Chapter 8: High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

Answers to End-of-Chapter Questions 1. What is a hub? 2. How does a bridge differ from a switch? 3. What is different between a bridge, a router, and a gateway? 4. What is a brouter? 5. Under what circumstances would you want to replace a router with a brouter? 6. What happens when you replace a hub with a switch? 7. What is an enterprise network? 8. Explain the differences between a store-and-forward switch and a cut-through switch. 9. What is a multiprotocol bridge? Multiprotocol router? 10. How does a layer-3 switch differ from a "normal" switch? 11. What are the three types of 100Base-T and how are they different? 12. How does 100Base-VG differ from the other types of ethernet? 13. How can fast ethernet such as 100Base-T and 100Base-VG provide 100 Mbps data rates using the same cable used for 10baseT? 14. How can gigabit ethernet use category 5 cables to provide 1000 Mbps? 15. What is Iso-ENET? Why would you want to use it? 16. How does FDDI differ from 803.5 token ring? 17. How does FDDI differ from 100Base-FX? 18. What is the difference between a DAS and a SAS? 19. What is FDDI-C? FDDI-II?

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

20. How does switched FDDI differ from shared FDDI? 21. What is switched ethernet? What advantages does it provide? 22. Where would you want to use full duplex ethernet? 23. Is full duplex token ring really token ring? Explain. 24. Some people argue that full duplex ethernet does not really provide 20 Mbps. Why? 25. What is 10/100 switched ethernet and how would you use it to design a LAN or BN? 26. If you currently have an 803.3 ethernet LAN, is fast ethernet or switched ethernet cheaper to install? Why? 27. Discuss four important characteristics of ATM. 28. How does ATM perform addressing? 29. How can ATM be used to link ethernet LANs? 30. What is ATM-25? ATM-51? 31. What is encapsulation and how does it differ from translation? 32. How does fibre channel work? 33. How can you improve the performance of a backbone network? 34. What are broadcast messages? 35. What are five factors in selecting a backbone network? 36. Which has greatest throughput: 100Base-T, 100Base-VG, or FDDI? 37. Which has greater throughput: FDDI or switched ethernet? 38. How does a FDDI LAN carry an ethernet packet? 39. How does ATM LANE carry an ethernet packet?

Chapter 8

TRUE/FALSE The following are possible True/False questions for tests. The statement is given and the answer is provided in square brackets. The level of difficulty (easy, moderate, difficult) is also furnished. 1. Before enterprise networking and Internet access, one low tech method of transferring data from one department to another was via sneakernet. Easy 2. A backbone network is a network that connects many networks on a single company or government site. Easy 3. Some technologies that were originally developed for BNs are now being used in LANs. Easy 4. Switched backbone networks is a BN approach which uses new high speed technologies that provide a set of point-to-point connections between computers. Moderate 5. The cable to connect BNs is always exactly the same as that used in LANs. Moderate 6. Category 5 twisted pair is a low quality type of cable. Moderate 7. Hubs are simple devices that operate at the physical layer. Easy 8. Hubs forward every message to other LAN sections. Easy 9. Hubs use different data link and network protocols. Easy 10. Bridges operate at the physical layer. Moderate 11. Bridges are a combination of hardware and software. Moderate

12. Switches operate at the network layer.

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

Easy 13. Two types of switches are: cut-through and store-and-forward. Easy 14. Routers operate at the network layer Easy 15. Brouters are devices that combine the functions of backbones and routers. Moderate 16. Gateways are simpler than routers. Moderate 17. The terms for hardware devices, such as routers and bridges, are interchangeable among vendors. Moderate 18. There is only one vendor, using one type of technology/approach, for providing Fast Ethernet. Moderate 19. 100Base-X is virtually identical to 10Base-T ethernet, but it operates up to 100 Mbps data rate. Moderate 20. Fast token ring uses standard token ring topology, protocols, and media access control, but runs at 100Mbps, rather than 16Mbps. Easy 21. Recently, LANs and BNs have been designed and implemented to use switched point-to-point circuits, instead of multipoint circuits. Moderate 22. Switched ethernet uses a switch to replace the traditional hub. Moderate 23. 10/100 switched ethernet is predicted to become a very popular in the future because of its advantages. Easy 24. Switched token ring uses a token ring switch instead of a token ring hub. Easy 25. Dedicated Token Ring, a switched token ring type of network, is similar to half duplex ethernet.

