BCS Computer Networks 2 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: What is the difference between a hub and a switch in networking?
- A hub forwards data to all ports; a switch forwards only to the destination port (Correct answer)
- A switch forwards to all ports; a hub forwards to the destination port
- A hub operates at Layer 3; a switch operates at Layer 2
- They are functionally identical
Correct answer: A hub forwards data to all ports; a switch forwards only to the destination port
A hub broadcasts data to all connected devices, while a switch uses MAC address tables to forward frames only to the intended recipient's port.
Question 2: Which protocol operates at the Network layer and is used to report error conditions?
- TCP
- UDP
- ICMP (Correct answer)
- ARP
Correct answer: ICMP
ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) operates at the Network layer and is used to send error messages and operational information, as used by the ping command.
Question 3: What does a subnet mask define?
- The default gateway address
- Which portion of an IP address identifies the network vs. host (Correct answer)
- The broadcast address only
- The maximum number of routers
Correct answer: Which portion of an IP address identifies the network vs. host
A subnet mask uses binary 1s to identify the network portion and binary 0s to identify the host portion of an IP address.
Question 4: What is the well-known port number for HTTPS?
- 80
- 21
- 443 (Correct answer)
- 25
Correct answer: 443
HTTPS uses port 443 by default, providing encrypted web communication over TLS/SSL.
Question 5: Which routing protocol uses the Bellman-Ford algorithm?
- OSPF
- BGP
- RIP (Correct answer)
- EIGRP
Correct answer: RIP
RIP (Routing Information Protocol) uses the Bellman-Ford distance-vector algorithm to calculate shortest paths between routers.
Question 6: What is the maximum transmission unit (MTU) for a standard Ethernet frame?
- 512 bytes
- 1024 bytes
- 1500 bytes (Correct answer)
- 9000 bytes
Correct answer: 1500 bytes
The standard Ethernet MTU is 1500 bytes, meaning IP packets larger than this must be fragmented before transmission.
BCS Computer Networks 2
What is the difference between a hub and a switch in networking?