Distributed Systems
Midterm Exam
Course Introduction
This course provides an in-depth introduction to distributed systems, exploring the principles, architectures, and algorithms that underpin the design of scalable, reliable networks of computers. Topics covered include interprocess communication, synchronization, distributed file systems, consistency models, fault tolerance, security, and emerging trends such as cloud computing and blockchain. Students will gain practical experience through programming assignments and case studies of real-world distributed systems, preparing them to tackle challenges in modern networked environments.
Recommended Textbook
Data and Computer Communications 10th Edition by William Stallings
Available Study Resources on Quizplus
24 Chapters
1079 Verified Questions
1079 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/study-set/3953 Page 2
Chapter 1: Data Communications, data Networks,
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78892
Sample Questions
Q1) There are several fundamental differences between data processing and data communications.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q2) The rapid conversion of consumer electronics to digital technology is having an impact on both the Internet and corporate intranets.Two examples of this trend are
A)server farms and DVDs
B)power workgroups and server farms
C)DVDs and CD-ROMs
D)digital versatile disks and digital still cameras
Answer: D
Q3) There is a potential for error in all communication systems,therefore,_________ and correction are required in circumstances where errors cannot be tolerated.
Answer: error detection
Q4) ________ networks provide advantages in the areas of mobility and ease of installation and configuration.
Answer: Wireless
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 3
Chapter 2: Protocol Architecture, tcpip, and
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78891
Sample Questions
Q1) Distributed data communications can be said to involve three agents: applications,computers,and networks.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q2) Each application on a computer has an address that is unique within that computer known as ________ or ports that allow the transport layer to support multiple applications at each computer.
Answer: Service Access Points (SAPs)
Q3) Each protocol provides a set of rules for the exchange of data between systems.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Q4) Procedures needed to allow data to traverse multiple interconnected networks is found in the internet layer of the TCP/IP protocol architecture.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 4
Chapter 3: Data Transmission
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78890
Sample Questions
Q1) In ________ transmission signals are transmitted in only one direction; one station is the transmitter and the other is the receiver.
A)half duplex
B)simplex
C)full duplex
D)multipoint
Answer: B
Q2) In full-duplex operation both stations may transmit,but only one at a time.
A)True
B)False Answer: False
Q3) The sine wave is the fundamental aperiodic signal.
A)True
B)False
Answer: False
Q4) The greater the bandwidth of the signal the greater its information carrying capacity.
A)True
B)False
Answer: True
Page 5
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 4: Transmission Media
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78889
Sample Questions
Q1) The two different types of light source used in fiber optic systems are the ________.
A)single mode and the multimode
B)LID and the DEL
C)TIR and the GIM
D)light-emitting diode and the injection laser diode
Q2) Used for amateur radio,CB radio,and international broadcasts such as BBC and Voice of America,________ propagation is a signal from an earth based antenna reflected from the ionosphere back down to earth.
Q3) Microwave is used in cellular systems.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Typically used for long distance applications,________ propagation provides superior performance because there is a single transmission path.
A)single-mode
B)direct-line mode
C)step-index multimode
D)graded-index multimode
Q5) A thin,flexible medium capable of guiding an optical ray is an ________.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 6
Chapter 5: Signal Encoding Techniques
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78888
Sample Questions
Q1) In ________ the phase of the carrier signal is shifted to represent data.
A)MFSK
B)ASK
C)FSK
D)PSK
Q2) There are two important parameters in a delta modulation scheme: the size of the step assigned to each binary digit and the ________ rate.
Q3) The process of converting analog data into digital data is known as ________.
Q4) Frequency modulation and phase modulation are special cases of ________ modulation.
A)PM
B)FM
C)angle
D)amplitude
Q5) The ________ rate,expressed in baud,is the rate at which the signal level is changed.
Q6) Amplitude shift keying is less susceptible to error than binary frequency shift keying.
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 7
Chapter 6: Error Detection and Correction
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78887
Sample Questions
Q1) Error detection found in data link control protocols such as HDLC is not a useful technique.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The use of coding allows a reduction,referred to as the ________,and defined as the reduction in decibels to achieve a specified BER of an error correcting coded system compared to an uncoded system using the same modulation.
A)code rate
B)fixed coding
C)coding gain
D)block code
Q3) Modulo 2 arithmetic uses binary addition with no carries,which is just the exclusive-OR (XOR)operation.
