Solved Questions - Computer Hardware
1. A school network has several computers.
(a) Complete the binary register for these two pairs of digits.
97: 10010111
5C: 01011100
(b) Describe what is meant by a MAC address.
A MAC (Media Access Control) address is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces for
communications at the data link layer of a network segment. It is used to ensure that data packets
reach the correct destination within a network.
(c) Give two other uses of hexadecimal in computer science.
1. Hexadecimal is used in representing memory addresses.
2. Hexadecimal is used in defining colors in web design (e.g., #FFFFFF for white).
(d) Another value is stored as binary in a register.
(i) Complete the binary register to show its contents after this logical left shift.
Original: 01010010
Shifted: 10100100
(ii) State one effect this logical shift has on the binary value.
A logical left shift multiplies the binary number by 2 for each position it is shifted.
(e) Negative denary numbers can also be represented as binary using two's complement.
Complete the binary register for the denary value -54.
Denary: -54
Binary: 11001010
2. A company has a website that is stored on a web server.
(a) Describe the structure of a data packet.
A data packet consists of three main parts: the header, the payload, and the footer. The header
contains control information such as source and destination addresses. The payload is the actual
data being transmitted. The footer includes error-checking data.
(b) The website hosts videos that users can stream. The company uploads new videos to the
website.
(i) The videos are compressed before they are uploaded to the website.
C Less storage space on the web server is required.
(ii) Give two methods of compression that could be used to compress the videos.
1. Lossy compression
2. Lossless compression
(iii) The company uses parallel half-duplex data transmission to transmit the data for the new videos
to the web server.
Explain why parallel half-duplex data transmission is the most appropriate method.
Parallel half-duplex data transmission allows multiple bits to be transmitted simultaneously,
increasing the data transfer rate. It is suitable for large file uploads like videos because it can handle
higher volumes of data efficiently.
(c) The company is concerned about a distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack.
(i) Describe what is meant by a DDoS attack.
A DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack is an attempt to make an online service unavailable by
overwhelming it with a flood of internet traffic from multiple sources, causing disruption or shutdown
of the service.
(ii) Suggest one security device that can be used to help prevent a DDoS attack.
A firewall can be used to help prevent a DDoS attack by filtering out malicious traffic and blocking
unauthorized access.
3. A web server has an internet protocol (IP) address.
(a) (i) Give three characteristics of an IP address.
1. An IP address is a unique identifier for a device on a network.
2. It consists of four sets of numbers separated by periods (IPv4) or eight groups of four
hexadecimal digits (IPv6).
3. It can be static (permanently assigned) or dynamic (temporarily assigned).
(ii) Identify the network component that uses the IP address to send data only to its correct
destination.
A router uses the IP address to send data to its correct destination.
(b) The website has a uniform resource locator (URL). An example of a URL is given.
Complete the table to identify the name of each section of the URL.
URL section Name
https Protocol
cambridgeassessment.org.uk Domain name
/index.html Path
4. A computer has a Von Neumann architecture.
(a) Circle three components that are part of the central processing unit (CPU) in this computer.