1. A key problem when designing data communications networks is how to adapt to new technologies while organizations change. [True; p. 336]
Easy
2. A traditional network design approach follows a structured systems analysis and design process similar to that used in building applications. [True; p. 336]
Easy
3. The traditional network design approach works very well for rapidly changing networks. [False, it is best for static or slowly evolving networks; p. 336]
Easy
4. Today, most network designers use a three-year planning horizon. [True; p. 337]
Easy
5. Today, the most expensive part of the network is the hardware. [False, it is the staff who design, operate, and maintain it; p. 337]
Easy
6. Today, many organizations design networks using the building-block approach. [True; p. 337]
Easy
7. Needs analysis is the final step in the building block approach to network design. [False, it is the first step; p. 339]
Moderate
8. In technology design, a network designer looks at available technologies to see which options will satisfy users’ needs. [True; p. 339]
Easy
9. Cost assessment is used to look at the relative cost of technologies used in a network design. [True; p. 339]
Easy
10. The goals in the needs analysis step of network design are exactly the same when designing LANs vs. when designing WANs. [False, they are slightly different; p. 340]
Easy
11. The step of understanding current traffic on a network provides a baseline against which future network requirements can be compared. [True; p. 341]
Easy
12. The goal of the needs analysis step in network design is to develop a physical network design. [False, a logical network design is produced; p. 341]
Easy
13. The technology that is closest to a user in a network design is the core layer. [False, it is the access layer; p. 341]
Easy
14. The core layer of the network is usually the busiest. [True; p. 341]
Easy
15. Today, all network traffic is due to traffic from internal application systems. [False, use of the Internet accounts for a significant portion of network traffic; p. 343]
Easy
16. Desirable requirements are those that have the highest priority. [False, they come after mandatory requirements in terms of priority; p. 344]
Moderate
17. Capacity planning is used to design circuit capacity. [True; p. 346]
Easy
18. The turnpike effect results when a network is used at a much lower rate than was anticipated when it was designed. [False, it results from higher use; p. 346]
Moderate
19. Simulation is a tool that can be used in designing networks. [True; p. 347]
20. Cost assessment is the step in the network design in which user requirements are documented. [False, this step is used to understand the costs of various network alternatives produced from the Technology Design stage; p. 349]
Moderate
21. When obtaining the support of senior management for a proposed network, it is important to use as much technical network jargon as possible. [False, it is important to speak to senior management in language they understand and can relate to; p. 350-351]
Easy
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, or difficult) and the page(s) relevant to the topic are also furnished.
1. Which of the following is not a step under the traditional network design approach?
a. An analyst develops cost estimates of the circuits needed to support the network.
b. An analyst takes the traffic on the current network and then multiplies that by a factor of 3.65 to come up with the estimate of the total traffic for the new network.
c. An analyst meets with users to identify user needs.
d. An analyst develops a precise estimate of the amount of data that users will send and receive to estimate the total amount of traffic on each part of the network.
e. An analyst designs the circuits to support the estimated traffic, allowing for modest growth.
Answer: b, Moderate, p. 336-338
2. The traditional network design approach does not work well for _________ networks.
a. slowly evolving
b. rapidly growing
c. static
d. modestly growing
e. not growing
Answer: b, Easy, p. 336
3. Which of the following is not making the traditional design approach less appropriate for today’s networks?
a. The underlying technology of networking devices is changing very rapidly
b. The underlying technology of client and server devices is changing very rapidly
c. The underlying technology of circuits is changing very rapidly
d. Growth in network traffic is very high
e. The most expensive part of any network is the hardware
Answer: e, Moderate, p. 336-338
4. Which of the following is not contributing to the dramatic increase in network traffic today?
a. Video applications on networks are becoming common.
b. Electronic mail is now used by most people who work in organizations.
c. Web searches are now commonly performed by network users.
d. Most client computers today have 4 meg of RAM, a 40 meg hard drive, and an 8Mhz386 processor.
e. Multimedia applications on networks are becoming common.
Answer: d, Easy, p. 336-338
5. Which of the following is not true about an overlay network?
a. It is a way that interexchange networks are trying to keep up with demand.
b. It co-exists with primary voice networks.
c. It supports separate services such as Internet traffic for an interexchange network.
d. It was part of the traditional planning for interexchange networks to handle voice, data, and video on the same circuits.
e. It is designed to handle ‘special’ traffic such as WAN traffic for an interexchange network.