Chapter 8

26. In switched FDDI, a FDDI switch replaces the FDDI hub. Easy 27. With respect to high speed networks, the acronym, ATM, refers to Automatic Teller Machines. Moderate 28. Translating from ethernet or token ring packets into ATM packets, or cells, is very simple. Moderate 29. Multiprotocol over ATM uses the network layer address in addition to the data link layer address. Moderate 30. The ATM Forum, the standards body for ATM, accepted a proposal for ATM-25 which is designed for use on the desktop (in LANs). Moderate 31. Desktop ATM standards use the same packet sizes and protocols as regular ATM. Moderate MULTIPLE CHOICE The following are possible multiple choice questions for tests. The question is posed and the answer is provided under the choices. The level of difficulty (easy, moderate, difficult) is also furnished. 1. The driving force behind enterprise networking is the shift to: a. an industrial production society b. an information-based business economy c. an atomic energy-based economy d. a conservation-oriented society e. an agrarian-based economy 2. Which of the following is not true about backbone networks? a. They typically connect a series of LANs. b. They typically provide connections to other BNs, WANs, MANs, and the Internet. c. They tend to use lower speed circuits than LANs. d. They may also be called enterprise networks if they connect all networks within an organization. e. They may cross international, national, or state boundaries. 3. Fast ethernet: a. is exactly the same as 10Base-5, except that it can be installed faster

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

b. c. d. e.

is a speeded up technology that was originally developed for BNs uses a point-to-point communications circuit uses a switched technology does not suffer from media sharing problems inherent in LANs

4. Basic components of a backbone network include: a. hubs and bridges b. switches and routers c. brouters and gateways d. cables and computers e. all of the above 5. Which of the following is not a type of hardware device that can be used to interconnect networks? a. routers b. bridges c. brouters d. gateways e. video monitor 6. Hubs: a. b. c. d. e.

pass limited traffic in one direction only usually incorporate repeaters or amplifiers limit the distance of a network to a few meters in length connect only the same type of cable operate at the application layer

7. Bridges: a. are less sophisticated than hubs b. forward only those messages that need to go to other network segments c. connect two ore more network segments that use different data link protocols d. connect two or more network segments that use different network protocols e. are rarely used to segment LANs 8. A bridge __________ the data link layer addresses of the devices on the network because it examines each packets data link layer sources address and adds it to its own internal address table, if necessary. a. deletes b. filters c. learns d. inverses e. encrypts 9. __________ is a process in which a bridge discards a packet that has a destination address that is on the same network segment from which the packet arrived.

Chapter 8

a. b. c. d. e.

Filtering Learning Inverting Encrypting Multiplexing

10. Switches: a. connect two or more computer segments that use different data link protocols b. connect two or more computer segments that use different network protocols c. typically provide ports for 2, 6, or 12 separate network segments d. usually enable all ports to be in use simultaneously e. are usually slower than bridges 11. Switches differ from bridges because: a. they operate at the data link layer b. they connect two or more computer segments that use the same data link protocols c. they connect two or more computer segments that use the same network protocols d. they dont learn addresses e. they understand only data link layer protocols and addresses 12. _______________ switches copy an incoming packet into memory before processing the destination address, so that the message can be held into memory until an outgoing circuit is available. a. Filtering b. Cut-through c. Store-and-forward d. Learning e. Destinating 13. Routers: a. operate at the data link layer b. connect two or more networks that always use the same data link protocols c. rely on the network layer address to forward packets as needed d. connect two or more networks that always use the same type of cable e. tend to operate faster than bridges 14. Which of the following is not a way that a router differs from a bridge? a. routers can choose the best route between networks for forwarding a packet b. routers connect two or more networks that use the same network protocol c. routers only process messages that are specifically addressed to it d. routers operate at the network layer e. routers perform more processing on each message than bridges

