet
Non-repudiation refers to the ability to ensure that e-commerce participants do
not deny (i.e., repudiate) their online actions.
Integrity refers to the ability to ensure that information being displayed on a Web
site, or transmitted or received over the Internet, has not been altered in any way by
an unauthorized party
Privacy, which refers to the ability to control the use of information a customer
provides about himself or herself to an e-commerce merchant
Availability refers to the ability to ensure that an e-commerce site continues to
function as intended
44) What is Encryption?
Ans: Encryption is the process of transforming plain text or data into cipher text
that cannot be read by anyone outside of the sender and the receiver.
45) State the types of Encryption?
Ans: Symmetric Key Encryption and Public Key Encryption are the two types of
Encryption .
46) What is Public Key Encryption?
Ans: Public-key cryptography is a cryptographic approach which involves the use
of asymmetric key algorithms instead of or in addition to symmetric key
algorithms. Unlike symmetric key algorithms, it does not require a secure initial
exchange of one or more secret keys to both sender and receiver. The asymmetric
key algorithms are used to create a mathematically related key pair: a secret private
key and a published public key. Use of these keys allows protection of the
authenticity of a message by creating a digital signature of a message using the
private key, which can be verified using the public key.
47) Define Public key & Private key?
Ans: Public Key and Private keys are a pair of mathematically related keys using
which encryption is achieved to ensure authenticity, integrity and confidentiality of
a message.
48) What is Digital Certificate?
Ans: A digital certificate is a digital document issued by a trusted certification
authority (CA) that contains the name of the subject or company, the subject's
public key, a digital certificate serial number, an expiration date, an issuance date,
the digital signature of the certification authority (the name of the CA encrypted
using the CA's private key), and other identifying information.
49) What is Certified Authority?
Ans: A Certified Authority is a trusted third party which issues digital certificates
to parties interested in carrying out secure transactions on the net.
50) What is Secured Socket Layer?
Ans: A secure negotiated session is a client-server session in which the URL of the
requested document, along with the contents, contents of forms and the cookies
exchanged, are encrypted.
51) What are the Various E-commerce payment systems?
Ans: There are five major digital payment systems: Digital cash, online stored
value payment systems, digital accumulated balance payment systems, credit card
systems and digital checking payment systems.
52) How does the Credit Card transaction work?
Ans: As shown in Figure, an online credit card transaction begins with a purchase
(#1) When a consumer wants to make a purchase, he or she adds the item to the
merchant's shopping cart. When the consumer wants to pay for the items in the
shopping cart, a secure tunnel through the Internet is created using SSL (Secure
sockets Layer), described earlier. Using encryption, SSL secures the session during
which credit card information will be sent to the merchant and protects the
information from interlopers on the Internet (#2). SSL does not authenticate either
the merchant or the consumer. The transacting parties have to trust one another.
Once the consumer credit card information is received by the merchant, the
merchant software contacts a clearinghouse (#3). As previously noted, a
clearinghouse is a financial intermediary that authenticates credit cards and verifies
account balances. The clearinghouse contacts the issuing bank to verify the
account information (#4). Once verified, the issuing bank credits the account of the
merchant at the merchant's bank (usually this occurs at night in a batch process)
(#5). The debit to the consumer account is transmitted to the consumer in a
 monthly statement (#6).

53) What is Digital Cash, E-cash?

Ans: Digital Cash (or e-cash) was one of the first forms of alternative payment
systems developed for e-commerce. To use digi-cash a consumer has to first
establish an account at a bank that was using the digi-cash system. Once the
account was established the consumer then downloaded digital wallet software
onto his or her computer. Then the consumer could request a transfer of digital
cash. Once the digital wallet had cash the consumer could spend that cash at
merchants who were willing to accept it. The software would deduct the cash from
the digital wallet and transfer it to the merchant.
54) What is Secured Electronic Transaction (SET)?
Ans: SET, for Secure Electronic Transaction Protocol is intended to address the
weaknesses of ordinary online credit card transactions by authenticating cardholder
and merchant identity and making it impossible to refute charges through the use
of digital signatures. SET is an open standard for the e-commerce industry
developed and offered by Master Card and Visa, the two major credit card issuers
in the United States, as a way to facilitate and encourage improved security for
credit card transactions.
55) Limitations of E-commerce in India?
1) Currently a very small percentage of the household all over the world have PC’s
and internet access. In Asian countries as of now the PC penetration and internet
access is very poor. In India internet percentage is 7.1 % of its population.
2) Purchasing the PC and internet access is out of reach for majority of the Indians.
Since Ecommerce needs this basic infrastructure it will take some time before
the usage increases.
3) Using internet requires the installation of operating system and application
software that many people find difficult. Unlike a TV or a phone PC’s are not
easy to operate.
4) The skills required to make effective use of Internet and E-commerce
capabilities are far more sophisticated than a television or phone.
5) For most people shopping is a cultural and social event where people meet
directly with merchants and other consumers. This experience cannot be
duplicated in e-commerce.
56) What is M-commerce?
Ans: Mobile Commerce (also known as M-Commerce, M-Commerce or U-
Commerce, owing to the ubiquitous nature of its services) is the ability to conduct
commerce, using a mobile device e.g. a mobile phone (cell phone), a PDA, a smart
phone and other emerging mobile equipment such as dash top mobile devices.
Mobile Commerce has been defined as follows:
"Mobile Commerce is any transaction, involving the transfer of ownership or rights
to use goods and services, which is initiated and/or completed by using mobile
access to computer-mediated networks with the help of an electronic device.
M-commerce is a fast growing area and mobile phones are used in the areas of
downloading content such as maps, news, ringtones, stock exchange quotes etc.
They are also used for mobile banking, bill payments, airline and railway
reservations, location based services such as maps, tracking people, weather and a
host of other information based services.