Answer: d, Moderate, p. 337
6. Which of the following is false about staff costs for a network?
a. The most expensive part of the network today is the staff who design, operate, and maintain it
b. The emphasis is on network designs that reduce staff time needed to operate them
c. Network staff are often required to learn to operate a variety of devices
d. Network staff are often required to maintain a variety of devices
e. When a variety of devices are used in a network, it takes less time to perform network management activities
Answer: e, Moderate, p. 337
7. The building block design approach is sometimes called:
a. wide and shallow
b. narrow and deep
c. wide and deep
d. narrow and shallow
e. narrow and flat
Answer: b, Easy, p. 338
8. Nowadays, most organizations use a simpler approach to network design called the ___________ approach.
a. building-block
b. frame definition
c. prototype
d. systems development life cycle
e. guided network
Answer: a, Easy, p. 338
9. Which of the following is not a step that is used in newer type of network design process?
a. cost assessment
b. technology design
c. implementation
d. needs analysis
e. none of the above is a correct answer
Answer: c, Easy; p. 339
10. In __________, the network designer attempts to understand the fundamental current and future network needs of the various users, departments, and applications.
a. technology design
b. needs analysis
c. narrow and deep analysis
d. cost assessment
e. distribution layering
Answer: b, Easy, p. 339
11. In __________, the network designer examines the available technologies and assesses which options will meet the users’ needs.
a. technology design
b. needs analysis
c. narrow and deep analysis
d. cost assessment
e. distribution layering
Answer: a, Easy, p. 339
12. In __________, the network designer considers the relative cost of the technologies.
a. technology design
b. needs analysis
c. narrow and deep analysis
d. cost assessment
e. distribution layering
Answer: d, Easy, p. 339
13. Which of the following is not true about network design?
a. In designing LAN networks, network designers tend to err on the side of building too big a network
b. In designing BN networks, network designers tend to err on the side of building too big a network
c. In designing WAN networks, network designers tend to err on the side of building too small a network
d. In designing LAN networks, network designers tend to err on the side of building too small a network
e. In designing MAN networks, network designers tend to err on the side of building too small a network
Answer: d, Moderate, p. 340-341
14. In needs analysis:
a. a great deal of the work has probably never been done
b. the goal is to understand what users and applications the network will support
c. the geographic scope is not an important consideration
d. a baseline of current operations is not important
e. the rate of growth of network traffic is not an issue
Answer: b, Easy, p. 341
15. Gaining an understanding of the current application system and messages provides a _________ against which future design requirements can be gauged.
a. backplane
b. baseline
c. turnpike document
d. wish list
e. RFP
Answer: b, Easy, p. 341
16. The goal of the needs analysis step is to produce a ___________, or a statement of the network elements necessary to meet the needs of the organization.
a. building block
b. access layer
c. core layer
d. cost assessment
e. logical network design
Answer: e, Easy, p. 341
17. Which of the following is not a conceptual part, or layer, of the geographic scope of the network?
a. core layer
b. application layer
c. access layer
d. distribution layer
e. the layer that connects the different distribution layers to each other
Answer: b, Moderate, p. 341-342
18. Which of the following is not a basic level of the geographic scope of the network?
a. local area network
b. focused area network
c. backbone network
d. metropolitan area network
e. wide area network
Answer: b, Moderate; p. 341-342
19. Which of the following would not be collected by a designer, working in the needs analysis phase, who was documenting general information and characteristics of the environment in which the network must operate?
a. local laws that could affect the network
b. international laws that could affect the network
c. federal laws that could affect the network
d. building codes that could affect the network
e. traffic laws that could affect the network
Answer: e, Moderate, p. 342
20. __________ is not an important consideration when network designers review old and new applications.
a. Reviewing the NFL scores
b. Reviewing the organization’s possible changes in product mix
c. Understanding the organization’s strategic plans
d. Understanding development plans for new uses of electronic commerce
e. Reviewing the organization’s projections of sales
Answer: a, Easy; p. 342-343
21. Which of the following is not an example of identifying protocols that are needed to support hardware and software requirements of applications that will use the network?
