AP Computer Science Principles:: Computer Systems Networks

What is a COMPUTER NETWORK?

- **A)** A synonym for a single computer's internal hardware components
- **B)** A group of interconnected computing devices that can communicate with each other and share resources or data
- **C)** A single, standalone computer with no connection to any other device
- **D)** A type of computer program used only for word processing

What is the INTERNET, at a conceptual level relevant to AP CSP?

- **A)** The Internet refers only to devices located within one single building
- **B)** A massive, global NETWORK OF NETWORKS -- countless individual networks around the world interconnected together, allowing devices anywhere to communicate with one another
- **C)** A single, centrally-owned computer that all other devices connect directly to
- **D)** A synonym for a single website

What is a PROTOCOL, in the context of computer networks?

- **A)** A synonym for a physical network cable
- **B)** An agreed-upon set of RULES that define how devices on a network communicate with each other -- covering things like how data should be FORMATTED, TRANSMITTED, and INTERPRETED
- **C)** Protocols are optional and never actually followed by real devices communicating over a network
- **D)** A protocol refers only to the visual design of a website

Why is it essential for devices communicating over the Internet to follow SHARED, STANDARDIZED protocols, rather than each device or company using its own unique, incompatible way of communicating?

- **A)** There is no practical benefit to using shared, standardized network protocols
- **B)** Shared protocols allow devices made by DIFFERENT manufacturers, running DIFFERENT software, to reliably understand and correctly interpret each other's transmitted data, enabling the Internet's massive, diverse ecosystem of interconnected devices to actually work together
- **C)** Standardized protocols make communication between different devices completely impossible
- **D)** Protocols are only relevant to devices manufactured by exactly one specific company

What is IP (Internet Protocol), at a conceptual level?

- **A)** IP is a synonym for a computer's operating system
- **B)** A protocol responsible for ADDRESSING and ROUTING data so it can be correctly directed from a SOURCE device to a specific DESTINATION device across the Internet's network of networks
- **C)** A protocol used only for formatting the visual appearance of a webpage
- **D)** IP refers to a type of computer hardware component

What is an IP ADDRESS?

- **A)** A password used to log into a specific website
- **B)** A synonym for a device's physical location on Earth, such as its GPS coordinates
- **C)** IP addresses are optional and never actually required for a device to communicate on a network
- **D)** A unique numeric identifier assigned to a device on a network, used to correctly direct data to that specific device

What is PACKET SWITCHING, as used for transmitting data across the Internet?

- **A)** Packet switching only applies to sending images, never to text or other data types
- **B)** A synonym for encrypting data before transmission
- **C)** Sending an entire message as a single, unbroken piece of data that must travel along exactly one single predetermined path
- **D)** Breaking a larger message or file into smaller pieces called PACKETS, each sent independently (potentially via different paths through the network) and then REASSEMBLED into the original message at the destination

What is a key ADVANTAGE of PACKET SWITCHING over sending an entire message as one single, unbroken transmission along one fixed path?

- **A)** Packet switching can only be used for messages under 10 characters long
- **B)** Since individual packets can take DIFFERENT paths and be ROUTED AROUND network congestion or failures, packet switching makes more efficient and resilient use of the network compared to relying on one single, fixed, unbroken path for an entire message
- **C)** There is no practical advantage to packet switching over single-path transmission
- **D)** Packet switching always requires significantly MORE total data to be transmitted than sending an unbroken message