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

15. A device that combines the functions of both bridges and routers is called a: a. circuit switch b. store-and-forward switch c. gateway d. brouter e. swouter 16. Brouters: a. operate at the physical layer b. can route messages that are explicitly addressed to it c. connect only different data link protocol segments d. operate at the application layer e. always operate slower than bridges for any type of network 17. Gateways: a. operate at the network (or higher) layer b. are less complex than bridges c. are best used as the interface between two or more similar networks d. process all messages, even if the messages are not explicitly addressed to them e. cannot perform a routing function 18. One common use of gateways is to enable TCP/IP and ethernet LANs to communicate with IBM mainframe-based networks that use ______ network protocol. a. ISDN b. ATM c. FDDI d. SNA e. ASCII 19. ____________ bridges translate between different data link layer protocols. a. 3270 emulation b. ASCII/EBCDIC c. Asynchronous d. Gateway e. Multiprotocol 20. Which of the following is not true about Layer-3 switches? a. They can only switch messages based on their data link layer addresses. b. They are also called IP switches, swouters, or britches. c. They can operate as routers. d. They are predicted to replace at least 60% of the currently installed routers by the end of 1999. e. They have more simultaneously active ports than routers.

Chapter 8

21. Which of the following devices is the most complex? a. Router b. Bridge c. Gateway d. Brouter e. Hub 22. Which of the following devices is the simplest? a. Router b. Bridge c. Gateway d. Brouter e. Hub 23. 100Base-T: a. operates up to 10 Mbps b. uses a ring topology c. uses roll call polling media access control d. always uses radio as its media e. uses Ethernet data link packets/frames 24. Which of the following is not true about 100Base-VG? a. It is also known as 100VG-AnyLAN. b. It uses CSMA/CD media access control. c. It can send and receive token ring packets, as well as ethernet packets. d. It is faster than 100Base-T in heavy network conditions because of its media access control method. e. It uses a controlled media access control method. 25. Which of the following uses a media control method that is very similar to roll call polling, called the demand priority access method (DPAM)? a. 10Base-T b. 100Base-T c. 100VG-AnyLAN d. Iso-ENET e. Gigabit Ethernet 26. Which of the following is not true about Gigabit Ethernet? a. It is a set of standards that provide up to 1 Gbps data rate. b. It is currently practical to use it on most LANs in operation today. c. It has four versions currently in use which differ only at the physical layer by using different media. d. Due to issues with respect to its media access control method, it may remain primarily a backbone technology for use only in point-to-point full duplex communication links. e. None of the above are appropriate choices.

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

27. ______ is a type of Fast Ethernet that has an additional 6.144 Mbps circuit placed on top so that it can support the transmission of voice and video using ISDN. a. Iso-ENET b. Gigabit Ethernet c. 100Base-VG d. 100Base-X e. 100VG-AnyLAN 28. Which of the following is not true about FDDI? a. It refers to frequency data duplexing interface. b. It was originally designed in the 1980s for use in MANs. c. It uses two counter-rotating rings called the primary ring and the secondary ring, although data usually travels on the primary ring, with the secondary ring serving as a backup. d. It is self-healing because it can still operate in a limited fashion even if the cable is broken. e. It uses a variation of the IEEE 802.5 token passing standard as a media access control method. 29. _________ is a type of FDDI that uses twisted pair cable instead of fiber. a. FDDI-II b. FDDI-C c. FDDI-WideBand d. FDDI-TimeDiv e. FDDI-token 30. Which of the following permits the transmission of voice and video over the same cable as the normal FDDI token-passing data? a. FDDI-II b. Talk-FDDI c. FDDI on Copper d. Iso-ENET e. FDDI-token 31. Which of the following is not true about switched ethernet? a. It uses a switch instead of a hub. b. It has faster connections (almost immediate) than traditional ethernet. c. It essentially provides a point-to-point connection between computers. d. It eliminates any traffic jams on the circuit to the server. e. It dramatically improves network performance because each computer has its own circuit.