a. an application will use HTTP over TCP/IP
b. an application will run on an IBM mainframe and so the network will require SNA traffic
c. an application will need a gateway to translate SNA traffic into TCP/IP protocols
d. an application will use SPX/IPX with a Novell file server
e. an application will have drop down menu choices
Answer: e, Easy, p. 342-343
22. Which of the following is not a way in which network requirements, identified in the needs analysis of the network design process, are organized?
a. non-necessary requirements
b. wish list requirements
c. desirable requirements
d. mandatory requirements
e. none of the above is an appropriate answer
Answer: a, Easy; p. 344
23. Which of the following is not included in the key deliverable for the needs assessment stage, the set of logical network diagrams?
a. applications of the proposed network
b. servers in the proposed network
c. circuits in the proposed network
d. specific routers that have been chosen to implement the proposed network
e. clients in the proposed network
Answer: d, Moderate, p. 344
24. Which of the following is not an example of a building block used in technology design?
a. typical application
b. typical user
c. high traffic application
d. standard network circuit
e. specifications for a particular lighting fixture in the network operating center
Answer: e, Easy, p. 346
25. Once the needs have been defined in the logical network design, the next step is to develop a(n) __________.
a. application
b. baseline
c. physical network design
d. turnpike design
e. backplane design
Answer: c, Easy, p. 348
26. Which of the following would not be a type of protocol that needs to be considered in technology design?
a. Ethernet
b. 10 Mbps
c. TCP/IP
d. ATM
e. SNA
Answer: b, Easy, p. 346
27. Estimating the size and type of the “standard” and “advanced” network circuits is called _________.
a. needs categorization
b. turnpike design
c. cost assessment
d. capacity planning
e. soliciting RFPs
Answer: d, Easy, p. 346
28. Which of the following would not be a type of circuit capacity that needs to be considered in technology design?
a. 1000 Mbps
b. Ethernet
c. 10 Mbps
d. 100 Mbps
e. 1 Gbps
Answer: b, Easy, p. 346
29. In the technology design stage of network design,
a. the fundamental technology/protocols to be chosen have no relationship with the circuit capacity
b. the decision for fundamental technology/protocols can be made without considering circuit capacity
c. the decision for circuit capacity can be made without considering fundamental technology/protocols
d. the decisions for fundamental technology/protocols and circuit capacity are interrelated
e. the decision for fundamental technology/protocols and/or circuit capacities is not made at this stage
Answer: d, Moderate, p. 346-348
30. ___________ refers to the amount of data transmitted on a circuit.
a. Circuit loading
b. Leading edge deployment
c. Capacity planning
d. Calculating message volumes
e. Requirements documentation
Answer: a, Easy, p. 346
31. __________ is an estimate of the highest data volume on a link.
a. Data mode
b. Backplane load
c. Peak circuit traffic
d. Leading edge data flow
e. Circuit transfer
Answer: c, Easy, p. 346
32. To establish circuit loading, the designer usually starts with the:
a. total characters transmitted per day on each circuit, or, if possible, the number of characters transmitted per two-second intervals if peaks must be met
b. individual user training
c. bus diameter, disk cache that is used at the server station
d. channel bandwidth and baud rate used at each client
e. local, trunk, IXC, DDD, and leased-line circuit bandwidth for each node
Answer: a, Moderate, p. 346
33. According to one rule of thumb, ______ percent of circuit loading information is easy to gather.
a. 50
b. 25
c. 80
d. 19
e. 20
Answer: c, Easy, p. 346
34. A _________ results when a network is used to a greater extent than was originally anticipated by the network designer.
a. leading edge data flow
b. circuit load
c. turnpike effect
d. protocol volume
e. capacity plan
Answer: c, Moderate; p. 346
35. There are some network modeling tools that can ________ the existing network.
a. discover
b. disassemble
c. sensitize
d. maintain
e. implement
Answer: a, Moderate, p. 347
36. ________ is used to model the behavior of the planned communication network once the proposed network map is complete.
a. Implementation
b. Post-implementation review
c. Documentation
d. Simulation
e. Training users
Answer: d, Moderate; p. 347
37. Which of the following are not costs that are generally considered during the cost assessment stage of the network design process?
