Computer ScienceCode 9618
Networks including the internet
What this topic asks you to be able to do
- Demonstrate an understanding of what networking devices are for and the benefits they bring
- Show that you understand the usual features of a WAN (wide area network) and of a LAN (local area network)
- Explain how networked computers are organised under the client-server model and under the peer-to-peer model, including the role each computer has within the network and the subnetwork models, the advantages and disadvantages of each model, and justify which model suits a particular situation
- Demonstrate an understanding of thin clients and thick clients and of how they differ from each other
- Demonstrate an understanding of these topologies: bus, star, mesh and hybrid
- Understand the process by which packets move between two hosts on a given topology
- Justify which topology to choose in a particular situation
- Demonstrate an understanding of what cloud computing is, including how public clouds and private clouds are used
- Demonstrate an understanding of how wireless and wired networks differ and what follows from using each
- Describe the properties of each of these: satellites, microwaves, radio waves (including WiFi), fibre-optic cable and copper cable
- Describe the hardware a LAN relies on, including cables, switch, server, repeater, bridge, Network Interface Card (NIC), Wireless Network Interface Card (WNIC), Wireless Access Points (WAP)
- Describe the part a router plays in a network and the function it carries out
- Show that you understand Ethernet, and the ways collisions are detected and avoided, including Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detection (CSMA/CD)
- Demonstrate understanding of the methods used for bit streaming, i.e. real-time and on-demand
- Demonstrate a grasp of why bit rates and broadband speed matter for bit streaming
- Demonstrate an understanding of how the internet differs from the World Wide Web (WWW)
- Describe the hardware the internet relies on, including the PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network), dedicated lines, the cell phone network and modems
- Explain the part IP addresses play in sending data across the internet, including: how an IP address is formatted, including IPv4 and IPv6; how subnetting is used in a network; how a device on a network is linked to its IP address; how a public IP address differs from a private IP address and what this means for security; and how a static IP address differs from a dynamic IP address
- Explain how a resource on the World Wide Web (WWW) is found by means of a Uniform Resource Locator (URL), and what part the Domain Name Service (DNS) plays