Homework #1 TCP/IP Protocols and TCP/IP suites

(Supplementary materials)

1. Discuss the advantages of layered protocols.

ANSWER.
Layered Protocol Architecture is a combination of subtasks arranged in layers,
each performing specific function. The bottom layer consists of protocols
related to hardware services and to complete the exchange of information, more
layers are added above it.
ADVANTAGES:
i. It divides the complex task of network communication into
subtasks, thus facilitating the maintenance, flexibility and
scalability of the system.
ii. The layers are implemented and managed separately; therefore
functionality of the individual layers can be extended and
technology of different layers does not interfere with each other.
iii. The requirement of the new service or protocol in the system can
be easily fulfilled by introducing it in the required layer, without
disturbing the whole system.
iv. Designing the protocol aiming at specific function of the system
can be easily designed when the system is governed by layered
protocols as it provides clear distinction between different layers
and the functions of the system.

2. What is the OSI 7 layer reference model? List the seven layers.

ANSWER
The Open System Interconnection (OSI) Model consists of 7 layers that
illustrate the functions of a networking System. These 7 abstraction layers
collaborate to implement the transmission of information between two users or
hosts.
It was published in 1984 by International Organization for Standardization
(ISO).
Today, it acts as conceptual reference model that aids in understanding the
network architecture, provides a standard for communication between
computers and helps in troubleshooting networking problems.
 The 7 layers of the OSI Model are:

LAYER 7 Application
Layer
LAYER 6 Presentation
Layer
LAYER 5 Session Layer
LAYER 4 Transport Layer
LAYER 3 Network Layer
LAYER 2 Data Link Layer
LAYER 1 Physical Layer

Application Layer, Presentation Layer and Session layer are the software layers.
Network Layer, Data Link layer and Physical Layers are hardware layers.
Transport layer is called the Heart of OSI.

3. What are the layers of TCP/IP protocols? Describe the basic functions of
each layer.

ANSWER
TCP/IP model consists of 5 layers on which the Internet protocol suite is based.
These layers consist of independent protocols that govern the transmission of
data across the network.
The 5 main layers of the TCP/IP Model are:
Application Layer
Transport Layer
Internet Layer
Network Access
Layer
Physical Layer
The brief descriptions of the layers are as follows:
1. Physical Layer: This layer is responsible for transmitting the bit stream over
a physical medium. The physical interface is between the device that
transmits data and the network medium. It basically transmits and receives
bits. It also monitors data rate and the nature of the signals.
 2. Network Access Layer: This layer governs transmission of data between two
users/devices on the same network. It encapsulates the IP datagram into
frames. Physical layer and Network Access layer combine to form Network
Interface layer.
3. Internet Layer: This layer takes care of the data packets till they reach the
destination. It deploys Internet Protocol (IP). Routing functions in this layer
aid in traversing of data over multiple interconnected networks. Also termed
as network layer, it illustrates the logical transmission of data over network.
4. Transport Layer: Transmission Control Protocol is used in this layer. It
ensures the delivery of the message to its destination. In addition to this it
also performs error control. It performs segmentation by dividing the
message into sequence of packets.
5. Application Layer: This layer allows the interaction between the user and the
software application. Email services, Logging onto remote host, these are the
functions of the Application Layer.

4. Based on the IP addressing scheme given (referring to RFC 791

(http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc791.txt [page 23]), determine the ranges of class
A, B and C IP addresses (version 4) written in the dot-decimal format.
Find out the corresponding IP addresses for the following domain name.
Determine the type of the IP addresses (which class it belongs to):
a. www.google.com
b. www.yahoo.com

ANSWER
According to (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc791.txt [page 23] we have following
scheme:
Higher Order Class
Bits
0 A
10 B
110 C
 CLASS A:
In class A, the first bit is always set to 0 in the first octet. We get:
00000000 – 01111111
 0– 127
 We get range of IP Address:
 0.x.x.x – 126.x.x.x
 CLASS B:
In class B, the first two bits are set to 10 in the first octet. We get:
10000000 – 10111111
 128 – 191
 We get range of IP Adress:
128.0.x.x – 191.255.x.x
 CLASS C:
The first three bits of first octet of Class C are set to 110. We get:
11000000 – 11011111
 192-223
 We get address range:
192.0.0.x – 223.255.255.x

