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Communications & Networking Technologies

(Topologies)

Question 1

7) A company allows customers to stream music from its servers over the Internet. The
company’s internet connection is currently provided through copper cables. (a) Identify two
pieces of hardware, other than the cables, that enable the servers to connect to the
Internet. Describe the purpose of each device.
Device 1 .....................................................................................................................................

Purpose .....................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

Device 2 ....................................................................................................................................

Purpose .....................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [4]

(b) The company wants to upgrade their internet connection to fibre‑optic cables. Give one
benefit and one drawback to the company of upgrading to fibre‑optic cables.
Benefit.........................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

Drawback ..................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [2]

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The web page will make use of both client‑side and server‑side scripting.
(i) Explain how client‑side scripting will be used in this web page.
..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................
[3]

(ii) Explain how server‑side scripting will be used after the customer clicks the ‘Search’
button.

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................................ [2]

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Question 2

(b) Explain how the client-server model enables the employees to access the same files from
different computers.
..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

.................................................................................................................................................................

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..................................................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................................................
[2]

(c) Each computer in the network has a private IP address. Give two reasons why the computers do
not have public IP addresses.

1 ..............................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

2 ..............................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................................ [2]

Question 3

1) Devices connected to the Internet have IP (Internet Protocol) addresses. (a) Three IPv4
addresses are given. Circle either Valid or Invalid to indicate whether each address is valid
or invalid. Explain your decision.
Address 1: 3A.21.2H.1 Valid / Invalid

Explanation ................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

Address 2: 299.53.2.2 Valid / Invalid

Explanation ................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

Address 3: 192.2.1.0 Valid / Invalid

Explanation ................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [3]

(b) A website can be accessed using either the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or the IP

address. Describe how a URL is converted into its matching IP address.

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....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [3]

(c) People use the Internet to stream media. Complete the following statements by filling in
the names of the missing methods of bit streaming. ................................................. Bit
streaming is used when watching a live stream of events that are currently taking place. The
event is captured live with a video camera connected to a computer, and it cannot be
paused or rewound. ................................................. Bit streaming is used when watching an
event that has taken place in the past. Existing media are encoded to bit streaming format
and uploaded to a server. It can be paused and rewound.

Question 4

Computers on the Internet have IP addresses. (a) IP addresses can be in either IPv4 or IPv6
format.
(i) Give an example of a valid IPv4 address.
....................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................[1]

(ii) State why there is a need for IPv6 addressing.

....................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................[1]

(iii) A computer’s IPv6 address is: C100:2235::1000:25AA:AA50 Explain why this IPv6
address would be an invalid IPv4 address.
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

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....................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [2]

(b) A company has computers in two separate buildings that communicate using the
Internet over a Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
(i) Describe the transmission of data using a PSTN.
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) The company wants to install a dedicated line between the two buildings. Identify one
benefit and one drawback of installing a dedicated line between the two buildings.

Benefit.........................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

Drawback....................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [2]

(c) A network can use routers and gateways. Explain the role of routers and gateways in a
network.
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [4]

(d) The company has an email server. Identify three other types of server.

1 .................................................................................................................................................

2 .................................................................................................................................................

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3............................................................................................................................................. [3]

Question 5
Customers of a bank can access their account information by logging in on the bank’s
website.
(a) The bank has a client-server model of networked computers.

(i) Describe, using the bank as an example, the key features of a client-server model.
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [3]

(ii) Give two other examples of applications that can use the client-server model.

1 ................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

2..................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [2]

(b) The bank’s customers log in to the website using a web application. Explain why the web
application uses server-side scripting.
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

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(c) The bank is upgrading its local area network (LAN) copper cables to fibre-optic cables.
(i) State two benefits to the bank of upgrading to fibre-optic cable from copper cable.

1 .................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

2 ...............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

(ii) State two drawbacks of upgrading to fibre-optic cables.

1 .................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

2 .................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [2]

Question 6

(e) Dominic sends his videos to his colleagues over the Internet using bit streaming.

(i) Describe how the video is sent using bit streaming.

....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
……………………………................................................................................................................. [4]

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(ii) Circle either Real-time or on-demand to identify whether the video will be sent using
real-time or on-demand bit streaming. Justify your choice.
Real-time / on-demand Justification
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
.........................…………………................................................................................................... [2]

Question 7
(c) The self-checkout machines connect to a server that stores all the data for the
supermarket. This is a client-server network.

(i) Describe, using an example for the supermarket, the client-server network model.
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
………………………….........................................................................................................................
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Question 8

Question 9

A college has a client-server network.

(a) The college has a file server and other servers. State the purpose of two other servers in
the college network.
Server 1 ....................................................................................................................................
Server 2 ................................................................................................................................ [2]

(b) The students use the network to access the Internet. One student stated, ‘The Internet
and the World Wide Web are the same thing’.

Tick (✓) one box to indicate whether this statement is true or false.
True // False

Justify your choice.

...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................

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...............................................................................................................................................[5]

(c) Students use the college’s learning resource website. Several of the web pages include
PHP script. Describe the sequence of events when a student requests a web page with
embedded server-side code.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
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...............................................................................................................................................[4]

Question 10
(d) (i) State whether this JavaScript code will be run client-side or server-side.
.......................................................................................................................................[1]

(ii) Explain the difference between client-side scripting and server-side scripting.
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................................................
.......................................................................................................................................[3]

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Question 11

(c) One type of transmission media is copper cable. Give two additional types of
transmission media.
1 ..............................................................................................................................................................