A)True
B)False
Q4) Forward error correction schemes are frequently used in __________ transmission, where retransmission schemes are highly inefficient and error rates may be high.
Q5) The ratio of redundant bits to data bits is called the ________ of the code.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 8
Chapter 7: Data Link Control Protocols
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78886
Sample Questions
Q1) Most data link control protocols allow a station to cut off the flow of frames from the other side by sending a ________ message,which acknowledges former frames but forbids transfer of future frames.
Q2) Synchronization and interfacing techniques are sufficient by themselves.
A)True
B)False
Q3) HDLC uses asynchronous transmission.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The sending station must not send frames at a rate faster than the receiving stations can absorb them.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In the high level data link control frame structure the flag,address,and control fields that precede the information field are known as a ________.
A)header
B)trailer
C)FAC
D)ARQ
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 9
Chapter 8: Multiplexing
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78885
Sample Questions
Q1) A generic term for sharing the capacity of a data link is ________.
Q2) In ________ modulation,each signal occupies a distinct frequency band so these signals can be combined by simple addition to produce the composite signal for transmission.
Q3) With ________ multiplexing a number of signals are carried simultaneously on the same medium by allocating to each signal a different frequency band.
Q4) The disadvantage of using echo cancellation is the need for ________ logic on both ends of the line.
Q5) From customer to carrier is ________.
A)symmetric
B)upstream
C)downstream
D)asymmetric
Q6) Multiplexing allows several transmission sources to share a larger transmission capacity.
A)True
B)False
Q7) The two most common forms of multiplexing are frequency division multiplexing and
Chapter 9: Wan Technology and Protocols
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78884
Sample Questions
Q1) Circuit switching was developed to handle ________ traffic.
A)voice
B)A/V
C)video
D)data
Q2) Circuit switching connections ________.
A)require manual intervention
B)are opaque
C)require one time automated set up
D)are transparent
Q3) Communication via circuit switching involves three phases: circuit establishment,data transfer and ________.
Q4) The ________ element represents the functions and hardware needed to connect digital devices such as data processing devices and digital telephones to the network.
A)media gateway
B)digital switch
C)control unit
D)network interface
Q5) ________ switching is used in public telephone networks.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 11
Chapter 10: Cellular Wireless Networks
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78883
Sample Questions
Q1) A technique in widespread use in second generation cellular networks is ________.
A)TCMP
B)CDMA
C)3G
D)HTTP
Q2) One of the most widely used models to develop guidelines for cell size was developed by ________.
A)Bellman-Ford
B)Jacobson
C)Dijkstra
D)Okumura/Hata
Q3) The ________ connects calls between mobile units,makes connections between a fixed subscriber to the public network and a mobile subscriber to the cellular network,assigns the voice channel to each call,performs handoffs,and monitors the call for billing information.
Q4) The number of cells in a repetitious pattern,(each cell in the pattern uses a unique band of frequencies),is termed the ________.
Q5) The key technology for 4G systems is ________.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 12
Chapter 11: Local Area Network Overview
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78882
Sample Questions
Q1) WANs have much greater capacity than LANs to carry what is generally a greater internal communications load.
A)True
B)False
Q2) One simple approach to improving efficiency is to physically partition the LAN into separate broadcast domains.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In the ________ all stations attach directly to a linear transmission medium.A transmission from any station propagates the length of the medium in both directions and can be received by all other stations.
A)backend network
B)bus topology
C)tree topology
D)medium access link
Q4) Transmission is generally in the form of frames when using a ring topology.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The tree layout begins at a point known as the ________.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 13
Chapter 12: Ethernet
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78881
Sample Questions
Q1) One of the rules for CSMA/CD states,"after transmitting the jamming signal,wait a random amount of time,then attempt to transmit again".This random amount of time is referred to as the ________.
A)precursor
B)backlog
C)carrier time
D)backoff
Q2) For shared medium hub operation there are two enhancements to the basic CSMA/CD scheme: carrier extension and ________.
Q3) With ________,a station wishing to transmit first listens to the medium to determine if another transmission is in progress.If the medium is in use,the station must wait.If the medium is idle,the station may transmit.
A)ALOHA
B)transmission backlog delay
C)Ethernet
D)CSMA
Q4) With full-duplex operation a station can transmit and receive simultaneously.
