Sample Interview Questions for Network Engineers

We get to the technical side now... here is our list of 20 Network Engineer Interview
Questions:

1. What is the subnet mask 10.2.1.3/22?

a. 255.255.252.0
2. What is the administrative distance of EIGRP, eBGP, iBGP?
a. EIGRP: 90, iBGP: 200, eBGP: 20
3. What is your favorite routing Protocol?
a. EIGRP.
4. In EIGRP, what is a Stuck in Active route?

SIA messages are received when there is no reply to queries to locate a missing route or
if there is no other feasible route in place. This is a message that happens almost as a
debug message notifying administrator that a path cannot truly be found.

5. In OSPF, what is a totally stubby area? What does Area Zero do?
OSPF SA is a standalone network. OSPF area 0 is the backbone area of a network,
particularly in regards to a WAN network.
6. Which internal routing protocol would use if you needed to route between Cisco and non-
Cisco equipment?
Any open standard dynamic routing protocol can be used to connect Cisco devices with
non-Cisco devices, however, this will require some config changes on the Cisco devices
because there are defaults in place that will inhibit connectivity to other vendors.
7. Explain what a 3-way handshake is in TCP?
SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK
Host sends Sync message, Server receives Sync message, Server sends Sync-
Acknowledge message, Host receives SYN-ACK, Host sends ACK message, Server
receives ACK message, TCP/IP connection is now established.
8. What is a VLAN trunking protocol?
VTP is a protocol that carries VLAN information to all switches in the network
specifically within the same VTP domain. This speeds up layer 2 convergence because
changes are handled appropriately and timely.
9. What is the different between 802.1q and ISL?
ISL and 802.1q are essentially synonymous in most circumstances. ISL is Cisco specific,
802.1q is a IEEE open standard.
10. Explain what is an Ether-Channel?

Etherchannel is a medium which increases network performance on layer 2 by increasing

bandwidth for users and servers. Can group together 2-8 Fast or Gig ports.

11. What do you need to do to setup a VTP domain?

Elect the VTP domain server switch; regulate domain names on all switches services
VLANs.
12. What is Spanning Tree used for?
To prevent layer 2 loops.
13. What is a root bridge and why do you need one?

Root bridge is elected in a process multicasted on the network. This root bridge is what
actually prevents loops as it gives all switches a place to return to get where it is sending
information. Regulates traffic flow on layer 2.

14. What is needed on a router interface to allow DHCP to function on a subnet?

IP helper addresses on subnet gateway. Tells the router where it is getting is addresses
from.
15. Describe what a stateful firewall is?

A stateful inspection Firewall also checks the session flow of the connections. E.g. if a
syn-ack packet arrives from a server and the ASA hasn’t seen the syn request from client
beforehand the session will not be allowed even if a ACL is in place that would allow the
communication from the server to a client.

16. What is HSRP? Is this an open standard?

Hot Standby Routing Protocol is for virtual fail-over, allocates another way for traffic to
get out of its network if the first hop fails.

17. In a PIX/ASA, what is security levels used for?

Security levels vary between 0-100 and 0 is the most unsecure and 100 the most secure
network. If you use the default rules in the zones, traffic is permitted from more secure
Zones/IF to less secure zones.

18. What two things are needed in a PIX/ASA firewall to allow traffic to pass from a higher
security level to a lower security level?

ASA/PIX(config)# same-security-traffic permit [intra; inter]-interface

Also, need to configure ACL to specify traffic flow between ports with mismatched
security levels.

19. In IPSec VPNs, what is diffie hellman? What is it used for?

DH is algorithm used to for the creation of encrypted public/private keys.

20. In an IPSec tunnel, what is main mode?

Main mode is the quicker alternative for aggressive mode. When establishing the
management connection in a IPSec tunnel phase 1 you specify preshared key (main
mode) or certifcates (aggressive mode).
I am a Network Engineer so many of these questions really made me think. I answered these
without searching other sources. That being said there may be answers that are not 100%
accurate, I just gave it my best shot first try. Let me know if there are various problems.

Network Engineer Interview Questions

with Answers

1. 1. Network Engineer Interview Questions with Answers The Great Interview Tips for
Network Engineer Job Seekers Reff:
http://networkingquest.blogspot.com/2011/01/network-engineer-interview-
questions.htmlSARMAD ALI
2. 2. Questions and Answers

Q: Routers are always preferable for routing services. Routers work at which OSI layers?
Ans: Router works at network layer for providing routing services between or among
several networks.

Q: A gateway works in which layer? Ans: Transport layer of OSI model.

Q: How can you check the connectivity of any network? Ans: By using ping command.

Q: What is a gateway? Ans: A gateway acts a door for the packet to reach the ‘outside’ of
the internal network.

Q: What is the range of class A address? Ans: 0-127 is the range of class A address.

Q: Tell an IP which has class C range. Also tell why that IP is an class C address. Ans: •
IP of Class C: 193.1.1.1 • Why this is a class C address: Class C addresses have the range
of 192 - 223

3. Q: What are the differences among router, switch, bridge and hub? Router, switch,
bridge and hub are network devices. Yet there are some differences among them. Ans:
The main differences are: • Router: A layer 3 device, can work on physical, data and
network layer. • Switch: A layer 2 device, can work on data link layer • Bridge: A layer 2
device, can work on data link layer. • Hub: A layer 1device, just a multi-port repeater and
works on physical layer

Q: Name a device which can operate at physical layer of OSI model. Ans: Hub. Note:
Remember, hub is the device that can work only into the physical layer of OSI model.
But switch, router can also be used instead of a hub. So, all the answers hub, switch or
router are all correct.

