this braindump has been compiled by me and a couple of coworkers.  although we didn't answer all of these questions correctly, we went to the trouble of  looking up the correct answers afterwards, so we're pretty sure about most of the answers. the questions we aren't sure about are 1, 14 and 26.

1. You're designing an ethernet network in a 9 story building. You're using UTP.

You need a backbone as cheap as possible. What do you use ?

a. fiber optic

b. 10 base 5

c. UTP

d. 100 base TX

my guess : 10 base 5. but i am definately not sure about my answers.    although just about every networking book says that thicknet (10 base 5) is very often used as a small LAN backbone, it is *not* the cheapest solution. UTP is cheaper. fiber optic is definately out.

2. You want to track the number of users connecting to 15 NT servers & 5 routers.   What do you need ?

a. Performance Monitor

b. Server Monitor

c. SNMP

d. ipconfig

answer : SNMP is a protocol that allows you to collect information about network devices. server monitor could only be used to view the  number of users connected to an NT server. you couldn't obtain any  information from a router  using server monitor or performance monitor. ipconfig is used to view the current tcp/ip configuration of your PC.

3. You have a Windows 95 portable with Plug and Play BIOS. You install a 3com etherlink PCI card and reboot. Windows 95 does not recognize the network card.  The diagnostics disk from 3com does not recognize the card either. Possible cause ?

a. Plug and Play disabled on network adapter

b. network driver is not most current version

c. BIOS on conputer is not most current version

d. network adapter does not support Plug and Play

answer : Plug and play disabled on network card. b doesn't make any sense because windows 95 uses plug and play to detect (new) hardware, i.e. hardware that doesn't have any drivers installed yet. c is rubbish (because it's a PnP enabled BIOS anyway). d is out of the question either, I think, because otherwise the diagnostics software would recognize/find the card. so the only option is : there must be something wrong with the network adapter card.

4. You use a 100 Mbps backbone. The network is nearly at capacity.  Upgrade with which WAN technology ?

a. ethernet

b. token ring

c. FDDI

d. X.25

e. ATM

answer : ATM is a WAN technology that offers a speed range from 155 Mbps to 622 Mbps.   a and b are out since they're no WAN technologies. x.25 is out too.    FDDI offers speeds up to 100 Mbps, your current network backbone speed. and you need something faster, so it's got to be ATM.

5. Which network topology has the least installation cost ?

a. star

b. bus

c. ring

d. mesh

answer : bus

6. You add 90 PCs to a 35 PC network. File transfer performance decreases. What do you do ?

a. segment the network using a repeater

b. segment the network using a bridge

c. install 32 bit ethernet cards in servers

d. increase transmit buffer on each server

answer : segment the network using a bridge. a repeater doesn't  segment a network, it only regenerates signals. a 32 bit network card  communicates with your computer's processor using 32 bits, but network  transmission is serial (and much slower) anyway. although it is recommended to  have a send windows size that is larger than the receive window size,  it will not compensate for the dramatic increase of computers on your network. anyway, i think there's still a difference between a transmit buffer and a send window. in my opinion, a larger transmit buffer will only increase througput between your CPU and your network card. not too sure though.

7. You're using UTP + RJ-45 connectors & wall-sockets on your network.   >From your PC, you're able to communicate with every server on your network. You move your PC to another room and connect it to a wallsocket. You can't connect to any server anymore.

What do you do (select 2) ?

a. verify that your network adapter cable is properly plugged in

b. verify you're using the correct protocols

c. verify RJ-45 in network is connected to hub

d. verify that there are no duplicate NetBIOS names on the network

answer : a and c. protocols must be correct since you've already used them to connect to the servers on your network. d is out too, for the same reason.

8. Know when to use router, bridge, gateway, ... Those are giveaway questions !

9. Two questions on "incorrect frametype" on NWLink/IPX/SPX networks.

Hint : When the question reads "software installed correctly", it means there are no IRQ conflicts etc. There's probably some kind of protocol mismatch.

10. Your network consists of 3 NT servers and 75 clients running  NetBEUI. You want your clients to access UNIX computers (using NFS) without having to install software on them. What do you need ?

a. bridge

b. brouter

c. router

d. gateway

answer : a gateway that translates NetBEUI -> tcp/ip (an NFS as a higher protocol).

bridges, brouters and routers do not translate protocols.

