Work through the list without notes. If you cannot do a statement, follow its link, then come back. Guide = study guide; Practice = practice questions.
Understanding
- I can define fault tolerance and redundancy. (Guide: “Why do parts fail, and what do we do about it?” and “Redundancy: the idea behind fault tolerance”; Practice Q1, Q2)
- I can explain how the Internet stays usable when a device or connection fails. (Guide: “Redundancy: the idea behind fault tolerance”; Practice Q6)
- I can explain that redundancy costs additional resources but improves reliability. (Guide: “Redundancy: the idea behind fault tolerance”; Practice Q5, Q9)
- I can explain what a single point of failure is. (Guide: “Weak points: single points of failure”; Practice Q3)
Skills
- I can list the paths between two devices and test the effect of removing a device. (Guide: Worked example 1; Practice Q6, Q8)
- I can identify the devices that lie on every path. (Guide: Worked example 1; Practice Q7)
- I can count the links in a star, ring and full mesh. (Guide: “Comparing designs”; Practice Q4)
Reasoning
- I can find pairs of failures that disconnect a network. (Guide: Worked example 1 part (c); Practice Q8)
- I can choose between designs using a requirement and a budget. (Guide: Worked example 2; Practice question 10)
- I can explain why redundancy does not guarantee protection against every failure. (Guide: “Common misconceptions”; Practice question 10)
All ticked? Move on to the Topic 4.3 study guide, Parallel and Distributed Computing.