1) What is a Link?

A link refers to the connectivity between two devices. It includes the type of cables
and protocols used for one device to be able to communicate with the other.

2) What are the layers of the OSI reference model?

There are 7 OSI layers: 1) Physical Layer, 2) Data Link Layer, 3) Network Layer, 4)
Transport Layer, 5) Session Layer, 6) Presentation Layer, and 7) Application Layer.

3) What is the backbone network?

A backbone network is a centralized infrastructure that is designed to distribute

different routes and data to various networks. It also handles the management of
bandwidth and multiple channels.

Top 10 Behavioral Interview Questions and Answers

4) What is a LAN?
LAN network
LAN stands for Local Area Network. It refers to the connection between computers and
other network devices that are located within a small physical location.

5) What is a node?

A node refers to a point or joint where a connection takes place. It can be a computer or
device that is part of a network. Two or more nodes are needed to form a network
connection.

6) What are routers?

Router
Routers can connect two or more network segments. These are intelligent network
devices that store information in its routing tables, such as paths, hops, and bottlenecks.
With this info, they can determine the best path for data transfer. Routers operate at the
OSI Network Layer.

7) What is a point to point link?

It refers to a direct connection between two computers on a network. A point to point

connection does not need any other network devices other than connecting a cable to the
NIC cards of both computers.
8) What is anonymous FTP?

Anonymous FTP is a way of granting user access to files in public servers. Users that are
allowed access to data in these servers do not need to identify themselves, but instead,
log in as an anonymous guest.

9) What is a subnet mask?

A subnet mask is combined with an IP address to identify two parts: the extended
network address and the host address. Like an IP address, a subnet mask is made up of 32
bits.

10) What is the maximum length allowed for a UTP cable?

A single segment of UTP cable has an allowable length of 90 to 100 meters. This limitation
can be overcome by using repeaters and switches.

11) What is data encapsulation?

Data encapsulation is the process of breaking down information into smaller,
manageable chunks before it is transmitted across the network. In this process that the
source and destination addresses are attached to the headers, along with parity checks.

12) Describe Network Topology

Network Topology refers to the layout of a computer network. It shows how devices and
cables are physically laid out, as well as how they connect.

13) What is a VPN?

VPN means Virtual Private Network, a technology that allows a secure tunnel to be
created across a network such as the Internet. For example, VPNs allow you to establish a
secure dial-up connection to a remote server.

14) Briefly describe NAT

NAT is Network Address Translation. This is a protocol that provides a way for multiple
computers on a common network to share a single connection to the Internet.

15) What is the job of the Network Layer under the OSI reference model?
The Network layer is responsible for data routing, packet switching, and control of
network congestion. Routers operate under this layer.

16) How does a network topology affect your decision to set a network?

Network topology dictates what media you must use to interconnect devices. It also
serves as a basis on what materials, connectors, and terminations that is applicable for
the setup.

17) What is RIP?

RIP, short for Routing Information Protocol is used by routers to send data from one
network to another. It efficiently manages routing data by broadcasting its routing table
to all other routers within the network. It determines the network distance in units of
hops.

18) What are the different ways of securing a computer network?

There are several ways to do this. Install a reliable and updated anti-virus program on all
computers. Make sure firewalls are setup and configured correctly. User authentication
will also help a lot. All these combined would make a highly secured network.

19) What is NIC?

NIC is short for Network Interface Card. This is a peripheral card that is attached to a PC in
order to connect to a network. Every NIC has its own MAC address that identifies the PC
on the network.

20) What is WAN?

WAN network
WAN stands for Wide Area Network. It is an interconnection of computers and devices that
are geographically dispersed. It connects networks that are located in different regions
and countries.

21) What is the importance of the OSI Physical Layer?

The physical layer does the conversion from data bits to the electrical signal, and vice
versa. This is where network devices and cable types are considered and setup.

22) How many layers are there under TCP/IP?

There are four layers: 1) The Network Layer, 2) Internet Layer, 3) Transport Layer, and 4)
Application Layer.

TCP/IP Layers
23) What are proxy servers, and how do they protect computer networks?

