Pearson 1CP2 - 4.1 - Network Topologies

All points on a network are often referred to as...

• links
• edges
• nodes
• vertices

What term describes how different nodes on a network connect to one another. Three commonly used topologies are bus, star and mesh?

• Blueprint

• Topology
• Topography

• Arrangement

On what topology are all the nodes on the network are connected to a single cable, known as the backbone?

• Ring Topology
• Bus Topology
• Star Topology
• Mesh Topology

On a bus topology, what is at each end of the backbone cable, to absorb any signals that have reached the end of the cable?

• Connectors
• Absorbers
• Terminators
• Reflectors

In a bus topology, terminators prevent what?

• signal reflection (where unused signals bounce back down the line and cause interference)

• signal amplification (where some signals are made stronger and drown out the other signals being sent)

• data encryption (as it can accidentally occur due to interference between different signals travelling all at once).

• network congestion
  (as too many signals travelling at once can cause friction and make the line overheat)

On a network, what is the most common cause of a collision?

• Faulty network cables leading to crossover from EM signals

• Simultaneous transmission by two devices at once

• Power outage causing two signals to be in the same line when the power starts back up

• Weak signal strength leading to one signal catching up with another

What is the most common method used to prevent collisions on a bus network?

• Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA)
• Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Detection (CSMA/CD)
• Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA)
• Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA)

What collision prevention method used by Bus Networks involves making each device wait a random amount of time (a few milliseconds) before checking whether it is safe to send?

• CSMA/CD
• CSMA/CA
• Token passing
• Time division multiplexing

What is the main advantage of a bus network?

• High data transfer speeds
• Easy to troubleshoot
• Secure data transmission
• Cost-effective as little cabling required

What is a major disadvantage of a bus network?

• Limited scalability as the network terminators cannot be removed once installed

• High cost of implementation, owing to the sheer amount of cabling required

• One line, so whole network can fail if this is damaged

• Difficult to troubleshoot as not all devices can be directly controlled