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 14
Chapter 13: Wireless Lans
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78880
Sample Questions
Q1) The three MAC frame types are control frames,data frames,and ________ frames.
Q2) In the IEEE 802 physical layer frame format the ________ field enables the receiver to acquire an incoming OFDM signal and synchronize the demodulator.
Q3) A user module acts as an interface to a wireless LAN..
A)True
B)False
Q4) The IEEE 802.11 standards do not include a specification of speed versus distance objectives.
A)True
B)False
Q5) Important characteristics of Barker sequences are their robustness against interference and their insensitivity to multipath propagation.
A)True
B)False
Q6) Enabling an employee returning from a trip to transfer data from a personal portable computer to a server in the office is an example of Nomadic access.
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 15
Chapter 14: The Internet Protocol
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78879
Sample Questions
Q1) A hop-by-hop option that is used to send IPv6 packets with payloads longer than 65,535 octets is ________.
A)PAD1
B)fragmentation
C)jumbo payload
D)PADN
Q2) A protocol is concerned with exchanging data between two entities.
A)True
B)False
Q3) A connectionless internet service is not good for connectionless transport protocols because it imposes unnecessary overhead.
A)True
B)False
Q4) In 1994 the Internet Architecture Board issued a report titled "Security in the Internet Architecture" that stated that the general consensus was that the Internet was secure and there were no areas of security concern.
A)True
B)False
Q5) IPv6 addresses are ________ bits in length.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 16
Chapter 15: Transport Protocols
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78878
Sample Questions
Q1) The receiver needs to adopt some policy concerning the amount of data it permits the sender to transmit.
A)True
B)False
Q2) An internetwork using IP is an example of a reliable network service.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The TS user can signal to the local TCP entity that it will passively wait for a request with a ________ command.A server program such as time-sharing or a file transfer application might do this.
Q4) As with IP,the services provided by TCP are defined in terms of primitives and parameters.
A)True
B)False
Q5) In addition to data each transmitted segment includes in its header three fields related to flow control: acknowledgment number,window,and ________.
Q6) A credit scheme is a more effective scheme with an unreliable network service. A)True B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 17
Chapter 16: Advanced Data Communications Topics
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
44 Verified Questions
44 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78877
Sample Questions
Q1) With __________ codes,data are processed in chunks of m bits,called symbols.
A)FEC
B)systematic
C)Reed-Solomon
D)all of the above
Q2) ___________ rule demonstrates that both FM and PM require greater bandwidth than AM.
A)Reed's
B)Carson's
C)Chaudhuri's
D)Solomon's
Q3) __________ is a basic characteristic of a signal used for modulation.
A)Frequency
B)Amplitude
C)Phase
D)All of the above
Q4) The spectrum of the AM signal consists of the original carrier plus the spectrum of the input signal translated to f<sub>c</sub>.
A)True
B)False
Page 18
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 17: Wireless Transmission Techniques
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78876
Sample Questions
Q1) MU-MIMO techniques are used in both Wi-Fi and 4G cellular networks.
A)True
B)False
Q2) With __________ ,each bit in the original signal is represented by multiple bits in the transmitted signal,using a spreading code.
A)IFFT
B)DSSS
C)CDMA
D)FHSS
Q3) __________ extends the basic MIMO concept to multiple endpoints,each with multiple antennas.
Q4) With __________ the same data is coded and transmitted through multiple antennas.
A)spatial multiplexing
B)CDMA
C)spatial diversity
D)SC-FDMA
Q5) _________ antenna architecture has become a key technology in evolving high-speed wireless networks,including IEEE 802.11 Wi-Fi LANs and WiMAX.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 19
Chapter 19: Routing
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78875
Sample Questions
Q1) Due to the large amounts of bandwidth available on modem networks,processing and transmission overhead is a management issue and does not impair network efficiency.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Because the least-cost criterion is more flexible,it is more common than the minimum-hop criterion.
A)True
B)False
Q3) The second generation routing algorithm recomputes its routing table using________ algorithm when new information arrives.
Q4) With ________,routing decisions that are made change as conditions on the network change.
A)fixed routing
B)flooding
C)adaptive routing
D)random routing
Q5) The ________ function seeks to design routes through the network for individual pairs of communicating end nodes so that the network is used efficiently.
