COS430 January 2007 exam guide
The examination is open book. This means that you may bring your text book and any other paper reference material into the exam with you. Please be aware that having your text at hand is not a substitute for studying the material within it.
The following outline shows the breakdown of topics covered by question and mark allocation:
q1 – routing tables – 10 marks
q2 – addressing – 10 marks
q3 – tcp – 10 marks
q4 – arp – 10 marks
q5 – icmp – 10 marks
q6 – tcp – 12 marks
q7 – ip subnets (network topology example) – 17 marks
q8 – routing algorithms – 11 marks
q9 – udp/tcp – 10 marks
The questions are all based upon material which is covered in both the 4th and 5th editions of the text. Remember that being an open book exam, you will not be asked to repeat memorized information. In most cases you will be required to engage with the material, for example by performing a calculation or making a comment on a given scenario. So whereas it is important to know where to find the relevant information in your text, a level of understanding is also expected.
Be sure to answer the question that is being asked. In the past we have found students do badly because they try to “swamp� their answer with information gathered from the textbook in the hope that it somehow addresses the requirement of the question. In general this approach does not work. Read the question carefully, attempt to understand exactly what is being asked and then answer accordingly. If you follow this advice and note the topic coverage above, you should not find the examination too difficult.