11. Scenario question where you have to decrease network utilisation by 50 %. It's already on other brainbumps...

12. What's the benefit of NDOS and ODI ?

answer : network interface card independent of any transport protocol

13. You have offices in Chicago, Atlanta ands LA. You want to install WAN links between your three offices.

required :

- all offices must be able to communicate with each other at a minimum transfer rate of 1 Mbps optional :

- continued communication in the event of single link failure

- continued communication at a minimum speed of 1 Mbps in the event  of a single link failure

a. meets required and all optional results

b. meets required and one optional result

c. meets required and no optional results

d. meets none

answer : meets required, no optional results. i'm never too sure about scenario questions...

14. What's a high-level protocol that provides file sharing services on networks that use NetBIOS ?

a. IPX/SPX

b. TCP/IP

c. DLC

d. SLIP

e. PPP

f. NetBEUI

g. SMB (Server Message Block)

h. RIP

i. AFP (AppleTalk Filing Protocol)

j. NCP (NetWare Core Protocol

answer : SMB. Not too sure though. the only reasonably viable alternative to this would be NetBEUI, but it's not a high-level protocol.

15. Scenario question with the 15 digit hexadecimal number. Check other   braindumps.

16. You want a WAN connection service that can be configured for any transmission speed   that's available. Which WAN connection should you use ?

a. T1

b. X.25

c. Frame Relay

d. ATM

answer : frame relay. when using frame relay, you subscribe for a  CIR (committed information rate). This is a guaranteed bandwidth you get  from your provider.   it is possible to get even higher rates if your provider isn't using the full bandwidth. this is called BURSTING. bandwidth is not  guaranteed, and errors (congestion) could occur.

17. Communication is OK when using IP numbers, not when using computer names. What should you check ?

a. DHCP server

b. WINS server

c. gateway

d. router

answer : WINS server. a WINS server is an NT computer that resolves computer names to ip addresses for other computers on the network.

18. You have 10 NT workstation PCs. Which kind of access control can you use to control access to files & disks on the network ? (choose all that apply)

a. specify users and groups who have access to each shared resource

b. supply a password for each shared resource

answer : a only. Windows 95 and Windows for Workgroups use passwords. not NT.

19. Drag and drop where you had to associate the following protocols with the correct OSI layers : IP, TCP, IPX, SPX.

answer : TCP and SPX are both network layer protocols. IP and IPX are transport layer protocols.

20. Drag and drop : You're using an NT workstation and you need to connect to both a UNIX computer and a NetWare server. Which protocols do you need ?

(choose 2 : one specific protocol is needed for connection with the  UNIX computer, the other for connection with the NetWare server)

a. DLC

b. TCP/IP

c. NWLink

d. XNS

answer : TCP/IP is needed for connection to a UNIX computer. NWlink  is Microsoft's IPX/SPX compatible protocol for connection to NetWare  computers.   DLC is a protocol used for connection to mainframes. XNS is a protocol from Xerox, it's now been replaced by tcp/ip.

21. You have a network that consists of several segments. One of these  segments   occasionally showed heavy network traffic. You think that was because of broadcast storms. What could be possible causes of broadcast storms ? (select  2)

a. incorrect subnet mask

b. badly functioning network adapter card

c. broken cable

d. power surges

answer : b and d. a faulty network adapter card can generate a lot  of traffic.   after a power surge, all computers come back online at the same time.  when a network computer comes online, it announces itself to other network computers using, ... a broadcast.  a and c are rubbish. a computer with an incorrect subnet  mask is unable to communicate with other computers on the network, it will not cause broadcast storms. a broken cable will either put the whole network down (coax) or disable one computer from communicating with  the network (twisted pair cable computer <-> hub broken).   either way, there will be LESS network traffic since one or more computers will be unable to transmit.

22. You have an NT workstation 4.0 computer. What kind of drivers should  you use when  you want to link protocols independently with network cards ?

a. NDIS 2.0

b. NDIS 3.0

c. NDIS 3.1

d. ODI

answer : NDIS 3.0, according to my technet cd...

