DIT 401: COMPUTER NETWORKS AND MANAGEMENT

DATE: APRIL 7TH 2021 TIME: 3 HOURS

ANITAH MASONI – 19/06152

COMPUTER NETWORKS AND MANAGEMENT

DBIT STAGE 5 - FULL TIME

OPEN EXAM

QUESTION ONE

a) Discuss how wrong timing and poor technology, impacted negatively on uptake of OSI as a
reference model

In the OSI model it is essential to write standards in between trough i.e., apocalypse of two
elephants, time of standards can be very critical as sometimes they are written too early before
research is completed, due to this OSI model wasn’t properly understood, the timing was
considered bad because it was finished and completed after a huge significance amount of
research time
2)Bad technology was due to the fact that OSI models were never taken into consideration because of
TCP/IP protocol that were used widely has fundamental weakness and imperfection or defect in
character or performance and design, the layers of the OSI model were more political than technical

Give advantages of computer networks

 Enhances communication and availability of information

Name two protocols found in the transport layer of the OSI model.

 The Transmission Control protocol AND User Datagram Protocol

i. hand-shake signaling

in order for two hosts to communicate using TCP they must first establish a connection
exchanging messages in what is known as the three-way handshake

Step 1 (SYN): In the first step, client wants to establish a connection with server, so it sends
a segment with SYN (Synchronize Sequence Number) which informs server that client is
likely to start communication and with what sequence number it starts segments with

Step 2 (SYN + ACK): Server responds to the client request with SYN-ACK signal bits set.
Acknowledgement (ACK) signifies the response of segment it received and SYN signifies with
what sequence number it is likely to start the segments with

Step 3 (ACK): In the final part client acknowledges the response of server and they both
establish a reliable connection with which they will start the actual data transfer

The steps 1, 2 establish the connection parameter (sequence number) for one direction and
it is acknowledged. The steps 2, 3 establish the connection parameter (sequence number)
for the other direction and it is acknowledged. With these, a full-duplex communication is
established.
ii. message re-assembly

Handling out of order packets

TCP connections can detect out of order packets by using the sequence and
acknowledgement numbers.

Diagram of two computers with arrows between.

In the situation pictured above, the recipient sees a sequence number of #73 but expected a
sequence number of #37. The recipient lets the sender know there's something amiss by
sending a packet with an acknowledgement number set to the expected sequence number.

Sometimes the missing packet is simply taking a slower route through the Internet and it
arrives soon after.
 Other times, the missing packet may actually be a lost packet and the sender must
retransmit the packet.

In both situations, the recipient has to deal with out of order packets. Fortunately, the
recipient can use the sequence numbers to reassemble the packet data in the correct order.

iii. error detection and correction

TCP and UDP are the only two protocols that function at the Transport layer (4). They encapsulate or
carry the layer 5 protocols and offer an end-to-end transport service. They accept data from a client
network application on a client host and deliver it to the server application on the server host that is
providing the client with the service. The client and the servers are usually on different systems and
therefore need a network to connect them. Data travels between the client and server across one or
more networks.
QUESTION TWO

a) KCA For the IP addresses below and their Network prefix length given as a number (eg in part
i, 23 is the network prefix length) , identify whether IP addresses belong to the same subnet

i. 10.0.130.0/23: 10.0.130.23, 10.0.129.1, 10.0.131.12, 10.0.132.7

ii. 10.0.64.0/18: 10.0.65.13, 10.0.32.4, 10.0.127.3, 10.0.128.4

1010 0 010000010 /010111 1010 0 010000010 010111 1010 010000001 01 1010 0 010000011 01100
1010 0 010000100 0111

1010 0 01000000 0 /010010 1010 0 0100001 01101 1010 0 0100000 0100 1010 0 01111111 011 1010
0 010000000 0100

They are not in the same subnet as the prefix 23 does not have the same binary number as the second
IP address

b) IP is a non-reliable point-to-point protocol; explain this statement in detail giving examples

