What is the network?

According to Merriam-Webster, Network is usually an informally interconnected group or association of different entities like a person, computers, radio stations, etc.

Why is the computer network so important?

Have you ever heard of the Internet or the NET? I guess you have, as you are already reading this article on Interviewbit surfing the internet. But, have you ever thought about the internet? The Internet is a network of a network connecting all different network-enabled devices which enable data and information sharing between them and that makes computer networks a core part of our life and technical interviews..

What is the network topology?

Network topology is a physical layout of the network, connecting the different nodes using the links. It depicts the connectivity between the computers, devices, cables, etc.

What is the SMTP protocol?

SMTP is the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol. SMTP sets the rule for communication between servers. This set of rules helps the software to transmit emails over the internet. It supports both End-to-End and Store-and-Forward methods.

What is the DNS?

DNS is the Domain Name System. It is considered as the devices/services directory of the Internet. It is a decentralized and hierarchical naming system for devices/services connected to the Internet. It translates the domain names to their corresponding IPs.

What is the TCP protocol?

TCP or TCP/IP is the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. It is a set of rules that decides how a computer connects to the Internet and how to transmit the data over the network. It creates a virtual network when more than one computer is connected to the network and uses the three ways handshake model to establish the connection which makes it more reliable.

What is the UDP protocol?

UDP is the User Datagram Protocol and is based on Datagrams. Mainly, it is used for multicasting and broadcasting. Its functionality is almost the same as TCP/IP Protocol except for the three ways of handshaking and error checking. It uses a simple transmission without any hand-shaking which makes it less reliable.

What is the ICMP protocol?

ICMP is the Internet Control Message Protocol. It is a network layer protocol used for error handling. It is mainly used by network devices like routers for diagnosing the network connection issues and crucial for error reporting and testing if the data is reaching the preferred destination in time. It uses port 7 by default.

What is the ARP protocol?

ARP is Address Resolution Protocol. It is a network-level protocol used to convert the logical address i.e. IP address to the device's physical address i.e. MAC address. It can also be used to get the MAC address of devices when they are trying to communicate over the local network.