IP address and class of Domain names:

 www.google.com :
IP Address – 172.217.163.132
The first octet is – 172
172 in binary – 10101100
It begins with 10
It belongs to class B
 www.yahoo.com:
IP Address - 202.165.107.49
The first octet is – 202
202 in binary – 11001010
It begins with 110
It belongs to Class C

5. Read the following IPv6 addressing standard

athttps://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc5952and https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc4291.
What is zero compression? Please indicated the loopback address and
unspecified address for IPv6. Please find out the IPv6 addresses for
www.yahoo.com. Is the address a unicast address or a multicast address?

ANSWER:
Zero Compression: If the address contains adjacent sequence of 16-bit blocks
with “Zero” value, zero compression allows these zeros to be compresses to “::”
 “::” can be used only once in the address.

Loopback Address: It is referred to unicast address, 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:1. When node

wants to send IPv6 packet to itself, then it is used. For IPv6 packets sent outside
single node, loopback address should not be used as source address.

Unspecified Address: The unspecified address is 0:0:0:0:0:0:0:0. It should not

be assigned to any node. It shows that there is no address.

IPv6 address of www.yahoo.com - 2406.2000.e4.1605::9000\

It is unicast address as multicast address have format of ff00::/8

6. What is the purpose of CIDR? Consider a router that interconnects three

subnets: Subnet 1, Subnet 2 and Subnet 3. Suppose all of the interfaces in
each of these three subnets are required to have the prefix 223.1.117.0/24.
Also suppose that Subnet 1 is required to support up to 120 hosts, and
Subnets 2 and 3 are each required to support up to 60 hosts. Provide three
network addresses for the three subnets in the form a.b.c.d/x that satisfy
these constraints.

ANSWER:
CIDR stands for Classless Inter-Domain Routing. It is scheme of IP addressing
that enhances the allocation of IP addresses. The old system of Classes A,B, is
replaced by CIDR. It reduces the wastage of IP addresses. It works on
Variable-length subnet masking. The network address is followed by number of
bits in the address.

Given Prefix : 223.1.117.0/24

Subnet 1 requires 120 hosts, nearest round off to power of 2 = 128, Which
means we need 7 bits.
Therefore, for Subnet 1 = 223.1.117.x/25
Subnet 2 requires 60 hosts, nearest round off to power of 1 = 64. Which means
we need 6 bits.
Subnet 2 = 223.1.117.y/26
Similarly Subnet 3 also requires 60 hosts.
Subnet 3 = 223.1.117.z/26
 We get:
Subnet 1
 223.1.117.0/25
 223.1.117.00000000/25
 223.1.117.0 to 223.1.117.127
 128

Subnet 2
 223.1.117.128/26
 223.1.117.10000000/26 =
 223.1.117.128 to 223.1.117.191
 64

Subnet 3 =
 223.1.117.192/26
 223.1.117.11000000/26
 223.1.117.192 to 223.1.117.255
 64

7. What is MAC address? How it is different from IP address?

ANSWER:
MAC addresses are Medium Access Control Addresses. These addresses are
hard coded in network adaptors. They are also referred to as Hardware
addresses or Physical Addresses. It is basically a unique identification number
of device on the network.

It is represented as 12 digit Hexadecimal Number which is equivalent to 6 byte

binary number. The first three bytes identifies vendor / Manufacturer.

