Computer Networks (CY-403) - Important Questions

Explain the ISO-OSI reference model, its seven layers and functions, with neat architecture diagram and its importance in network architecture.

Define transmission media and compare and contrast guided vs unguided transmission media with suitable examples.

Explain the principles and operation of circuit switching, packet switching and message switching.

Given data block 1101011011 and generator polynomial 10011, perform CRC computation to find the checksum and final codeword to be transmitted.

Explain the Stop-and-Wait protocol and Sliding Window protocol, including how sender and receiver manage buffers in both cases.

Discuss static vs dynamic channel allocation. Compare ALOHA, slotted ALOHA and CSMA protocols.

Describe IEEE 802.3, IEEE 802.4 and IEEE 802.5 LAN standards in terms of access methods, performance and topology.

Differentiate between connection-oriented (virtual circuit) and connectionless (datagram) communication/subnets.

Compare and contrast the operations of hubs, switches, bridges, routers and gateways.

Compare connection establishment and release in TCP using three-way and four-way handshakes. Why is graceful termination important?

Explain what ICMP is and discuss its role in network layer communication, including the types of information conveyed by ICMP messages.

Explain Distance Vector Routing (DVR) with a working example in detail.

You are given a network 192.168.10.0/24. Divide it into 4 subnets and determine the subnet addresses, range of usable IP addresses and broadcast address for each subnet.

Explain the working of the Domain Name System (DNS) and how it resolves domain names to IP addresses (and vice versa) using hierarchical servers, addressing and caching.

Write a short note on any two: (a) Classful IP addressing and its limitations leading to CIDR (b) ARP (c) Link State Routing (d) Email services.