2 ......................................................................................................................................................... [2]

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Question 12

(b) Describe the purpose of an IP address.

....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
............................................................................................................................................... [2]

(c) A telecommunications operator has installed fibre-optic cables in Gopal’s

neighbourhood.
(i) Give three benefits of fibre-optic cable over copper cable.

1..................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

2 .................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

3 .................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(ii) Give two drawbacks of fibre-optic cable over copper cable.

1 ................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

2 ...............................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

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Question 13

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Question 14
The network manager of a Local Area Network (LAN) has replaced the Ethernet cables with
a wireless network.
(a) Give three benefits of a wireless network compared to a wired network.

1 .................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

2 ...............................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

3 ................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................. [3]

(b) Give one drawback of a wireless network compared to a wired network.

....................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................[1]

Question 15
The design of a web-based application can require the use of client-side scripting.

(a) Describe what is meant by client-side scripting.

....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................[2]

(b) A user requests a web page by keying the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) into the
address bar of their web browser.
The requested page contains a client-side script.
Describe the sequence of steps leading to the display of the web page on the computer
screen.
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...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................

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...............................................................................................................................................[4]

Question 16

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Question 17

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Question 18
(a) Explain the difference between the World Wide Web (WWW) and the Internet.

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................................[2]

(c) Bit streaming is used for both real-time and on-demand services.
Describe one difference between real-time and on-demand bit streaming.
..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

.............................................................................................................................................................[2]

(d) A device needs an IP address to connect to the Internet. IPv4 is the more common type
of IP address.
Describe, using an example, the format of an IPv4 address.
..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

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..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................................[3]

(e) A computer user keys in the Uniform Resource Locator (URL) of a web page into a web browser.

Describe how the browser uses the Domain Name Service (DNS) to display the web page.

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................
..................................................................................................................................................................

..................................................................................................................................................................

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............................................................................................................................................................ [4]

Question 19
6 ) A user watches a video available on a website. The website uses on-demand bit
streaming.
Describe how it is possible to watch the video without it continually pausing.
..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

..........................................................................................................................................................

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......................................................................................................................................................[4]

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Question 20

(b) Distinguish between the Internet and the World Wide Web (WWW).

....................................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................
................................................................................................................................................[3]

(c) Name the hardware device that is being described:

(i) A device that transfers data from one network to another in an intelligent way. It has the
task of forwarding data packets to their destination by the most efficient route.
.......................................................................................................................................[1]
(ii) A device used between two dissimilar LANs. The device is required to convert data
packets from one protocol to another.

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.......................................................................................................................................[1]
(iii) A device or software that provides a specific function for computers using a network.
The most common examples handle printing, file storage and the delivery of web pages.
.......................................................................................................................................[1]

Question 21
(a) Explain the term bit streaming.
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...................................................................................................................................................
...............................................................................................................................................[2]
(b) A person watches a film streamed from a website on a tablet computer.
(i) Give two benefits of using bit streaming for this purpose.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [2]

(ii) State two potential problems of using bit streaming for this purpose.
1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [2]

(c) Explain the terms on-demand bit streaming and real-time bit streaming.

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Question 22

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(ii) Sometimes the URL contains the characters %20 and ?.
Describe the function of these characters.
%20 ............................................................................................................................................
....................................................................................................................................................
? .................................................................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................................................. [2]

Question 23
A company operates a chemical plant, which has a number of processes. Local computers
monitor these processes and collect data.
The computers transfer these data to a central computer 50 km away. A
telecommunications company (telco) provides cables.
Engineers at the telco had to decide which type of cable to use. They considered the use of
either copper cable or fibre optic cable.
State two benefits of each type of cable. Each benefit must be clearly different.
Benefits of copper cable

1 .................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

2 .................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................
.

Benefits of fibre optic cable

1 .................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

2 .................................................................................................................................................

............................................................................................................................................... [4]

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Question 24
(a) (i) Describe what is meant by a client-server model of networked computers.

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

.......................................................................................................................................[2]

(ii) Give two benefits of using the client-server model.

1 ........................................................................................................................................

...........................................................................................................................................

2 ........................................................................................................................................

........................................................................................................................................... [2]

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Question 25

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Question 26

Question 27
A technician has recently created a wired local area network (LAN). The LAN is made up of
three computers, a router and a printer.
The network uses two different types of communication. The LAN uses baseband and its
connection to the Internet uses broadband.
(a) Explain what is meant by baseband and broadband.
baseband ..................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

...................................................................................................................................................

broadband .................................................................................................................................

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Question 28
(a) (i) Describe circuit switching and packet switching.
circuit switching ......................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

packet switching .............................................................................................................

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....................................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................................[4]

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(ii) Which of the above methods is used for Internet telephone calls (VoIP)?

................................................................................................................................................[1]

(iii) Explain the benefits and drawbacks of making Internet telephone calls.

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

................................................................................................................................................[3]

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Question 29

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Question 30

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Question 31
(b) State two pieces of hardware, apart from the PCs, which would be needed in order to enable

two computers to communicate. Justify your answers.

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

....................................................................................................................................................

Question 32
4 (a) Define the term protocol. [2]
....................................................................................................................................................

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(b) (i) Explain what is meant by the terms packet switching and circuit switching. [5]
....................................................................................................................................................

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(ii) State one advantage and one disadvantage of using packet switching. [2]
....................................................................................................................................................

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