23. You have an NT workstation equipped with a DEC alpha processor, one hard disk with   two primary partitions of which the first partition (2 Mb in size) is the active partition. You want to implement the highest level of security. What do you do ?

a. format both partitions as NTFS

b. format first partition as FAT, second as NTFS

c. format first partition as NTFS, second as FAT

c. format both partitions as FAT

answer : when windows NT is installed on a RISC-based processor, it  needs a FAT partition to boot from. FAT, however, does not allow you to  set permissions on files and folders, let alone log attempts to access them. if security is a concern, a small (2 Mb) FAT partition is used to boot from. this must be an active primary partition containing the files needed to boot NT.

All other partitions are NTFS formatted and contain the rest of the operating system, other programs, ... so b is the right answer.

24. You have a small token ring network. What is the logical and physical topolgy of your network ?

a. star physical, ring physical

b. star physical, ring logical

c. star logical, ring physical

d. star logical, ring logical

answer : b. a and d are definately out. in a small token ring network, all computers are connected to a hub, hence STAR PHYSICAL. Inside this hub, a logical ring is created through wich the token travels, hence RING LOGICAL.

25. exhibit :

Token Ring Token Ring

Network ID = 200.200.192 --------- ( ? ) -------- Network ID =

200.200.224

Protocol = tcp/ip 2 Protocol =

tcp/ip

| |

| |

| |

( ? ) 1 3 ( ? )

| |

| |

| |

Ethernet

Mainframe

Network ID = 200.200.192 Protocol =

DLC (not tcp/ip !)

Protocol = tcp/ip

Drag and drop three of the following items onto the above diagram :

a. bridge

b. brouter

c. router

d. repeater

e. gateway

f. switch

answer : 1 = bridge; 2 = router; 3 = gateway.

on a tcp/ip network, in order to have communication between two computer :

- they must be on the same subnet, i.e. they must share the same network ID,

or:

- they must use a router to route a packet from one subnet to another.

1 needs a bridge, not a repeater, since a repeater cannot be used to connect different network topologies. since the same network ID is used, you cannot use a router between the two network topologies. 2 needs a router, because packets from one subnet must be put on the other subnet in order to communicate. (a router functions on the network layer, so it can recognize different network IDs. bridges and repeaters are not that "smart") 3 needs a gateway. you need to translate information between two different protocols.

26. You want to implement fault tolerance on an NT server. You want to use a stripe set with parity. how many 4 Gb hard disks do you need if you want 10 Mb of space for data on your stripe set with parity ?

a. 2

b. 3

c. 4

d. 5

answer : disk striping with parity requires a minimum of 3 hard disks. if you only need 10 Mb of space to store data, three disks will give you a stripe set with parity and huge amounts of free space. if, however, you need 10 Gb of space, you will need four 4 Gb disks to create a stripe set with parity. it all comes down to wether the "10 Mb"   (ridiculously low) in the question is a typo or not...

27. You want to implement fault tolerance on your NT computer. You want  to be able to recover from single disk failure and hard disk controller failure.

What will you implement ?

a. disk mirroring

b. disk duplexing

c. stripe set with parity

d. stripe set without parity

answer : disk duplexing. all the other fault tolerance strategies  connect multiple hard disks to the same controller. in the event of a controller failure, all data on all hard disks connected to the controller is lost. disk duplexing uses two hard disks and two controllers. if one controller fails, the other controller & the remaining hard disk is used to recover the data.

28. You monitor the following counters in performance monitor :

CPU % processor time = 8 %

% disk time = 15 %

page faults/sec = 2

Users are complaining the network is slow. What should you do ?

a. add more RAM

b. add another processor

c. implement disk striping with parity

d. install a second network adapter card in your server, segmenting the network answer : install a second network adapter card. the thresholds for the above counters are :

CPU % processor time = 80 %

% disk time = about 90 %

page faults/sec = 5

in other words, you should only do something about your CPU, disk and  memory if performance monitor counters are constantly in the red, which they are definately not.

since users are complaining about the network traffic, you need a second network adapter card to speed things up and segment your network.