a. cost of advertising brochures for new products to be offered by an organization
b. internetworking devices cost
c. network management costs
d. circuit costs
e. software costs for network operating system
Answer: a, Moderate; p. 349
38. Which of the following is not a main item for which network designers estimate costs for the proposed network?
a. software
b. hardware
c. purchasing and installing circuits
d. ergonomic chairs for users
e. circuits provided by common carriers
Answer: d, Easy, p. 349
39. To estimate costs for large network purchases, organizations often:
a. purchase all network purchases ‘off the shelf’
b. obtain ‘book value’ information for the existing network from the accounting department
c. ask other users what they paid for their network bought in the past
d. multiply old network costs by a factor of 3
e. issue an RFP to vendors
Answer: e, Moderate, p. 349
40. RFP stands for:
a. Request for Proposal
b. Ring Fault Path
c. Routing File Protocol
d. Record Facsimile Program
e. Redundant File Protocol
Answer: a, Easy; p. 349
41. Estimating the cost of a network is ______ complex than estimating the cost of one new piece of data processing hardware.
a. much more
b. much less
c. about the same
d. exactly the same
e. a little more
Answer: a, Easy; p. 349
42. Which of the following is a way to sell the network proposal to management?
a. talk about upgrades from 10Mbps to 100Mbps
b. give many details about using routers vs. gateways for a particular connection
c. concentrate on a discussion about token ring vs. Ethernet protocol
d. focus on network reliability
e. discuss SNA architecture
Answer: d, Easy, p. 350-351
43. Which of the following is not a key deliverable for the cost assessment step?
a. RFP
b. list of wish list requirements
c. revised physical network diagram
d. business case, defined in business objectives and business language, that supports the network design
e. none of the above is an appropriate choice
Answer: b, Easy; p. 351
44. The physical network diagram is done:
a. before the vendors are selected
b. before the RFP is sent out
c. after the RFP is sent out, but before the vendors are selected
d. after the vendors are selected
e. after the network has been implemented
Answer: d, Easy, p. 351
Short Answer Questions
1. What is a RFP and why do companies use them?
Answer: A request for proposal is a way that organizations can get vendors to provide their best prices for specific equipment, software, and/or services. These products and/or services often cannot be purchased “off the shelf”, so organizations cannot go to a retail store to comparison shop. By permitting vendors to compete, organizations can find out the cost of products and services for which pricing is not readily available. Once all vendors have submitted their proposals, the organization evaluates them against predetermined criteria and selects the winner(s).
2. What is a network baseline and when is it established?
Answer: A network baseline is part of the needs analysis. At this step, it is important to gain an understanding of the current operations (applications and messages). Future design requirements can be compared to this baseline.
The designers must review the list of applications that will use the network and identify the location of each.
3. Why is it important to analyze needs in terms of both applications and users?
Answer: In the past, application systems accounted for the majority of network traffic. Today, much network traffic is produced by the discretionary use of the Internet by users. In order to understand how a network will grow and change, network designers need to assess the number and type of users that will generate and receive network traffic and identify their location on the emerging network diagram.
It is important to understand current applications and proposed changes to the organization’s applications.
4. What issues are important to consider when explaining a network design to senior management?
Answer: The key to gaining senior management acceptance lies in speaking their language (cost, network growth, and reliability). Using ‘jargon’ will not be effective. Tying the technical needs to business goals and using business language will be far more compelling.
5. What is the turnpike effect and why is it important in network design?
Answer: The turnpike effect results when the network is used to a greater extent than was anticipated because it is available, is very efficient, and provides new services.
6. Under what circumstances would the use of the building block approach be less appropriate than the “traditional” approach to network design?
Answer: The use of the building block approach would be less appropriate than the “traditional” approach to network design for those applications for which hardware or network circuits are unusually expensive (e.g., WANs that cover long distances through many different countries).
7. What are the three major steps in current network design?
Answer: Needs analysis (the designer attempts to understand the fundamental current and future network needs of the various users, departments, and applications; Technology Design (the designer examines the available technologies and assesses which options will meet the users’ needs); and, Cost Assessment (the relative costs of the network are considered).
8. How can a network design tool help in network design?
Answer: Some network tools help the designers “discover” the existing network so that they can document the current network very well. Then, the user can change it to reflect a new design. A tool like this is most helpful when the network that is being designed is an upgrade to an existing network, and when the network is very complex.