Top 25 Networking Interview Questions & Answers

Top 100 Networking Interview Questions & Answers

1) What protocol can be applied when you want to transfer files between different platforms, such between 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.

2) 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.

3) One way of securing a network is through the use of passwords. 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.

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

The proper termination for unshielded twisted pair network cable is 100 ohms.

5) What is netstat?

Netstat is a command line utility program. It provides useful information about the current TCP/IP settings of a connection.

6) 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.

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

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

8) 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

9) What is ICMP?

ICMP is 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.

10) 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.

11) What is peer to peer?

Peer to peer are networks that does not reply on a server. All PCs on this network act as individual workstations.

12) What is DNS?

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

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

One major advantage of fiber optics is that is it 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.

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

A hub acts as a multiport repeater. However, as more and more devices connect to it, it would not be able to efficiently manage the volume of traffic that passes through it. A switch provides a better alternative that can improve the performance especially when high traffic volume is expected across all ports.

15) 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.

16) What are the maximum networks and hosts in a 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

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

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

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

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

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

Yes, you can connect two computers together using only one cable. A crossover type cable can be use 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.

20) 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.

21) 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 together, such as a PC to PC or Hub to hub.

22) What is 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 refers to workstation that access the server.

23) Describe networking.

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

24) 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 the NIC card was replace by another one.

25) 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 in the event that one server fails, all processing will continue on with the next server in the cluster.

Chapter 1 :- Introduction to Computer Networking

Chapter 2 :- What is a Computer Network

Chapter 3 :- Why we need computer networks

Chapter 4 :- Client Operating Systems

Chapter 5 :- Common Network Application Software

Chapter 6 :- LAN and WAN

Chapter 7 :- CAN and MAN

Chapter 8 :- Peer-to-Peer networks and Client-Server networks

Chapter 9 :- Centralized and Distributed Computer Networks

Chapter 10 :- Internetworks, Internet, Intranet and Extranet

Chapter 11 :- What is a Network Protocol

Chapter 12 :- Difference between Proprietary and Standard Protocols