Paper 1 Paper 2 Paper 3 All levels

Question 1 SL

A company has expanded its office space into nearby

rooms and has decided to set up a local area network
(LAN) to support its operations.
The LAN will connect the room where the server is
installed to new computers in the additional office
space. The network engineer produced the following
Gantt chart for this task.
Define the term concurrent processing. [1]
Identify two tasks that will be carried out [1]
concurrently.
Identify two tasks that will be carried out [1]
sequentially.
After 5 years the company decided to replace [4]
the LAN with a wireless local area network
(WLAN).
Outline two advantages, to this company, of
installing a WLAN.
A WLAN will introduce additional security [4]
issues for the company.
Discuss any two of these issues and the ways
in which the company might resolve them.
The company is considering expanding their [4]
network to allow employees to connect from
anywhere in the world. The expanded network
would need to provide security and allow the
employees full functionality of the internal
network.
Explain how setting up a virtual private
network (VPN) would provide a suitable
solution.
Question 2 SL

An international company is in the process of moving

its Head Office from Europe to Asia.
Identify two possible compatibility issues as a [2]
part of data migration.
Outline how a virtual private network (VPN) [2]
will allow employees who are in Europe to
communicate with the Head Office in Asia.
Outline one social issue associated with this [2]
process.
Question 3 HL

An oil and gas company has a networked computer

system for use of their employees in the Head Office.
The company also uses the internet to enable
communication with employees working on
exploration and production in many remote
geographical areas.
The sub-sea oil and gas exploration and production
unit of the company relies on thousands of kilometres
of pipeline which are monitored by a computer control
system which can detect leaks.
The process of detecting leaks is carried out by
sensors which are continuously monitoring changes
in the flow and pressure of the liquids in the pipes.
This data is processed on a computer in the office.
If any of sensor values are outside of the acceptable
parameters stored on a disk in the office, the
following error routines are performed:
an alarm is sounded on the computer at the
office
an email message is sent to managers in the
Head Office.
Identify one hardware security measure that [1]
will ensure that confidential data from the
Head Office cannot be accessed.
Identify one software security measure that [1]
will ensure that confidential data from the
Head Office cannot be accessed.
Identify one network security measure. [1]
Explain the environmental benefit of using a [3]
computer control system to monitor the
pipeline.
Explain the relationship between sensors, [4]
output transducers and processor in this
situation.
Construct a system flowchart to represent the [5]
process described above.
Question 4 SL

Outline what is meant by the term computer [2]

network.
Question 5 SL

Identify two reasons why fibre optic cable [2]

would be preferred over wireless connectivity.
Good job identifying two reasons why fibre
optic cable would be preferred over wireless
connectivity. However, your answer could be
improved by providing more specific details.
For example, you could mention that fibre
optics allow faster transmission speeds
compared to wireless connectivity, and that
fibre optic cables are more secure and harder
to break into. Remember to be more precise in
your explanations. Keep up the good work!
Question 6 SL

A wireless local area network (WLAN) is used to

extend access to a school’s wired local area network.
The advantages of this WLAN are user-mobility and
economical access points.
The concept of packet data transmission is used
within this network.
Figure 1 shows the simplified structure of a data
packet.
Figure 1: The structure of a data packet

Identify one hardware component of the [1]

WLAN, other than computers.
Outline two disadvantages of this WLAN. [4]
Identify three ways in which the network [3]
administrator can reduce the risk of
unauthorized access to confidential data.
Define the term protocol. [1]
With reference to Figure 1, explain how data is [6]
transferred by packet switching.
Question 7 SL

A school has a local area network (LAN) connecting

its computers and peripheral devices. The LAN also
provides access to the internet.
Users have been troubled by slow speeds when
accessing the internet.
Describe the role of a router in this network. [3]
Outline two reasons why there might be a [4]
reduction in data transmission speed at
certain times.
Outline two measures that the school could [4]
take to safeguard its data from unlawful
access via the internet.
The inventory of office supplies used in the [4]
school is stored on the computer as a single
file.
Each of the office supplies in the inventory
(such as paper, ink, toner, printers, pens,
staplers, pencils and scissors) has a unique ID
number, name, maximum quantity, minimum
quantity and remaining quantity.
Outline the steps in an algorithm that would
output a list of supplies with the quantity to be
ordered.
Question 8 SL

Explain how data is transmitted by packet [3]

switching.
Question 9 SL

Identify two characteristics of a data packet. [2]

Question 10 SL

Outline the reason for compression when [2]

transmitting data.
Your answer provides a valid reason for
compression when transmitting data. You
correctly state that compressing data reduces
the file size, which in turn leads to cost savings
in cloud storage. However, you could have also
mentioned that compression reduces transfer
times and saves on bandwidth when
transmitting data over a network. Overall, your
answer is clear and concise. Well done!
Question 11 HL

Outline what is meant by the term computer [2]

network.
Describe one problem resulting from low [2]
bandwidth in a computer network.
Question 12 SL

Explain why protocols are used in network [3]

communications.
Question 13 SL

Outline two advantages of a school using a [4]

computer network.
Describe the purpose of the following [2]
hardware component of a network: Router
Describe the purpose of the following [2]
hardware component of a network: Network
interface card (NIC)
Outline why protocols are necessary. [2]
Define the term data encryption. [1]
Evaluate the use of trusted media access [4]
control (MAC) addresses as one method of
network security.
Question 14 SL

Describe how data is transmitted by packet [4]

switching.
Question 15 SL

Define the term data packet. [1]

Your answer is mostly correct. You correctly
mentioned that data is broken down into small
units called data packets and that they are
transmitted over the network. However, you
did not mention that a data packet travels as a
unit with all its parts kept together.
Additionally, you provided extra information
about the three parts of a data packet (header,
payload, and trailer) which was not required in
the question. Overall, your answer
demonstrates a good understanding of the
concept.
Question 16 SL

A school currently has a cabled network but wants to

add wireless networking across the whole campus.
There are concerns that unauthorized people could
access the data on the wireless network.
The school has decided to implement a virtual private
network (VPN) to provide access to its network.
Describe two hardware components the [4]
school will need to implement the wireless
network.
Identify two advantages to the students of the [2]
new wireless network.
Outline two methods the school could employ [4]
to prevent network data from being accessed
over their wireless system.
Identify two technologies the school would [2]
require to provide a VPN.
Explain one benefit to the staff of using a VPN [3]
to remotely access the school network.
Question 17 SL

Identify two differences between a wide area [2]

network (WAN) and a local area network
(LAN).
Question 18 SL

Outline one reason why protocols are used in [2]

communications between computers.
Question 19 SL

Identify two characteristics of a personal area [2]

network (PAN).
Question 20 SL

A company that provides training for teachers plans

to set up a training room in its offices with a network
of 15 computers. Each computer has 1 TB of storage
and 16 GB of random access memory (RAM).
In order to minimize costs, the company decided only
to install general application software on the training
computers.
The company has decided to allow the teachers to
use their own devices in its training room by adding
wireless networking.
Identify two characteristics of RAM. [2]
State the purpose of persistent storage on the [1]
computers.
Identify two types of general application [2]
software that would be installed on the
training computers.
Outline one advantage to the company of [2]
implementing this change.
Outline one disadvantage to the company of [2]
implementing this change.
Describe one method of security that may be [2]
used on this wireless network.
Explain why the speed of data transmission on [4]
the wireless network in the training room may
vary.
Question 21 SL

Outline one reason for the use of standards in [2]

the construction of networks.