Proxy servers primarily prevent external users who are identifying the IP addresses of an
internal network. Without knowledge of the correct IP address, even the physical location
of the network cannot be identified. Proxy servers can make a network virtually invisible
to external users.

24) What is the function of the OSI Session Layer?

This layer provides the protocols and means for two devices on the network to
communicate with each other by holding a session. This includes setting up the session,
managing information exchange during the session, and tear-down process upon
termination of the session.

25) What is the importance of implementing a Fault Tolerance System?

A fault tolerance system ensures continuous data availability. This is done by eliminating
a single point of failure.

26) What does 10Base-T mean?

The 10 refers to the data transfer rate. In this case, it is 10Mbps. The word Base refers to
baseband, as opposed to broadband.

27) What is a private IP address?

Private IP addresses are assigned for use on intranets. These addresses are used for
internal networks and are not routable on external public networks. These ensure that no
conflicts are present among internal networks. At the same time, the same range of
private IP addresses is reusable for multiple intranets since they do not “see” each other.

28) What is NOS?

NOS, or Network Operating System, is specialized software. The main task of this software
is to provide network connectivity to a computer in order to communicate with other
computers and connected devices.

29) What is DoS?

DoS, or Denial-of-Service attack, is an attempt to prevent users from being able to access
the Internet or any other network services. Such attacks may come in different forms and
are done by a group of perpetrators. One common method of doing this is to overload the
system server so it cannot anymore process legitimate traffic and will be forced to reset.

30) What is OSI, and what role does it play in computer networks?

OSI (Open Systems Interconnect) serves as a reference model for data communication. It
is made up of 7 layers, with each layer defining a particular aspect of how network devices
connect and communicate with one another. One layer may deal with the physical media
used, while another layer dictates how data is transmitted across the network.

31) What is the purpose of cables being shielded and having twisted pairs?

The primary purpose of this is to prevent crosstalk. Crosstalk’s are electromagnetic

interferences or noise that can affect data being transmitted across cables.

32) What is the advantage of address sharing?

By using address translation instead of routing, address sharing provides an inherent

security benefit. That’s because host PCs on the Internet can only see the public IP
address of the external interface on the computer. Instead, it provides address translation
and not the private IP addresses on the internal network.

33) What are MAC addresses?

MAC, or Media Access Control, uniquely identifies a device on the network. It is also
known as a physical address or an Ethernet address. A MAC address is made up of 6-byte
parts.

34) What is the equivalent layer or layers of the TCP/IP Application layer in terms of
the OSI reference model?

The TCP/IP Application layer has three counterparts on the OSI model: 1) Session Layer, 2)
Presentation Layer, and 3) Application Layer.

35) How can you identify the IP class of a given IP address?

By looking at the first octet of any given IP address, you can identify whether it’s Class A,
B, or C. If the first octet begins with a 0 bit, that address is Class A. If it begins with bits 10
then that address is a Class B address. If it begins with 110, then it’s a Class C network.
36) What is the main purpose of OSPF?

OSPF, or Open Shortest Path First, is a link-state routing protocol that uses routing tables
to determine the best possible path for data exchange.

37) What are firewalls?

Firewalls serve to protect an internal network from external attacks. These external
threats can be hackers who want to steal data or computer viruses that can wipe out data
in an instant. It also prevents other users from external networks from gaining access to
the private network.

38) Describe star topology

Star topology consists of a central hub that connects to nodes. This is one of the easiest to
set up and maintain.

Star Topology
Advantages:

Here are pros/benefits of start topology:

 Easy to troubleshoot, set up, and modify.

 Only those nodes are affected, that has failed. Other nodes still work.
 Fast performance with few nodes and very low network traffic.
 In Star topology, addition, deletion, and moving of the devices are easy.

Disadvantages:

Here are cons/drawbacks of using Star:

 If the Hub or concentrator fails, attached nodes are disabled.

 The cost of installation of star topology is costly.
 Heavy network traffic can sometimes slow the bus considerably.
 Performance depends on the Hub’s capacity
 A damaged cable or lack of proper termination may bring the network down.

39) What are gateways?

Gateways provide connectivity between two or more network segments. It is usually a

computer that runs the gateway software and provides translation services. This
translation is key in allowing different systems to communicate on the network.
40) What is the disadvantage of a star topology?

