Circuit Switching, Packet Switching (Cambridge (CIE) A Level Computer Science): Exam Questions

Describe how packet switching is used to transmit messages across a network.

State two benefits and two drawbacks of packet switching as a method of transmitting messages across a network.

Benefit 1

Benefit 2

Drawback 1

Drawback 2

Before a message is sent across the internet it is divided into packets. A header is attached to each packet.

State two items of information that are held in a packet header.

A user attaches a large document to an email and sends it to a colleague in another country.

Describe how the sending computer turns the document into packets and sends them.

A user downloads a large video file from a server. Part way through the download, one of the routes being used between the server and the user stops working.

The video file still arrives complete and in the correct order.

Explain how this is possible.

A company sets up a link between its two offices for live video meetings. The link must carry continuous picture and sound in both directions for as long as a meeting lasts.

State which switching method is more suitable for this link, and give one reason for your answer.

A network engineer is explaining to a new colleague that circuit switching and packet switching handle a message in different ways.

Give three differences between circuit switching and packet switching.

Each night a company copies a very large archive file from one of its sites to another. The file is not viewed or used while it is being copied.

The connection between the two sites is shared with other traffic at the same time, and one of the routes between the sites fails occasionally.

Explain why packet switching is a better choice than circuit switching for this transfer.