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UPDATED TO 2024-2025 SYLLABUS

CAIE AS LEVEL
COMPUTER
SCIENCE
SUMMARIZED NOTES ON THE THEORY SYLLABUS
Prepared for Vidhya Nechooli for personal use only.
CAIE AS LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE

Thin Clients Thick Clients

1. Communication Only provides input and

receives output; processing is
Thick client processes most of
the application locally.
done by the server.
1.1. Networks, including the Internet Smaller purchase cost:
Can function even if no server
expensive, demanding
Networking devices: Interconnected devices that enable is connected (works offline).
hardware is not required.
fast data transmission within a network.
Improved security: cannot run
Networking benefits: No lag related to network
unauthorized, harmful
File sharing: Easily share data between different problems.
software.
interconnected devices.
Resource sharing: Use network-connected output
Peer-to-Peer network model (P2P)
devices like printers or share software within the
Definition: A decentralized network where each
network.
connected computer stores data and operates
Higher storage: Files can be stored in network-
independently as a ‘peer’, acting as both a client and a
connected storage mediums.
server.
Applications: Internet and Ad hoc networks.
LAN WAN
A network that connects A network that connects
Client-Server vs. Peer-to-Peer models
devices within a small devices within a larger
geographical area, often geographical area, such as a Client-Server Peer-to-Peer
within the same building. city, country, or globally.
Centralized backup. Lesser initial setup cost.
Only private ownership. Private or public ownership.
Lesser network traffic: each
Transmission medium: Files & resources centralized
Transmission medium: PSTN peer can simultaneously
twisted pair cable, coaxial in server: prevents illegal
or satellite link. receive data from different
cable or Wi-Fi. resource usage.
sources.
Higher data transfer rate. Lower data transfer rate. Improved security: files are It can work even if a device
Lesser congestion. Higher congestion. stored on a central server, goes down, but the Client-
which would be regularly server model can’t work if the
Client-Server Model scanned for malware. server goes down.
Server-based network: A dedicated server provides
applications (administration of users, security, and Network Topologies
resources) for the client computer to utilize. Bus
Client-server Applications: Single line (bus) connecting all devices with
Printer: Manages print jobs from client computers. terminators at each end.
File Sharing: Clients access software and user data Other computers can read the data being sent
files stored on the server. from one to another computer.
Proxy server. Unsuitable for heavy traffic since collisions occur.
Email server: For sending, receiving, and storing Star
emails. Consists of a central server (‘Switch’) and all other
Database server: Manages DBMS. computers connected with a dedicated connection
Domain controller server: to each. Hence, the server can send packets to
Manages user accounts (IDs & passwords). different devices simultaneously and bi-
The client sends a login request to the server, directionally.
which processes and grants the request if the No collisions are possible.
user ID & password are recognized. Mesh
Network setup where every device (node) is
Thin Clients vs. Thick Clients directly interconnected to each of the other
devices (nodes)
Thin Clients Thick Clients It is commonly used for wireless networks (such as
A client that solely runs on the the Internet) via the mesh connection of routers
An independent client that Hybrid
resources provided by the
does not require the server to Combination of two or more topologies.
server and has no local
run. E.g. when there is a connection between 2 or more
storage.
LANs of different topologies

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CAIE AS LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE

Wired Networks: use (copper (twisted-pair cable or Bit Streaming

coaxial cable) or fibre-optic) cables connected to an The sequence of digital signals (bits) transferred over
Ethernet port on the network router a communication path at high speeds
Requires a fast broadband connection and some form
Benefits Drawbacks of buffers (short-term memory)
Less expensive and Doesn’t perform well Bits arrive in the same order they are sent
easier to with small charges. Bit rate: number of bits transmitted per second
Copper Cable
install. Flexible. Easier Affected by Two methods of bit streaming:
to make terminations electromagnetism
Real-time On-demand
Greater bandwidth,
improved security, Existing digital files are
lightweight, easy to Needs expensive converted to encoded bit-
Fiber-Optic The event is captured live via
install, and less signal optical transmitters streaming format for
Cables a video camera that is
boosting are required; and receivers. broadcasting on the internet
connected to a computer
used in long-distance by uploading to a dedicated
communications. server
A link for encoded video is
Wireless Networks: use radio waves (including WiFi), Video signal converted to an placed on the website, and
microwaves, and satellites to connect devices to networks encoded streaming video the user clicks on the link to
without cables. signal view encoded streaming
video
Benefits Drawbacks Encoded video signal The data is streamed to a
They can travel over uploaded from computer to a buffer in the user’s computer,
large distances since dedicated streaming server and the buffer stops the video
A low frequency, so it
they have the largest via cables or high-speed from being paused as the bits
transmits less data at
Radio range of wavelengths. wireless internet connection are streamed
one time. Affected by
waves They are relatively The server then sends live As the buffer is emptied, it’s
radio stations with
inexpensive. Used for images to all users requesting filled again, thus providing
similar frequency
TV signals & mobile them as a real-time video continuous viewing
phone comms.
It cannot be paused, fast- Can be paused, fast-
Emitting towers is forwarded, etc. forwarded, etc.
Larger bandwidth can
expensive to
Microwaves transfer more data at a
build. Physical
time Importance of high broadband speed / bit-rate
obstacles can interfere
The user has to download and display bits at the same
Cheap with long time
Easy to
distance for Satellite If media is of higher quality, then higher broadband
Satellites interfereExpensive set-
phones, satellite radio speed is needed since each “frame” is of a larger size
up
broadcast Real-time needs faster broadband speeds as
compared to on-demand since there are a greater
Ethernet number of users simultaneously requesting the same
The most common wired medium of transmission that data
can be used to transfer data between LANs or WANs Cloud Computing
Usually used in bus topology, since all data travelled Refers to the on-demand provision of computing
on a single wire, there is a possibility of data services through the internet
corruption by the “collision” of signals Services provided include
This collision is prevented by the CSMA/CD (Carrier Infrastructure: Storage capacity and higher
Sense Multiple Access Collision Detection) method: processing power
Before transmitting, the device checks if the Platform: Software, testing & debugging resources
channel is busy
If busy, the device calculates a random wait time Public cloud vs. Private cloud
and waits that time, after which it begins Public cloud private cloud
transmission 3rd-party cloud service A private cloud is owned by
Then, during transmission, the device listens for provider grants access to one organization and is not
other devices also beginning transmission multiple parties, accessible shared with any other
If a collision occurs, transmission is aborted, and via a browser organization
both devices wait at different random times, then
try again.

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CAIE AS LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE

Public cloud private cloud Cables: A wired transmission medium that allows
communication in wired networks
The private cloud can either
Cloud service provider owns, Bridge
be created and maintained by
develops and manages the Connects two LANs which work using the same
the organization itself, or it
public cloud through large protocol, which can be two segments of the same
can outsource these tasks to
server farms network
a third party
Stores network addresses for all devices (end-
systems) between the 2 networks
Benefits and drawbacks of cloud computing
A bridge looks for the receiving device before it
Benefits Drawback sends the message.
Repeater
Cannot access the
Relatively less technical Connects two cables
resources/data stored on the
knowledge is required, and regenerates the sent data signal over the same
cloud if there are bandwidth
easy to implement network before the signal weakens (attenuation) to
issues
prevent it from being corrupted
Poor data privacy, since there Internet-supporting hardware
Flexibility: Cloud Can Be
may be data leakage in the Modems
Scaled To Match The
multi-tenant architecture Allows a device to connect to the Internet via a
Organization’s Growth
(public clouds) telephone line.
A transmitter uses a modem to convert digital
World Wide Web (WWW): signals (from the transmitting device) to analogue
Collection of web pages stored on websites signals sent down the telephone line.
Protocols are used to transmit data across the WWW A receiver uses a modem on the other end to
Internet (Interconnected Network): convert the analogue signals to digital signals so
Massive, open network of networks the receiving device can understand the data.
Uses TCP/IP protocol, which uses IP addresses to PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network)
identify devices connected to the internet Refers to all telephone networks
Access provided by Internet Service Provider Channel used between 2 endpoints for the call
Communication used: wired, radio and satellite duration via circuit switching
Router in a Network: Lines are active even during a power outage
Connects two networks together which operate under Bi-directional communication
the same protocols (for example IP) Dedicated lines
Allows internal connections between LANs OR allows Telecommunication path between endpoints
external connection from the main LAN to a WAN Not shared with multiple users; it’s bought/leased
The router acts as a gateway & firewall Able to host websites as well as carry phone calls
Usually, it will be attached to a server or switch in a Allows continuous, uninterrupted access to Web
LAN Cell phone network
The router translates private IP addresses to public IP Wireless networks spread over land areas divided
addresses AND vice versa into (hexagonal) ‘cells’
LAN-supporting hardware Each cell is served by at least one base station
Switch: Connected to all devices in a LAN and can (transceiver), which uses a different frequency
simultaneously broadcast information to all devices range, as compared to adjacent cells, to transmit
Server: device/software provides specific functions for data
computers in the network Larger capacity is possible since the same
Network Interface Card (NIC) frequencies can be used in non-adjacent cells
Provides each device (an end-system) in the wired Radio waves are usually used for transmission
LAN with a unique (MAC) address to uniquely It can be broadcast in all directions over a wide
identify it on the network area
Allows each device to connect to the network Portable transceivers (e.g., mobile phones) can
Wireless Network Interface Card (WNIC): Provides communicate and access the internet via base
each end-system of a wireless (WiFi) LAN a unique stations
network address to identify it. IPv4 vs. IPv6
Wireless Access Points (WAP):
Allows devices to connect to the LAN via WiFi IPv4 IPv6
(wireless radio communication) instead of using a 32-bit address, split into 4 The 128-bit address is divided
cable blocks by “.” into eight 16-bit blocks by “:”.
Usually built into the router

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CAIE AS LEVEL COMPUTER SCIENCE

IPv4 IPv6 Public IP is unique and can be across the internet,

Each block could have a value Each block can have 4 hex whereas Private IP is unique within LAN and hence can
between 0 and 255 (00 to FF values ranging from 0000 to only be accessed within LAN
in hex). FFFF NAT (Network address translation) is required for
private IP addresses to access the internet directly.
IPv6 can be shortened by
Private IP is more secure than public IP since they are
removing at least (≥) 2 blocks
not directly accessible on the Internet and are hidden
containing only zeroes. Eg:
by NAT
2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a
E.g.255.0.1.255 The range of IP addresses used for private IP
2e:0070:7334 can be
addressing can never be assigned to public IP
shortened to
addresses
2001:0db8:85a3::8a2e:0070:7
Static vs. Dynamic IP addresses
334"
Static Dynamic
IPv4 functionality
The IP address will change at
each IP address has 2 parts: IP address never changes.
regular periods.
Network Identifier (netID)
Static IP addresses are valid Dynamic IP address is
Identifies the network to which the host (device) is
when websites need to relatively more secure, hence
connected to
remember a device for a long used where data privacy is
Host Identifier (hostID): Identifies the host within
time. E.g.) VPNs whitelisting important
the network
‘Classfull’ addressing is used for IPv4 where different Faster upload/download Maintaining the cost of the
bit lengths for identification and impose restrictions on speeds dynamic IP address is a lesser
available address
Subnetting URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
The practice of dividing a network into two or more Unique reference address for the exact location of an
networks internet resource on the WWW
IP addresses are broken down into 3 parts by not
changing the netID but partitioning the host ID into a Protocol: enables the browser to know what protocol is
subnet ID and host ID
used to access info in the domain
These subnet ID bits are used to identify each subnet Hostname: Domain name
within the network. Location of server: path
Subnet masks are numbers that hide (mask) the netID Domain Name Service (DNS)
of a system's IP address and leave only the host part naming system used for computers or resources
as the machine identifier, allowing data to be routed having an internet connection
within the subnet to the appropriate host. Consists of a hierarchy of DNS servers which have a
Public and Private IP address URL database and their corresponding IP addresses
Public IP is provided by the ISP, while the LAN’s router
issues Private IP

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CAIE AS LEVEL
Computer Science

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