5.3.11 Practice Questions Test out
You have a network that's connected using a physical star topology. One of the drop cables connecting a workstation has been removed. Which of the following BEST describes the effect that this will have on network communications?
All devices except the device connected with the drop cable will be able to communicate. A cable break in a star topology means that the device connected to the central device (hub or switch) through that cable can no longer communicate on the network. All other hosts will be able to communicate with all other devices.
During a network infrastructure upgrade, you replaced two 10 Mbps hubs with switches and upgraded from a Category 3 UTP cable to a Category 5e. During the process, you accidentally cut the Cat 5e patch cable that stretches from the network printer to the upgraded switch. What is the impact on your network?
All network nodes except the printer will be available. UTP cable and switches are associated with a star network topology. In a star topology, each device is attached to the network using its own patch cable. If a cable were to fail for any reason, only the device connected by that cable would be unavailable.
You are moving a client to a new location within an Ethernet network. Previous to the move, the client system did not have difficulty accessing the network. During the relocation, you attach patch cables from the client system to the wall jack and from the patch panel to the switch. Once connected, you do not get a link light on the network card or the switch. You swap out the cable running between the patch panel and the switch with a known good one, but you still cannot connect. Which of the following might you suspect is the problem?
Failed patch cable between the client system and the wall jack Because the client system previously worked in a different location, the issue is not likely related to the client system. The NIC and switch LEDs' failure to light indicates that there isn't an end-to-end connection between the client and the switch. This means that either the patch cable between the wall jack and the client is faulty or the cable between the patch panel and the switch is faulty. The cable connecting the switch and the patch panel was verified, leaving the cable between the wall jack and the client system. It is unlikely that the issue is a failed network card, as the system was functioning in a different location, eliminating the possibility of hardware or software on the client system being the problem. The failure is limited to a connection issue between a single client and a switch. If the switch failed, all clients connected to that switch would not be able to connect. Incorrect duplex settings would not prevent NIC and switch LEDs from lighting.
Upon conducting a visual inspection of the server room, you see that a switch displays LED collision lights that are continually lit. You check the LED on the corresponding workstation and see that it is flashing rapidly even though it is not sending or receiving network traffic at that time. What is the cause of the network collisions?
Faulty network card Sometimes when a NIC fails, it doesn't just stop working, but it begins to flood the network with transmissions. This is called jabbering. A single network card can slow down an entire network by continually transmitting signals. You can identify a jabbering network card by slower than normal speeds, high occurrences of collisions displayed on the hub or switch, and LEDs on the network card, indicating a high level of transmissions even though a user is not accessing the network.
You have a network that's connected using a physical bus topology. One of the cables that connects a workstation to the bus breaks. Which of the following BEST describes the effect that this will have on network communications?
No devices will be able to communicate. A break in the network bus means that the end of the network bus is no longer terminated. For this reason, a break in the bus typically means that no devices can communicate. Identifying the location of the break is difficult on a true bus network.
A user from the sales department calls to report that he is experiencing problems connecting to the sales file server. All users in the sales department connect to this server through a single Ethernet switch. No other users have reported problems connecting to the sales server. Which of the following troubleshooting actions are you MOST likely to perform first?
Replace the network card in the user's computer. In this scenario, you are most likely to replace the network card in the user's computer. As there is only one user experiencing the problem, you are unlikely to replace the network card in the server or replace the Ethernet switch. For the same reason, you are also unlikely to replace the network card drivers on the server. If more than one user were experiencing the problem, any of these options could be a valid troubleshooting step.
Angela is the network administrator for a rapidly growing company with a 100BaseT network. Users have recently complained about slow file transfers. While checking network traffic, Angela discovers a high number of collisions. Which connectivity device would BEST reduce the number of collisions and allow future growth? Correct Answer: Hub
Switch A switch would be the best choice in this situation. A bridge would segment traffic and reduce collisions, but it would be harder to maintain and harder to add new bridges as the network grows. A router would also allow growth and reduce collisions, but switches can provide those benefits at a lower cost per port and offer more administration options. A hub is not a good choice in this scenario.
You are implementing a SOHO network for a local business. The ISP has already installed and connected a cable modem for the business. The business has four computers that need to communicate with each other and the internet. The ISP's cable modem has only one RJ45 port. You need to set up the network within the following parameters: You must spend as little money as possible. You must not purchase unnecessary equipment. Computers need to have a gigabit connection to the network. New devices should not require management or configuration. You examine each computer and notice that only one of the four computers has a wireless NIC. They all have Ethernet NICs. What should you purchase?
An unmanaged switch and CAT 5e cabling. You should purchase an unmanaged switch and CAT 5e cabling. Switches offer guaranteed bandwidth to each switch port and full-duplex communication. Unmanaged switches are autonomous in their function, requiring no port management or configuration. CAT 5e cabling supports transfer speeds up to 1,000 Gbps. Purchasing a new cable modem with a built-in switch would be more expensive than an unmanaged switch. Additionally, CAT 6a cabling is unnecessary for this type of network. Because all of the computers already have wired NICs, purchasing a wireless AP and three new wireless NICs would introduce new costs. The wireless AP would also require additional management and configuration. Hubs suffer from collisions, so only half-duplex communication is possible. This also wouldn't support 1,000 Gbps speeds. A small business with four computers doesn't need the additional features that a managed switch provides.
You have a network that's connected using a full physical mesh topology. The link between Device A and Device B is broken. Which of the following BEST describes the effect that this will have on network communications?
Device A will be able to communicate with all other devices. With a mesh topology, a break in a single link has no effect on communications. Data can be routed to the destination device by taking a different (sometimes longer) path through the mesh topology.
You have just connected four new computer systems to an Ethernet switch using spare patch cables. After the installation, only three systems are able to access the network. You verify all client network settings and replace the network card in the failed system. The client is still unable to access the network. Which of the following might you suspect is the real cause of the problem?
Failed patch cable Bent and damaged patch cables prevent client systems from accessing the network. In this scenario, a faulty patch cable is the most likely cause of the connection failure. The easiest way to test this is to simply swap out the cable and try a known good UTP patch cable.
