Networks

Not ‘a rule’ - must be plural

MP1 not a set of instructions

MP1 accept standards / an agreement

Examiner’s Comments

Most candidates were able to explain that a protocol is a set of rules for communication between devices. Few then went on to explain what that meant and so the majority of candidates gained one mark.

2 marks max each.

Allow any suitable expansion.

Mark in pairs.

Allow:
Proxy server e.g.

• Sits between user and computer to route requests through an external server
• Creates separation between a user and the site/service
• Protects your security/anonymity by hiding IPs

Examiner’s Comments

The majority of candidates could give three different pieces of networking hardware but many were unable to

then describe what they did with many putting connects devices for the description of each piece of hardware.

Mark first answer in each answer space

Examiner’s Comments

This question challenged many candidates who were unable to give three advantages to the business and instead gave 3 benefits of a LAN over a WAN which was not what the question required. The candidates who did manage to gain full marks were able to give clear advantages to a business of having their machines networked in a LAN.

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Allow suitable example of contents of a protocol for MP3

Do not award a rule - must be plural

Examiner’s Comments

This was generally well answered and many candidates were able to gain both marks

Mark first answer in each answer space

If mentioned one protocol with 2 versions e.g. IPv4 & IPv6

• only 1 mark

If they’ve written the protocol in full but got any word wrong, no mark awarded

Examiner’s Comments

Generally well answered and it was interesting to see the different protocols candidates were able to name. Some candidates named two of the layers in TCP/IP instead of protocols which gained them no marks.

Examiner’s Comments

Protocol layering has appeared in questions in previous papers, but many candidates were not able to explain why they are layered. Some candidates gave a description of the layers in TCP/IP without saying why it was layered.

Marks answers in pairs

Examiner’s Comments

Many candidates achieved both marks for this question with most of the responses describing the different routes taken by the data. The candidates who did less well on this question did not understand differences between packet switching and circuit switching.

Examiner’s Comments

Many candidates lost marks for the second part of Question 6 (a) (ii), despite achieving both marks for the first part 6 (a) (i). A lot of incorrect answers gave a very similar response to the first part of the question instead of explaining why the differences that packet switching has, make it more suitable for a computer network. Common correct answers explained that packet switching can route around hardware failures as the data is not sent along a single route.

AO1
P2P:

• Each computer can act independently

• Each computer is responsible for it’s own security and login

• Each computer will maintain and possibly share its own connected hardware (printer/external storage/internet connection)

• Each computer will maintain and possibly share its own secondary storage

• If a computer is powered down it’s shared resources will not be available.

• There are no resources not shared by a peer machine

• Adding a machine is simple

• Very little administration is needed

Client Server:

• All network functionality can be provided by servers.
• A server is a process running on a machine, usually dedicated to providing these services.
• A server machine is designed to never be powered down.
• Login/security is handled centrally
• Shared storage may be managed by a server
• Shared resources (printer/internet connection etc) my be managed by a server
• If a server process or machine fails, network functionality, including the ability login is lost
• Adding a new machine can mean installing specialist client software and setting up OS policies.
• IT skills and a lot of time are needed to administer a client server network

AO2
P2P:

• As Zak is looking to expand his staff, P2P would offer flexibility in adding staff ad hoc.
• Zak’s company is still small and may struggle to pay for the IT administrator skills needed for a client server

Client Server:

• As Zak’s firm is an accountancy firm it will have sensitive customer data
• Client server would allow stronger centralised security
• As Zak is taking on multiple staff, they may wish to work collaboratively, which shared storage would allow.
• Zak could share a single printer/other hardware with all staff and not worry about an individual computer being switched on.

AO3: Candidates can conclude either method, but to score in the top MB must have a clear line of reasoning to justify their choice.

Examiner’s Comments

Candidates were assessed on the quality of their extended response in this question. Although most candidates were able to give a few advantages and disadvantages of the different types of network, few made suitable links to the scenario.

Some candidates discussed different topologies which was not relevant to the question. Candidates that were given high marks for this question focused more on the scenario, and made clear links between this and the benefits and drawbacks of the different solutions.

Exemplar 3

[Image redrawn from the original mark scheme by an AI model (Gemma 4 12B). It may contain mistakes.]

A candidate's handwritten answer:

A peer-to-peer in a peer-to-peer network, computers are connected directly to each other, all connecting to each other either directly or through another computers. This method allows data to be shared easily between computers, as though the data can be sent directly. One of the main benefits of peer-to-peer is that there are no reliance on a server. This means that each computer is independent, if one node fails, the network will still work. Also, peer-to-peer networks require little extra hardware so are cheaper to set up. However, security and backups are harder to implement as each computer needs to be backed up individually. The security of data may be important to the firm as they may hold sensitive information such as bank details.

