COSC 354 Networks - Chapter 1 Exam Questions and Answers Already Passed Latest Update
2025-2026
Data Communications - Answers - Transmission of digital or analog data using digital or analog
signals over a medium.
Computer Networks - Answers - Interconnection of computers and computing devices using
either wires or radio waves over small or large geographic areas.
Local Area Network (LAN) - Answers - Networks that are small in geographic size spanning a
room, floor, building, or campus.
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) - Answers - Networks that serve an area of 1 to 30 miles,
approximately the size of a typical city.
Wide area Network (WAN) - Answers - A large network that encompasses parts of states,
multiple states, countries, and the world.
Personal Area Network (PAN) - Answers - A network of a few meters, between wireless devices
such as PDA's, laptops, and smaller devices.
Campus Area Network (CAN) - Answers - A network that spans multiple buildings on a business
or school campus.
Voice Network - Answers - A network .that transmits only telephone signals (essentially extinct).
Data Network - Answers - A network that transmits voice and computer data (replacing voice
networks).
Telecommunications - Answers - The study of telephones and the systems that transmit
telephone signals (becoming simply data communications).
Network Management - Answers - The design, installation, and support of a network, including
its hardware and software.
Network Cloud - Answers - A network (local or remote) that contains software, applications,
and/or data.
Networks are composed of many devices including? - Answers - Workstations (computers,
tablets, wireless phones, etc)
- Servers
- Network switches
- Routers (LAN to WAN and WAN to WAN)
- Network nodes and subnetworks
, What are Common Examples of Communications Networks? - Answers - Desktop computer and
internet
- Cell Phone networks
- Mainframe Systems
- Satellite and microware networks
- A laptop computer and a wireless connection
How might the Desktop Computer connect to the Internet? - Answers - Typically: A medium - to
high-speed connection
- Computer (device) requires a NIC(network interface card)
- NIC connects to a hub-like device (switch)
- Considered the client/server system
What is a Network Interface Card (NIC) - Answers - A hardware component that provides each
device a unique MAC address so that it can be identified on a wireless network.
- It provides an interface by acting as an antenna to a Wi-Fi network. It receives analogue radio
waves that it decodes and converts into digital data, and it sends signal data, that it encrypts
and converts into analogue waves, via the antenna.
- It checks incoming transmissions to check if they match the device's IP / MAC address and
ignores them if they're not.
What is a Medium? - Answers -It is the material through which a wave travels.
Ex. a ethernet cord
What is a hub? - Answers - A hub is a networking device, that allows devices to connect to a
network. Hubs broadcast the signals they receive to all connected computers.
- Unlike a switch, which only sends data to the intended recipient. This greatly decreases
network performance due to the amount of transmissions.
What is a switch? - Answers - A switch is a network device which creates a *separate collision
domain on each port*, while remaining within a single broadcast domain.
2025-2026
Data Communications - Answers - Transmission of digital or analog data using digital or analog
signals over a medium.
Computer Networks - Answers - Interconnection of computers and computing devices using
either wires or radio waves over small or large geographic areas.
Local Area Network (LAN) - Answers - Networks that are small in geographic size spanning a
room, floor, building, or campus.
Metropolitan Area Network (MAN) - Answers - Networks that serve an area of 1 to 30 miles,
approximately the size of a typical city.
Wide area Network (WAN) - Answers - A large network that encompasses parts of states,
multiple states, countries, and the world.
Personal Area Network (PAN) - Answers - A network of a few meters, between wireless devices
such as PDA's, laptops, and smaller devices.
Campus Area Network (CAN) - Answers - A network that spans multiple buildings on a business
or school campus.
Voice Network - Answers - A network .that transmits only telephone signals (essentially extinct).
Data Network - Answers - A network that transmits voice and computer data (replacing voice
networks).
Telecommunications - Answers - The study of telephones and the systems that transmit
telephone signals (becoming simply data communications).
Network Management - Answers - The design, installation, and support of a network, including
its hardware and software.
Network Cloud - Answers - A network (local or remote) that contains software, applications,
and/or data.
Networks are composed of many devices including? - Answers - Workstations (computers,
tablets, wireless phones, etc)
- Servers
- Network switches
- Routers (LAN to WAN and WAN to WAN)
- Network nodes and subnetworks
, What are Common Examples of Communications Networks? - Answers - Desktop computer and
internet
- Cell Phone networks
- Mainframe Systems
- Satellite and microware networks
- A laptop computer and a wireless connection
How might the Desktop Computer connect to the Internet? - Answers - Typically: A medium - to
high-speed connection
- Computer (device) requires a NIC(network interface card)
- NIC connects to a hub-like device (switch)
- Considered the client/server system
What is a Network Interface Card (NIC) - Answers - A hardware component that provides each
device a unique MAC address so that it can be identified on a wireless network.
- It provides an interface by acting as an antenna to a Wi-Fi network. It receives analogue radio
waves that it decodes and converts into digital data, and it sends signal data, that it encrypts
and converts into analogue waves, via the antenna.
- It checks incoming transmissions to check if they match the device's IP / MAC address and
ignores them if they're not.
What is a Medium? - Answers -It is the material through which a wave travels.
Ex. a ethernet cord
What is a hub? - Answers - A hub is a networking device, that allows devices to connect to a
network. Hubs broadcast the signals they receive to all connected computers.
- Unlike a switch, which only sends data to the intended recipient. This greatly decreases
network performance due to the amount of transmissions.
What is a switch? - Answers - A switch is a network device which creates a *separate collision
domain on each port*, while remaining within a single broadcast domain.