One major disadvantage of star topology is that once the central Hub or switch gets
damaged, the entire network becomes unusable.

41) What is SLIP?

SLIP, or Serial Line Interface Protocol, is an old protocol developed during the early UNIX
days. This is one of the protocols that are used for remote access.

42) Give some examples of private network addresses.

10.0.0.0 with a subnet mask of 255.0.0.0172.16.0.0 with subnet mask of

255.240.0.0192.168.0.0 with subnet mask of 255.255.0.0

43) What is tracert?

Tracert is a Windows utility program that can use to trace the route taken by data from
the router to the destination network. It also shows the number of hops taken during the
entire transmission route.

44) What are the functions of a network administrator?

A network administrator has many responsibilities that can be summarized into 3 key
functions: installation of a network, a configuration of network settings, and
maintenance/troubleshooting of networks.

45) What is the main disadvantage of a peer to peer network?

Accessing the resources that are shared by one of the workstations on the network takes
a performance hit.

46) What is a Hybrid Network?

A hybrid network is a network setup that makes use of both client-server and peer-to-peer
architecture.

47) What is DHCP?

DHCP is short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol. Its main task is to assign an IP
address to devices across the network automatically. It first checks for the next available
address not yet taken by any device, then assigns this to a network device.
48) What is the main job of the ARP?

The main task of the ARP or Address Resolution Protocol is to map a known IP address to
a MAC layer address.

49) What is TCP/IP?

TCP/IP is short for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. This is a set of
protocol layers that is designed to make data exchange possible on different types of
computer networks, also known as a heterogeneous network.

50) How can you manage a network using a router?

Routers have a built-in console that lets you configure different settings, like security and
data logging. You can assign restrictions to computers, such as what resources it is
allowed access or what particular time of the day, they can browse the Internet. You can
even put restrictions on what websites are not viewable across the entire network.

51) What protocol can be applied when you want to transfer files between different
platforms, such as UNIX systems and Windows servers?

Use FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for file transfers between such different servers. This is
possible because FTP is platform-independent.

52) What is the use of a default gateway?

Default gateways provide means for the local networks to connect to the external
network. The default gateway for connecting to the external network is usually the
address of the external router port.

53) What can be considered as good passwords?

Good passwords are made up of not just letters, but by combining letters and numbers. A
password that combines uppercase and lowercase letters is favorable than one that uses
all upper case or all lower-case letters. Passwords must be not words that can easily be
guessed by hackers, such as dates, names, favorites, etc. Longer passwords are also
better than short ones.

54) What is the proper termination rate for UTP cables?

The proper termination for unshielded twisted pair network cable is 100 ohms.
55) What is netstat?

Netstat is a command-line utility program. It provides useful information about the

current TCP/IP settings of a connection.

56) What is the number of network IDs in a Class C network?

For a Class C network, the number of usable Network ID bits is 21. The number of possible
network IDs is 2 raised to 21 or 2,097,152. The number of host IDs per network ID is 2
raised to 8 minus 2, or 254.

57) What happens when you use cables longer than the prescribed length?

Cables that are too long would result in signal loss. It means that data transmission and
reception would be affected because the signal degrades over length.

58) What common software problems can lead to network defects?

Software related problems can be any or a combination of the following:

 Client-server problems
 Application conflicts
 Error in configuration
 Protocol mismatch
 Security issues
 User policy and rights issues

59) What is ICMP?

ICMP is an Internet Control Message Protocol. It provides messaging and communication

for protocols within the TCP/IP stack. This is also the protocol that manages error
messages that are used by network tools such as PING.

60) What is Ping?

Ping is a utility program that allows you to check connectivity between network devices
on the network. You can ping a device by using its IP address or device name, such as a
computer name.

61) What is peer to peer?

P2P Network
Peer to peer (P2P) are networks that do not rely on a server. All PCs on this network act as
individual workstations.

62) What is DNS?

DNS is the Domain Name System. The main function of this network service is to provide
host names to TCP/IP address resolution.

63) What advantages does fiber optics have over other media?