32. With switched ethernet:

10

Chapter 8

a. two circuits are carried in the same physical twisted pair cable but are completely separate, so that traffic in one circuit does not interfere with traffic in the other b. the circuit to the server is often the network bottleneck c. the network server or hub polls each connected computer in turn, to see if it has data to send d. both a and c e. none of the above is an appropriate choice 33. _________ uses the same 10Base-T cables as regular ethernet, but it assigns one cable for incoming messages and another cable for outgoing messages. a. 10/100 Switched Ethernet b. Full duplex Ethernet c. Half duplex Ethernet d. Simplex Ethernet e. FDDI Ethernet 34. ________ combines 10Base-T and 100Base-T ethernet. a. 10/100 Switched Ethernet b. Full duplex Ethernet c. Half duplex Ethernet d. Simplex Ethernet e. FDDI Ethernet 35. 10/100 Switched ethernet is often used to: a. provide traditional 10 Mbps ethernet connections to client computers utilizing traditional 10Base-T, with 100Base-T used to the server or to other switches b. provide lower performance c. increase congestion at the network server d. all of the above e. none of the above 36. The purpose of switched token ring is to improve performance by: a. providing traditional 10 Mbps ethernet connections to client computers utilizing traditional 10BaseT, with 10Base-T used to the server or to other switches b. allowing the backbone circuit to be shared among several computers, by having each take turns sending messages and thereby collapsing the backbone c. using a token ring switch to replace the token ring hub, providing a series of point-topoint connections from the computers to the switch, instead of the traditional shared multipoint circuit d. all of the above e. none of the above 37. Which of the following is not true with respect to ATM? a. It is a switched network. b. It uses variable length packets, or cells.

11

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

c. It is sometimes called Cell Relay. d. It provides no error correction to user data. e. It uses a different type of addressing from traditional data link protocols because it uses virtual circuit identifiers. 38. ATM is __________ so that all packets travel in order through the virtual circuit. a. connectionless b. synchronous c. connection-oriented d. sequence multiplexed e. time multiplexed 39. ATM defines _________ service classes (for Quality of Service routing/switching) that enable the network to prioritize transmissions. a. three b. four c. five d. seven e. nine 40. ATM uses _______ -byte fixed length packets, or cells. a. 34 b. 39 c. 44 d. 48 e. 53 41. A relatively new networking technology, called __________, ANSI X3T11, consists of a set of full duplex point-to-point switched circuits, providing high speed transmission over fiber optic cable. a. Full duplex-FDDI b. Full duplex ethernet c. Full duplex ATM d. Fibre channel e. Fibre data duplex interface 42. Fibre channel uses ___________ data link layer packets. a. variable length b. 48-byte c. 53-byte d. 2048-byte e. CRC-32 format

43. Which of the following would be least effective in improving backbone performance?

12

Chapter 8

a. b. c. d. e.

improving the computers in the network adding new video monitors to the client computers changing the demand placed on the network upgrading the circuits between computers improving devices in the network

44. ___________ simplifies processing and improves performance on a BN. a. Dynamic routing b. Static routing c. Adaptive routing d. Guided routing e. Radiated routing 45. Broadcast messages can be _____ by some internetworking devices so that they dont go to other networks and consume network capacity. a. filtered b. cut-through c. stored-and-forwarded d. learned e. inverse multiplexed 46. Which of the following is not an important factor to consider in selecting a backbone network? a. throughput b. type of office furniture c. type of application d. management e. compatibility with current and future technologies 47. Selecting a backbone network for your organization is difficult, because: a. new backbone network products are being introduced all the time b. there are few standards for new backbone products and technologies c. there are few tests and little reliable information on the performance of new backbone technologies d. all of the above e. none of the above Short Answer Questions 1. How does a switch differ from a hub? 2. Describe two ways in which a router differs from a bridge. 3. Describe two ways in which 100Base-T Ethernet differs from 10/100 switched ethernet. 13

