Top 30 Hardware and Networking Interview Questions and Answers

Most of the companies are looking for strong hardware networking knowledge in the candidates. Therefore, Hardware and Networking are the in-demand skills and they are about dealing with various hardware components like chips, motherboard, RAM, computer systems, printers, external hard disks, and keyboards and networking elements such as modems, circuits boards, switches and routers, and cables.

Following are the frequently asked interview questions and answers which would help you in your technical rounds.

1. What is BIOS?

Short for Basic Input/Output System, the BIOS (pronounced bye-oss) is a ROM chip found on motherboard that lets you access and set up your computer system at the most basic level. The picture below is an example of what a BIOS chip may look like on a computer motherboard.

2. What is POST?

POST, short for Power on Self-Test, is the initial set of diagnostic tests performed by the computer right after it’s powered on, with the intent to check for any hardware related issues.

3. What is the full form of CMOS?

The full form of CMOS is a Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor.

4. What is the operating system?

An Operating System (OS) is a software that acts as an interface between computer hardware components and the user. Every computer system must have at least one operating system to run other programs. Applications like Browsers, MS Office, Notepad Games, etc., need some environment to run and perform its tasks.

5. What is DNS?

There are two types of client/server programs: the first is used directly by the user like a mail and the second supports other application programs. The DNS (Domain Name System) is a supporting program used by other programs to find the IP address of an email recipient.

6.Define DHCP.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is an application layer protocol which is used to provide: 

1. Subnet Mask (Option 1 – e.g., 255.255.255.0)
2. Router Address (Option 3 – e.g., 192.168.1.1)
3. DNS Address (Option 6 – e.g., 8.8.8.8)
4. Vendor Class Identifier (Option 43 – e.g., ‘unifi’ = 192.168.1.9 ##where unifi = controller)

DHCP is based on a client-server model and based on discovery, offer, request, and ACK.

DHCP port number for server is 67 and for the client is 68. It is a Client server protocol which uses UDP services.

7. What are the layers of the OSI reference model?

There are seven layers in the OSI model such as a physical layer, data link layer, network layer, transport layer, session layer, presentation layer, and application layer.

8.What are a node and links?

The devices at various endpoints located in a network at a different location are called nodes and the physical communication medium they using called links.

9.Differentiate domain and workgroup?

In the domain, a server is responsible for data security and it is centralized administration. The main goal of DNS is to secure data and it is the best suite for company environments. On the other hand, in the workgroup, every PC is responsible for their data and there will be no centralized administration. The main aim of this workgroup is to save hardware resources and it is best suitable for schools, training institutes, and cybercafé.

10. Define IP.

An Internet Protocol (IP Addresses) is a numerical label assigned to each device of a computer network that utilizes the Internet Protocol for communication and data transactions.

11.Define Layer?

The layer is a logical partition of the PDU (Protocol Data Unit) process and it defines how the information travels from one machine to another over the network connection.

12.What is Hub?

Hub is a layer 1 device that let out the signal from all of its port except the one from where it is inserted and it can’t able to detect the collision. Hub works on a single collision and a single broadcast domain.

13. Define Switch.

The switch is a layer 2 device that maintains a CAM table to store the MAC address of devices connected to its port. CAM table is used to make the forwarding decision for the network and it works according to collision and single broadcast domain.

14. Define Client/Server

Clients and Servers are the two different logical entities that are connected together over a network to perform a task.

15. What is MAC Address?

MAC (Media Access Control) Address is the 48-bit hardware address of the LAN card and it is stored in ROM on the network adapter card with a unique identity.

16. What are the various network types?

LAN (Local Area Network), WAN (Wide Area Network), MAN (Metropolitan Area Network), CN (Content Network), and SAN (Storage Area Network).

17. What are the required things to configure the server?

The prerequisites for configuring a server are a LAN card that is in connection, a Root that should in NTFS (New Technology File System), and a Server that should be configured with a static IP address.

18. Define Proxy Server.

A proxy server is a server that all computers on the local network should pass this before accessing the information on the internet. Many organizations are using a proxy server to improve the network performance and filter the users to avoid unauthorized access to their information.

19. What is the partition for Linux installation?

As Linux does not support a windows file system that follows a partition scheme, it will use its own file system called ext2 and ext3. Linux will be installed on the root position.

20. What is Sap?

The sap is the series of interface points that enable other computers to communicate with the layers of a network protocol stack.

21. Define subnet mask?

The subnet mask is a term that differentiates network address and host address in IP address. The value of 0 in a subnet mask defines host position in IP address and value 1-255 defines network address.

22. What is multicast routing?

The sending of group messages is known as multicast and the routing algorithm implemented for this is multicast routing.

23. What is the region?

The routers will be divided into regions when the hierarchical routing is being used to reach the destination without knowing the internal structure of other regions.

24. What protocols will be used by DNS?

DNS utilizes UDP for communication between servers and for the improved speed it uses TCP for a connectionless protocol as transmission reliability is a risky one for UDP.

25. What is the command to check IP address without using network place?

The command for checking the IP address is Start à Run à Command à ipconfig.

26. What are the types of routing tables and explain their advantages?

There are three types of routing tables such as a fixed table, dynamic table, and fixed central table. A fixed table should be updated every time whenever it is changed, a dynamic table gets updated based on network traffic to reduce the amount of manual maintenance, and a fixed central table is reduced to only one table.

27. Why Hello protocol is being used?

The hello protocol uses time for replacing the distance to determine optimal routing and it is an alternative to the Routing Information Protocol.

28. What is terminal emulation?

Telnet is also referred to as terminal emulation and it belongs to the application layer.

29. Define frame-relay?

Frame relay is a packet-switching technology and it will be operated in the data link layer.

30. What is Triple X in Networks?

The PAD (Packet Assembler Disassembler) is defined in a document known as X.3 and the standard protocol has been described between the terminal and the PAD known as X.28, and another protocol is between the PAD x.29. The recommendations of these descriptions are called Triple X.