Difference between MAC Address and IP Address:

 MAC Address
MAC – Medium Access Control
It is physical address of device on
network.
It is represented by 6 byte binary
number or 12 digit Hexadecimal
Number.
ARP protocol is used to retrieve
MAC Address.
It operates in Data Link Layer
The MAC address of device
doesn’t change with time and
location.
IP Address
IP – Internet Protocol
It is logical address of Device on
the network
It is represented by 4 bytes or 16
bytes
RARP protocol is used to retrieve
IP Address.
It operates in Network Layer.
IP Address changes with time and
environment

8. What is the purpose of ARP protocol? Please state how it works briefly.

ANSWER:
ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol. It is part of IP routing and is used
to retrieve MAC Address of the Device from its IP Address. It basically
maintains a cache(Temporary Memory) to map MAC address to IP Addresses.
When a device wants to communicate with another device on LAN, then this
protocol is used.
Working:
ARP Cache is present in all the operating systems in an IPv4 Ethernet Network.
When MAC address is requested by host to transmit the packet to another host,
it goes through its ARP cache. If IP to MAC address translation does not exists
then network address is requested and if match is found then MAC address is
responded.
Request Packet is broadcasted to all the devices on the LAN by the ARP, when
the required device is found, ARP cache is updated.

9. Discuss the functions and importance of DNS protocol.

ANSWER:
 Domain Name System Protocol allows the users on the internet to recognize
and find the websites on the network using human readable hostnames, instead
of complex IP Addresses. It is an application layer protocol.
IP addresses are difficult to memorize therefore domain names are used. This
mapping of Domain name and IP addresses is done by the DNS protocol.
Whenever Domain name is requested by the user, the DNS server finds the
corresponding IP address and fulfills the request.
DNS plays central role in distributes Internet Services, it allows convenient
access of the data on the network as the user can use simple URL and domain
name of the URL would fetch the required page with the aid of the DNS.

10.What are the two types of IP address allocation? What are their pros and
cons?

ANSWER:
The two types of IP address allocation are Static IP address allocation and
Dynamic IP address Allocation.
Static IP addresses are input manually and they do not change.
Dynamic IP Addresses are variable and can be changed.
Pros and Cons:
Static IP Address Dynamic IP Address
Pros 1. Devices using Static 1. Dynamic IP Addresses
IP address can host are economical than
servers as they can Static IP Addresses.
be located easily 2. Since they do not require
from all across the manual input, they need
globe. less level of
2. It remains same maintenance.
irrespective of the 3. Due to dynamic nature
reboot status of the they tend to be more
device. secure.
3. They provide
stability for internet
use as they never
change.
4. The upload and
download speed is
also high for Static
 IPs

Cons 1. These addresses 1. Dynamic IPs cannot be

need to be allocated used for remote access
carefully to avoid as they change over time
duplication. and therefore difficult to
2. Static IP addresses locate.
are not secure. 2. They take comparatively
3. These addresses are more downtime than
costly than Dynamic Static IPs.
IP Addresses.

11.What are IP, TCP, and UDP stands for? Which layer are they working on,
respectively? What kind of service does each of them provide? Why do
HTTP, FTP, SMTP run on top of TCP rather than on UDP?

ANSWER
Protocol Full Form Layer Service
IP Internet Protocol Internet/Network Addressing,
Layer Fragmentation.
TCP Transmission Transport Layer Process to
Control Protocol Process
Communication,
Full Duplex
Service,
Connection
Oriented
Services,
Reliable
Delivery of
Packets
UDP User Datagram Transport Layer Trivial File
Protocol transfer Protocol,
Real Time
streaming
Protocol
HTTP, FTP, SMTP run on top of TCP rather than on UDP because of reliable
data transfer facilitated by TCP which UDP does not provide. As TCP is
connection Oriented Protocol, it ensures the delivery of packets while such
delivery is not ensured by UDP.

12.List three of the commonly used application layer protocols that use
TCP/IP services and explain their functions. Indicate the default ports used
by these application protocols. You may refer to the Internet standard
webpage.
http://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc.htmland Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA) website: http://www.iana.org/assignments/service-
names-port-numbers

ANSWER:
Three commonly used Application Layer protocols using TCP/IP services are:
1. HTTP - Hyper text Transfer Protocol. This application Layer protocol is
used to establish connection with web servers on the internet. It uses
hypertext links to load web pages.
Default Port is TCP 80.
2. SMTP – Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is part of TCP/IP. It uses “Store and
forward” Process to transfer email across the network.
Default Port Number is 25.
3. SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol. It is used to configure
remote devices, to keep check on the network and detect network faults.
Default Port number is TCP 161.