One major advantage of fiber optics is that it is less susceptible to electrical interference.
It also supports higher bandwidth, meaning more data can be transmitted and received.
Signal degrading is also very minimal over long distances.

64) What is the difference between a hub and a switch?

Here is the major difference between Hub and switch:

Hub Switch
A hub operates on the physical layer. A switch operates on the data link layer.
Hubs perform frame flooding that can be It performs broadcast, then the unicast and multicast as
unicast, multicast, or broadcast. needed.
Just a singular domain of collision is present
Varied ports have separate collision domains.
in a hub.
The transmission mode is Half-duplex The transmission mode is Full duplex
Hubs operate as a Layer 1 device per the OSI Network switches help you to operate at Layer 2 of the OS
model. model.
To connect a network of personal computers
Allow connecting multiple devices and ports.
should be joined through a central hub.
Uses electrical signal orbits Uses frame & packet
Does not offer Spanning-Tree Multiple Spanning-Tree is possible
Collisions occur mostly in setups using hubs. No collisions occur in a full-duplex switch.
Hub is a passive device A switch is an active device
Switches use CAM (Content Accessible Memory) that can b
A network hub can’t store MAC addresses.
accessed by ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Chips).
Not an intelligent device Intelligent device
Its speed is up to 10 Mbps 10/100 Mbps, 1 Gbps, 10 Gbps
Does not use software Has software for administration
65) What are the different network protocols that are supported by Windows RRAS
services?

There are three main network protocols supported: NetBEUI, TCP/IP, and IPX.

66) What are the maximum networks and hosts in class A, B, and C network?

For Class A, there are 126 possible networks and 16,777,214 hosts. For Class B, there are
16,384 possible networks and 65,534 hosts. For Class C, there are 2,097,152 possible
networks and 254 hosts

67) What is the standard color sequence of a straight-through cable?

Orange/white, orange, green/white, blue, blue/white, green, brown/white, brown.

68) What protocols fall under the Application layer of the TCP/IP stack?

The following are the protocols under the TCP/IP Application layer: FTP, TFTP, Telnet, and
SMTP.

69) You need to connect two computers for file sharing. Is it possible to do this
without using a hub or a router?

Yes, you can connect two computers, using only one cable. A crossover type cable can be
used in this scenario. In this setup, the data transmit pin of one cable is connected to the
data receive pin of the other cable, and vice versa.

70) What is ipconfig?

Ipconfig is a utility program that is commonly used to identify the addresses information
of a computer on a network. It can show the physical address as well as the IP address.

71) What is the difference between a straight-through and crossover cable?

A straight-through cable is used to connect computers to a switch, hub, or router. A

crossover cable is used to connect two similar devices, such as a PC to PC or Hub, to the
Hub.

72) What is the client/server?

Client/server is a type of network wherein one or more computers act as servers. Servers
provide a centralized repository of resources such as printers and files. Clients refer to a
workstation that accesses the server.

73) Describe networking.

Networking refers to the interconnection between computers and peripherals for data
communication. Networking can be done using wired cabling or through a wireless link.

74) When you move the NIC cards from one PC to another PC, does the MAC address
gets transferred as well?

Yes, that’s because MAC addresses are hard-wired into the NIC circuitry, not the PC. This
also means that a PC can have a different MAC address when another one replaced the
NIC card.

75) Explain clustering support

Clustering support refers to the ability of a network operating system to connect multiple
servers in a fault-tolerant group. The main purpose of this is the if one server fails, all
processing will continue with the next server in the cluster.

76) Where is the best place to install an Anti-virus program?

An anti-virus program must be installed on all servers and workstations to ensure

protection. That’s because individual users can access any workstation and introduce a
computer virus. You can plug in their removable hard drives or flash drives.

77) Describe Ethernet.

Ethernet is one of the popular networking technologies used these days. It was developed
during the early 1970s and is based on specifications, as stated in the IEEE. Ethernet is
used in local area networks.

78) What are some drawbacks of implementing a ring topology?

In case one workstation on the network suffers a malfunction, it can bring down the entire
network. Another drawback is that when there are adjustments and reconfigurations
needed to be performed on a particular network, the entire network must be temporarily
brought down.