Wide Area Networks (WAN): Technologies and Topologies

What is a WAN's job?

In which WAN topology do all branch sites connect through one central hub, usually headquarters?

Which WAN topology is described as the most common real-world design because it balances cost against redundancy?

What is the bandwidth of a T1 leased line in North America?

Which connection type establishes a dedicated path for the duration of a session, then tears it down?

How does MPLS forward traffic across the provider network?

Which device terminates a digital leased line and provides timing/clocking for the circuit?

Which packet-switched technology was widely used in the 1990s–2000s but is largely retired now?

In the 3-layer campus design, where does the WAN edge router sit?

What is the main drawback of connecting sites with broadband + VPN over the public Internet?

A leased line's bandwidth is reserved entirely for one customer 24/7, whether it is being used or not.

Point-to-point WAN links scale well as the number of sites grows.

A full mesh WAN has no single point of failure.

A site-to-site VPN tunnel encrypts traffic because the public Internet is shared and untrusted by default.

PSTN telephone calls and legacy ISDN links are examples of packet switching.

In circuit switching the dedicated path sits idle for other traffic even when your session is quiet.

A LAN is typically leased from a telecom or Internet service provider.

Packet-switched WAN performance can vary because capacity is shared with other customers.

A modem converts digital data into a signal that can travel over analog or broadband media.

Compared with a LAN, a WAN typically offers lower speed for the price and a higher cost per bit.

Match each WAN topology with its defining trait.

Match each connection type with how its link works underneath.

Match each WAN technology with its connection category.

Match each WAN device with its function.

Match each attribute with how it applies to a WAN (not a LAN).