Point-to-Point links tend to exacerbate many problems with the

current family of network protocols. For instance, assignment and

management of IP addresses, which is a problem even in LAN

environments, is especially difficult over circuit-switched

point-to-point links (such as dial-up modem servers). These

problems are handled by a family of Network Control Protocols

(NCPs), which each manage the specific needs required by their respective network-layer protocols.
c)Explain the operation of the router in a network

Routers are networking devices operating at layer 3 or a network layer of the OSI model. They are
responsible for receiving, analyzing, and forwarding data packets among the connected computer
networks. When a data packet arrives, the router inspects the destination address, consults its routing
tables to decide the optimal route and then transfers the packet along this route.
QUESTION THREE

a) Guglielmo Marconi invented the wireless telegraph in 1896.

Suggest and briefly describe a process by which data can be transmitted using analogue
signals

analog communication  system is a communication system where the information signal sent from point
A to point B can only be described as an analog signal.
 I. explain four impairments in wireless media

Attenuation – It means loss of energy. The strength of signal decreases with increasing
distance which causes loss of energy in overcoming resistance of medium. This is also known
as attenuated signal. Amplifiers are used to amplify the attenuated signal which gives the
original signal back and compensate for this loss.

 Distortion – It means changes in the form or shape of the signal. This is generally seen in
composite signals made up with different frequencies. Each frequency component has its own
propagation speed travelling through a medium. And that’s why it delays in arriving at the final
destination Every component arrives at different time which leads to distortion. Therefore, they
have different phases at receiver end from what they had at sender’s end. 
 

 Noise – The random or unwanted signal that mixes up with the original signal is called noise.
There are several types of noise such as induced noise, crosstalk noise, thermal noise and
impulse noise which may corrupt the signal. 

Induced noise comes from sources such as motors and appliances. These devices act as
sending antenna and transmission medium act as receiving antenna. Thermal noise is
movement of electrons in wire which creates an extra signal. Crosstalk noise is when one
wire affects the other wire. Impulse noise is a signal with high energy that comes from
lightning or power lines 
 
B) Copper undersea cables have been largely replaced by optical cable.

I. Describe construction and operation of GRIN cable

Graded-Index Multimode Fiber Working Principles and Applications

Graded index multimode fiber is a type of optical fiber where the refractive index is higher at the
axis of the core and then it decreases gradually towards the core-cladding interface. That is to
say, the refractive index of a graded-index fiber gradually decreases from its center, and
eventually decreases to the same value as the cladding at the core edge. The change in
refractive index causes refraction rather than total internal reflection. When light passes
through a layer with a lower refractive index, the light will fold back to the fiber axis. Total
internal reflection does not occur because refraction folds the light back into the fiber axis
before it reaches the cladding boundary.

For graded-index multimode fiber, the light travels forward in the form of sinusoidal oscillation.
Like step-index multimode fibers, different lights in a graded-index multimode fiber travel along
different paths. However, the speed of light propagation in graded-index multimode fibers is
different because the speed of guided light varies with the refractive index of the fiber core. The
farther the light goes from the center of the fiber, the faster its speed is. The speed difference
compensates for the longer paths followed by the light rays that go farthest from the center of
the fiber. This equalization of the transmission time of different modes reduces the mode
 dispersion greatly, making a higher bandwidth in graded-index fiber than step-index fiber.
Therefore, most of the multimode fiber today is graded-index fiber. Compared to step-index
fiber, the graded-index fiber is usually used in medium-distance (10~20 km) and relatively
higher-speed (34~140 Mb/s) communication systems with higher cost.

ii)Explain why you would NOT recommend the optical fiber for a LAN

Low power—Light emitting sources are limited to low power. Although high power emitters are
available to improve power supply, it would add extra cost and Fragility as Optical fiber is rather fragile
and more vulnerable to damage compared to copper wires.