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 20
Chapter 20: Congestion Control
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78874
Sample Questions
Q1) With the ________ approach a bit is set in a data packet as it is forwarded by the congested node.
A)forward
B)binary
C)credit based
D)rate based
Q2) Typically,_______ congestion control techniques operate over connection-oriented networks and control the flow of packets over individual connections.
Q3) Congestion is only a critical problem for certain types of switched data networks.
A)True
B)False
Q4) _________ occurs when the number of packets being transmitted through a network begins to approach the packet-handling capacity of the network.
Q5) A _________ empties at a constant rate while the bucket is not empty and fills at a rate dictated by the input stream up to the capacity of the bucket.
Q6) ________ algorithm addresses RTT variance estimation.
Q7) The ________ scheme provides the input parameters to a policing function.
21
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 21: Internetwork Operation
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78873
Sample Questions
Q1) The OpenFlow protocol supports ____________ messages.
A)controller-to-switch
B)asynchronous
C)symmetric
D)all of the above
Q2) The SDN controller defines the data flows that occur in the SDN data plane.
A)True
B)False
Q3) In multicasting only a single copy of the packet is ever transmitted.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The current version of IGMP defines two message types: Membership Query and ________ .
Q5) ________ is a reason for using SDN domains.
A)Scalability
B)Privacy
C)Incremental deployment
D)All of the above
Q6) A ________ query is used to learn if a particular group has any members on an attached network.
Page 22
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 22: Internetwork Quality of Service
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78872
Sample Questions
Q1) Addresses that refer to a group of hosts on one or more networks are referred to as
A)distributed addresses
B)broadcast addresses
C)unicast addresses
D)multicast addresses
Q2) With ________ queuing each incoming packet is placed in a queue for its flow and serviced in a round robin fashion,taking one packet from each nonempty queue in turn.
A)FIFO
B)WFQ
C)simple fair
D)guaranteed
Q3) The guaranteed service is the most demanding service provided by ISA.
A)True
B)False
Q4) The routers in an internet are responsible for receiving and forwarding packets through the interconnected set of networks.
A)True
B)False
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 23
Chapter 23: Multiprotocol Label Switching
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78871
Sample Questions
Q1) MPLS is an enhancement that does not require an upgrade to IP routers to support its features.
A)True
B)False
Q2) Effective use of traffic engineering can substantially increase usable network capacity.
A)True
B)False
Q3) ________ focuses on the architecture and techniques for constraint-based path computation.
A)CCAMP
B)PCE
C)12vpn
D)Pwe3
Q4) Each label switching router builds a table,called a ________,to specify how a packet must be treated and forwarded.
A)LIB
B)LSP
C)ECN
D)FEC
Page 24
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.
Chapter 24: Electronic Mail, dns, and Http
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78870
Sample Questions
Q1) _______ are server programs that hold information about a portion of the domain name tree structure and the associated RRs.
A)MIME
B)Name servers
C)DNS databases
D)Domain name space
Q2) Typically,the ________ function is housed in the user's computer and is referred to as a client e-mail program or a local network e-mail server.
A)MDA
B)MHS
C)MUA
D)MTA
Q3) The ________ takes messages from the outgoing mail queue and transmits them to the proper destination host via SMTP transactions over one or more TCP connections to port 25 on the target hosts.
Q4) POP3 is more complex than IMAP.
A)True
B)False
Q5) The Internet mail architecture is currently defined in RFC _______ .
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above. Page 25
Chapter 25: Internet Multimedia Support
Available Study Resources on Quizplus for this Chatper
45 Verified Questions
45 Flashcards
Source URL: https://quizplus.com/quiz/78869
Sample Questions
Q1) The Payload Type field identifies the media type of the payload and the format of the data,including the use of compression or encryption.
A)True
B)False
Q2) The __________,defined in RFC 3261,is an application level control protocol for setting up,modifying,and terminating real-time sessions between participants over an IP data network.
Q3) RFC 3550 outlines ________ as a function performed by RTCP.
A)QoS and congestion control
B)identification
C)session control
D)all of the above
Q4) SIP is based on an HTTP-like request/response transaction model.
A)True
B)False
Q5) SIP supports five facets of establishing and terminating multimedia communications: user location,user availability,session setup,session management,and
Q6) The term _______ refers to software operating on a PC that implements VoIP.
Page 26
To view all questions and flashcards with answers, click on the resource link above.