In a client-server network, then all the client computers are connected to a centrally managed server. The main advantage of a client-server network is that it has centralised management. This means that backups are easily done as they can be done centrally. Also, security measures are easily put in place as the data is all stored in one place. However, these netw

works are more expensive as there is extra hardware required and often, specialist skills are required to manage a server so someone needs to be employed to run the server. Also, there is a huge reliance on the server because if the server fails, the whole network will fail.

For Zoe's business, I think that a peer-to-peer network is more suitable. This is because there are not many people in the office so "peer-to-peer network" would be much easier to set up as peer-to-peer networks are only connected to set up where they are only a few nodes connected. Also, why a peer-to-peer network serves them is the lower expense of setting up a client-server network. The use of a peer-to-peer network also means they can communicate frequently with their clients without having to worry about the reliance on a server.

The candidate response is well structured. The candidate has firstly highlighted how the computers are connected for each type of network and discussed the advantages and disadvantages. The advantages and disadvantages are well balanced and there are clear links to the scenario throughout.

The candidate has made a recommendation on the most suitable type of network for the scenario, highlighting the

key advantages and showing clear reasoning.

The conclusion emphasises the key points and gives a clear justification.

For BP2, don’t allow HTTP (question mentions
encryption). Don’t allow a list of protocols which aren’t relevant to the question. Don’t allow a protocol without its use

Examiner’s Comments
Very few students could explain what happens at the application layer and answers tended to be about splitting data into packets. Some candidates did mention that encryption would take place but didn’t go on to mention decryption when receiving data. Those candidates that identified that protocols are applied here were unable to give a specific example and simply listed protocols they knew, but without context.

Wireless access given in question stem

Examiner’s Comments
Very few candidates were able to gain 2 marks on this question. Some candidates talked about transmitting data via cables, despite wireless being mentioned in the question.

Do not accept instructions instead of rules

Examiner’s Comments
This question was answered well.

• Accept in any order
• Accept Internet instead of Network

Examiner’s Comments
Most candidates achieved both marks for this question. The order of the layers was not important to get both marks and many candidates gave “Transport” and “Network” as the two missing layers. Some candidates gave “Internet” in place of “Network” which was also acceptable.

Examiner’s Comments
This question was generally not answered well. Candidates that did gain marks, focused on the concept of layers being independent. Many candidates missed this concept and did not achieve the marks.

Candidates should be careful to use the correct terminology for questions of this type.

AO1
Malware and viruses are software that can have a negative impact on computer systems
Spyware and keyloggers can record information entered and send back to a third party
Phishing attacks attempt to steal data by fraudulently appearing as legitimate emails asking for secure information
Denial of Service Attacks can overload a computer system with traffic and effectively disable access for legitimate users

AO2
Hotel’s systems could be disrupted by DDOS attacks so no external bookings able to be made.
Phishing and spyware attacks may compromise visitor security and result in financial loss
Malware, viruses could destroy hotel data
Theft of customer data would be an issue under Data Protection Act / GDPR for which the hotel could be prosecuted

AO3
Education for staff and customers is important to deal with recognising and dealing with threats
Up to date software, limitations of use of devices such as USB sticks and restricted access to wireless networks can all limit risks.
Use of Firewall to restrict traffic entering and leaving the network.
Should be balanced against customer experience; will customers return if they have no access to It facilities?

[Image redrawn from the original mark scheme by an AI model (Gemma 4 12B). It may contain mistakes.]

erDiagram
    Customer ||--o{ Booking : " "
    Room ||--o{ Booking : " "

Accept example that is not related to the database given (as this is an AO1 question)

Award the mark for checking of cache at any of the stages but limit to one mark for this aspect.

Knowledge

• As firm is on multiple sites it will need to be connected via a WAN
• Each office would have its own LAN
• Use of Client/Server network which will allow o Centralised security o Centralised back up o Shared resources such as file/print/internet are not tied to a peer computer o Extra hardware for client/server would incur extra expense
• VPN would allow secure access to server in one site from another
• Cloud computing would allow remote storage of data o Would allow sharing of data between sites and client locations o Provide extendable storage o Built in back up o Strong security, but out of firms control
• Network would allow data and resources such as printers to be shared o Sharing resources would allow solicitors easier access to client files o Even with strong security, networks bring vulnerability to sensitive data being held

Application

• As a solicitor’s firm will deal with sensitive data security concerns would be paramount to clients who have data stored with them o Use of VPN may be necessary to provide secure links between offices o Data would need to be encrypted o Clients may be unhappy with external services such as cloud o Strong security measures would bring extra cost, which could push fee’s up
• Client server set up would require extra equipment o Switches/routers/gateways/ servers/NIC/cabling/ WAP o Extra costs may push fee’s up
• A network would give solicitors quicker/immediate access to client files o Allows solicitor to quickly switch between clients o Allow solicitors to collaborate and help colleagues o Allows clients to be seen by solicitors at either office and they would sill have access to their case files o Allows solicitors to research old cases from either office

Evaluation
The candidate could come to either a conclusion of the network being an overall drawback or benefit. However, their reasoning must clearly lead to that conclusion with clear justification.