Q: What is the major differences between a router and a switch? Ans: A router can divide
the broadcast domain and collision domain. But a switch can only divide the collision
domain. Router can communicate among different networks where as the switch can not
communicate different networks.
 Q: Why do you need to use a router? Ans: Router can easily divide the broadcast domain
and collision domain. So, to communicate among several networks, routers are used.

4. Q: Hub operates at which layers of OSI model? Is it wise to use a hub for huge
networks? Why or why not? Ans: • Hub operates at only physical layer of OSI model. •
No, it's not so wise to use hub for a huge network. • Hubs can't divide the broadcast
domain or the collision domain. So, if we use hubs then there creates huge broadcast
domain. When there are huge broadcast, the network gets problem time to time. So, it's
not wise to use hubs to support a huge network.

Q: How many layers are in OSI model? Name them? Ans: There are seven layers of OSI
model. The layers are: 1. Application layer 2. Presentation layer 3. Session layer 4.
Transport layer 5. Network layer 6. Data link layer 7. Physical layer Note: You can
remember the seven layer model by a simple sentence. Please Do Not Touch Steven's Pet
Alligator. See, the starting of each word forms the layer.

Q: What is the second layer of OSI model? Ans: Data Link layer.

Q: Name two network devices which can work as layer 2 device. Ans: Switch and router

5. Q: What is OSI model? Ans: OSI reveres for Open System Interconnection Reference
Model. It is an abstract model for layered communications and computer network
protocol design. There are seven layers of OSI model which, from top to bottom, are the
Application, Presentation, Session, Transport, Network, Data-Link, and Physical Layers.
OSI model also referred as OSI layered model, OIS layered technology, 7 layer model,
OSI seven layer model, OSI reference model.

Q: What is the data unit of Data Link layer? Ans: Frame

Q: What are the difference between TCP and UDP? • TCP: Connection oriented protocol,
acknowledged one, Point to point communication. • UDP: Connection less protocol,
unreliable, less traffic

Q: What is the port no of DNS and Telnet? Ans: • DNS port no: 53 • Telnet port no: 23

Q: What is the port no of SMTP and POP3? Ans: • SMPT port no: 25 • POP3 port no:
110

Q: What is the functionality of network layer? Name the data unit of network layer. Ans:
• Functionality of network layer: Path determination and logical addressing • Data unit of
network layer: Packet

3. 6. Q: Which three layers of OSI model is treated as "Media Layers"? Ans: Physical layer,
data link layer and network layer are treated as "Media Layers".
4.
5. Q: What is deadlock? Ans: Deadlock is a situation when two or more processes are
waiting indefinitely for an event that can be caused by only one of the waiting processes.
The implementation of a semaphore with a waiting queue may result in this situation.

6. Q: Mention the private IP address rannge of class B and C. Ans: • For Class B:
172.16.0.0 – 172.31.255.255 • For Class C: 192.168.0.0 – 192.168.255.255

7. Q: What is the IP range of class C IP address? Ans: 240.0.0.0 255.255.255.255

8. Q: Tell the full name: DNS, FTP Ans: • DNS: Domain Name System • FTP: File
Transfer Protocol Q: What is the functionality or ARP? Ans: ARP refers to Address
Resolution Protocol. ARP is a computer networking protocol for determining a network
host's link layer or hardware address when only it’s Internet Layer (IP) or Network Layer
address is known. Q: Which one is reliable: TCP or UDP? Ans: TCP is reliable and UDP
is an unreliable service.
9. 7. Q: Mention the advantages and disadvantages of a router. Ans: Advantages: • Router
can limit the collision domain and broadcast domain • Router can function both on LAN
& WAN. • Different media & architectures can be connected among themselves through
router. • Router can determine best path/route for data to reach • the destination. • Router
can filter the broadcasts. • For communicating different networks, routers must be used.
Disadvantage: • Router is more expensive than any other networking devices like Hub,
Bridge & Switch. • Router only work with routable protocols. • Routing updates consume
some bandwidth. • Increase latency due to greater degree of packet • filtering. • Routers
function as software based and so it's slower compared to switch. Q: What is the default
subnet mask of class C IP address? Ans: 255.255.255.0 Why do you need subnet mask?
Subnet mask is required to divide a large network into several small networks.
10. 8. Q: How DHCP works? Ans: DHCP works by four-steps: (1) IP request, (2) IP offer (3)
IP selection and (d) Acknowledgement. Q: What is POP3? Why you require POP3? Ans:
POP stands for Post Office Protocol. This is used to describe how e-mail clients interact
with mail servers. The POP3 Server is a type of mail server used for incoming mail. POP
is only used to receive messages. Q: What is the difference between Layer 2 Switch and
Layer 3 Switch? Ans: Layer 2 switch is based on MAC addresses which operate on Data
Link Layer of OSI mode. And Layer 3 switching is based on network topology table
populated and works on Network layer.