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

4. Describe how 100Base-T fast Ethernet works. 5. Describe two important ways in which FDDI differs from regular token ring (i.e., IEEE 802.5)? 6. Compare and contrast switched 10Base-T Ethernet, shared 100Base-T Ethernet, and 10/100 switched Ethernet. 7. How does ATM work? 8. Compare and contrast fibre channel and ATM. 9. Describe how LANE enables ATM backbones to connect ethernet networks. 10. How does ATM LANE differ from MPOA? 11. Suppose a 10Base-T backbone network is having performance problems. Describe two specific steps you could take to improve performance. 12. Some experts believe Ethernet will be the dominant backbone technology in three years time. Other experts believe ATM will win. Explain two reasons why Ethernet is likely to win. Explain two reasons why ATM is likely to win. 13. Thought question: What are the two most important considerations in selecting a backbone network. Justify your choices. 14. The diagram below shows a simple network using TCP/IP and ethernet. Devices B, F, X, and T are routers. Device C is a bridge. Device W is a layer-2 switch. Describe the path taken by a message sent from computer A to computer D. For each step in the path (i.e., from one device to the next), state the: a) sending computer (e.g., A), b) destination computer, c) destination IP address on the message and d) destination Ethernet address on the message. Assume that all addresses (IP and ethernet) are known by all computers and devices, and that all computers and devices have a subnet mask in which the first three bytes indicate the subnet.

14

Chapter 8

A 128.192.40.22
00-00-AA-22-22-22

Y 128.192.55.45
00-00-AA-33-33-DD

W 128.192.55.6
00-00-AA-33-33-FF

B 128.192.40.1
00-00-AA-11-11-11 128.192.250.1 00-00-BB-11-11-11

T 128.192.55.3
00-00-AA-33-33-33 128.192.251.2 00-00-BB-22-22-22

X 128.192.251.1
00-00-DD-11-11-11 128.192.250.3 00-00-BB-33-33-33

DNS
128.192.250.22 00-00-EE-22-22-22

F 128.192.251.3
00-00-DD-33-33-33 128.192.45.2 00-00-DD-22-22-22

C 128.192.45.3
00-00-FF-33-33-33 128.192.45.4 0-00-FF-22-22-22

D 128.192.45.44
00-00-AA-44-44-44

15. Another question for the diagram above: When the message arrives at computer D, what IP address will be listed as the source and what ethernet address will be listed as the source? 16. Another question for the diagram above: Describe the flow of messages (using the same format) if A does not know the IP address of D.

15

High Speed LAN and Backbone Networks

17. Another question for the diagram above: Describe the flow of messages (using the same format) if A does not know the Ethernet address of B. 18. Another question for the diagram above: Describe the path taken by a message sent from computer A to computer Y. For each step in the path (i.e., from one device to the next), state the: a) sending computer, b) destination computer, c) destination IP address on the message, and destination Ethernet address on the message. Assume that all addresses (IP and Ethernet) are known by all computers and devices, and that all computers and devices have a subnet mask in which the first three bytes indicate the subnet.

Next Day Air Service Case Study 1. Figure 8-22 shows a facility map of the NDAS headquarters. Assume that there are LANs in four department offices (Data Processing, Accounts Payable, Information Services, and Agent Operations) and at Fleet Maintenance and Dispatch in the Secondary Building. What type of backbone network do you recommend for NDAS headquarters? Be prepared to justify 2. Indicate to President Coone how you will monitor the NDAS headquarters Backbone Network and what steps can be taken if NDAS needs to improve its performance.

16