Computer Networks Interview Subcategories

Experienced	Freshers
Computer Networks Interview	Campus Interviews

The receiver of the data controls the amount of data that are to be sent by the sender is referred to as ___________

A. Flow control
B. Error control
C. Congestion control
D. Error detection

Explanation: Flow control is done to prevent the receiver from being overflowed with data. It is done using various open-loop (prevention) methods and closed-loop (recovery) methods.

Size of TCP segment header ranges between ___________

A. 16 and 32 bytes
B. 16 and 32 bits
C. 20 and 60 bytes
D. 20 and 60 bits

Explanation: The size of the header can be 20 bytes at a minimum if there are no options and can go up to 60 bytes at maximum with 40 bytes in the options field. The header contains all the control information required to ensure ordered, error-free and reliable delivery of the segment.

Connection establishment in TCP is done by which mechanism?

A. Flow control
B. Three-way handshaking
C. Forwarding
D. Synchronization

Explanation: A three-way handshake allows both, the server and the client to choose their Initial Sequence Number and inform about it to the other party. This won’t be possible using the two-way handshake mechanism.

The server program tells its TCP that it is ready to accept a connection. This process is called ___________

A. Active open
B. Active close
C. Passive close
D. Passive open

Explanation: This is the first step in the Three-Way Handshaking process and is started by the server. Then the Client picks an ISN (Initial Sequence Number) and synchronizes (shares) it with the Server requesting a connection. The Server acknowledges the clients ISN, and then picks an ISN and synchronizes it with the Client. At last, the Client acknowledges the servers ISN.

A client that wishes to connect to an open server tells its TCP that it needs to be connected to that particular server. The process is called ___________

A. Active open
B. Active close
C. Passive close
D. Passive open

Explanation: This is the second step in the Three-Way Handshaking process and is done by the client once it finds the open server and picks an ISN. The Server acknowledges the clients request, and then picks an ISN and synchronizes it with the Client. At last, the Client acknowledges the servers ISN.

In Three-Way Handshaking process, the situation where both the TCP’s issue an active open is ___________

A. Mutual open
B. Mutual close
C. Simultaneous open
D. Simultaneous close

Explanation: In simultaneous open situation, two nodes send an SYN signal to each other and start a TCP connection. Here, both TCP nodes transmit a SYNC+ACK segment to each other and a connection is established between them. This doesn’t happen usually, because both sides have to know which port on the other side to send to.

A malicious attacker sends a large number of SYNC segments to a server, pretending that each of them is coming from a different client by faking the source IP address in the datagram. Which type of attack is being performed in this situation?

A. Sync flooding attack
B. Active attack
C. Passive attack
D. Denial-of-service attack

Explanation: SYNC flooding attack is a form of Denial of Service attack. Due to the overflow of SYNC segments sent to the server, the victims are not able to request for a connection to the server, thus resulting in Denial of Service.

SYNC flooding attack belongs to a type of security attack known as ___________

A. Sync flooding attack
B. Active attack
C. Passive attack
D. Denial-of-service attack

Explanation: During SYNC flooding the system collapses and denies service to every request, making it a DoS attack. Some other DoS attacks are bandwidth flooding, connection flooding and UDP flooding.

The sizes of source and destination port address in TCP header are ___________ respectively.

A. 16-bits and 32-bits
B. 16-bits and 16-bits
C. 32-bits and 16-bits
D. 32-bits and 32-bits

Explanation: All port addresses are of 16 bits and they specify the type of service being used by the network entity. For example, port 21 is used for FTP connections and port 25 is used for ICMP connections.

What allows TCP to detect lost segments and in turn recover from that loss?

A. Sequence number
B. Acknowledgment number
C. Checksum
D. Both sequence & acknowledgment number

Explanation: TCP header contains separate fields for sequence number and acknowledgment number. Comparing these values is what allows TCP to detect lost segments and in turn recover from that loss. After detecting the lost segments, the recovery may require retransmission of the lost segments of data.