Need some input...

jlambert

Ok I got into a debate with my teacher about this and he seems to not agree with me and I would like to know what people in the industry would think rather than a teacher reading out of a book.

The question is multiple choice...

Which of the following networking topologies is fault intolerant?
a. Star
b. Ring
c. Bus
d. None

I believe that this question cannot be answered because it does not give the option that more than one answer is write and in fact all 3 of them are fault intolerant and d. should read "All of the above". I told him the only topology I would consider fault tolerant is Mesh due to its many many ways of accessing one thing, but my teacher says that if you cut a cable in the mesh you are no longer able to access that info. I say thats the point in a mesh, so that if your cable breaks there is always another way to what you need. Please reassure me that I know what I'm talking about and that this question is indeed poorly written.

Webmaster

Not a very 'good' question indeed.

I say thats the point in a mesh, so that if your cable breaks there is always another way to what you need.

Depends on what you are connecting in a mesh, if you connect routers in a mesh (for example using PVCs between all connections in Frame Relay network/cloud) than, typically, you are correct. A mesh topology is not always implemented to provide fault tolerance, it's also done to assure every two nodes have a direct path.

Also, a ring, in the context of FDDI, provides fault tolerance. So does a Token Ring ring to a certain extent (if one host on a MSAU fails the port can be bypassed so the ring doesn't break.)

The question would be indeed "which is fault tolerant?" and than obviously the answer would be mesh, certainly on a Network+ level.

jlambert

thank you for the reply. I understand the topologies I just wrote the post kind of quick since it was close to the end of class. I still received credit because I wrote a paragraph explaining my answer and stating that the question should have read "Which of the following networking topologies is most fault intolerant?".

on a side note, I'm using exam cram 2 to do my Network+ studying and plan to take the test in a month or so.

ajs1976

jlambert wrote:

Ok I got into a debate with my teacher about this and he seems to not agree with me and I would like to know what people in the industry would think rather than a teacher reading out of a book.

The question is multiple choice...

Which of the following networking topologies is fault intolerant?
a. Star
b. Ring
c. Bus
d. None

I believe that this question cannot be answered because it does not give the option that more than one answer is write and in fact all 3 of them are fault intolerant and d. should read "All of the above". I told him the only topology I would consider fault tolerant is Mesh due to its many many ways of accessing one thing, but my teacher says that if you cut a cable in the mesh you are no longer able to access that info. I say thats the point in a mesh, so that if your cable breaks there is always another way to what you need. Please reassure me that I know what I'm talking about and that this question is indeed poorly written.

I agree with what you are saying about Mess. If I saw this question on the exam I would have a hard time picking between None and Star. It depends on what you want to be fault tolerant. In a plain Ring or Bus if there is a break in the cable, the network itself doesn't work anymore. In Star, if a cable break occurs, that network itself should not go down, only on node should loss connection.

What does the auther of the question say is the right answer?

nethersdenizen

Your exam cram book will be fine for passing the test if you are taking classes. I've used them a couple of times and were fine, infact it went a little too indepth to pass the test I've also used dummies book to pass a test before and it was enough but left a lot of stuff out stick with exam cram if you need to review things for the test and get a real book or classes if you need to really learn something. I didn't use any book to pass network+ because I took a class about it a couple years ago and have a fair amount of experiance.

Good luck on the test and I don't have any real tips on trick questions because I didn't see any on mine.

jlambert

What does the auther of the question say is the right answer?

Ring

Good luck on the test and I don't have any real tips on trick questions because I didn't see any on mine.

Thx, its good to know I got a good book and that the real test isnt poorly written.

cheeblie

Wow! That author is clueless. Ring is the least fault-tolerant of anything, well next to a linear bus. Your teacher really needs to do some learning himself, as that is pretty bad.

Cheeblie

jlambert

lmao, that made my day reading that, I just got to class too. lmao, ty.

Webmaster

cheeblie wrote:

Ring is the least fault-tolerant of anything

Basicly yes, and that makes it most fault intolerant. The teacher has a point, it's just a badly worded question.

jlambert

yep, thats what it comes down to is the way the question is formed. I really wish they would get some real books for this class. The books we have dont even discuss Mesh, FDDI, or Wireless topologies.

Webmaster

jlambert wrote:

The books we have dont even discuss Mesh, FDDI, or Wireless topologies.

Does it cover anything about wireless at all? If not, it's outdated material (for the previous Network+ exam).

jlambert

I found a small paragraph that briefly says what a wireless network is but it has nothing about the 802.11 standards or anything useful for the Network+ exam.

ajs1976

Make sure you get the basics of wireless down before the exam.

jlambert

I certainly will I use a combo of my class book, exam cram2, and technotes.

Webmaster

jlambert wrote:

I use a combo of my class book, exam cram2, and technotes.

That should do the trick

cheeblie

Yeah, you shouldn't feel too lost with Exam Cram 2, and if I remember right they covered WiFi fairly well. If you have any confusions about WiFi I would go to LinkSys's website because they had some pretty good diagrams that explained how the technology works and the basic elements that constitutes it.

Cheeblie

curio

Yup it's ring allright.

FDDI is dual rings. Bus works to some extent with a fault, star works just fine with some faults, standard ring doesn't work at all with a fault - it is fault intolerant.

Anyone else?

curio

Theory is good with wifi stuff - but don't confuse that with reality.