UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS: 2018/2019
EXAMINATION FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTERS OF SCIENCE IN
DATA COMMUNICATIONS
MDC6101 COMPUTER NETWORKS
ORDINARY EXAMINATIONS
DATE: AUGUST, 2019 TIME: 2 HOURS
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer Question One & ANY OTHER TWO questions.
QUESTION ONE (20 MARKS)
(a) A variety of devices are used in networking and internetworking. Give any TWO clear
differences in each of the following pairs. (6 Marks)
(b) Use simple illustrations to compare and contrast the circuit switched and packet switched
networks. (4 Marks)
(c) Briefly explain how the Domain Name Service (DNS) is implemented and how DNS
queries are resolved in the DNS system. (5 Marks)
(d) Explain how FDDI network works. (5 Marks)
QUESTION TWO (15 MARKS)
(a) Use a diagram to describe the OSI seven-layer model by indicating a specific function of
each layer. (7 Marks)
(b) Differentiate between Distance Vector Routing Protocol and Link State Routing Protocol.
(8 Marks)
QUESTION THREE (15 MARKS)
(a) Contrast the OSI model with the TCP/IP reference model using a diagram show the
correspondence between relevant protocol layers in the two models. (3 Marks)
(b) Discuss the relative merits of each of these models in the context of modern computer
networking. (5 Marks)
(c) A company is granted a site address 201.70.64.0. The company needs six subnets. Design
the subnets. (7 Marks)
QUESTION FOUR (15 MARKS)
(a) Compare and contrast Client-server and peer-to-peer network, and suggest suitable uses
of each. (5 Marks)
(b) Discuss the issues and solutions related to the interworking of IPv6 and IPv4.
(6 Marks)
(c) Explain how ISDN works. (4 Marks)
