Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application layer protocol in the Internet
protocol suite model for distributed, collaborative, hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the
foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web, where hypertext documents
include hyperlinks to other resources that the user can easily access, for example by a mouse click or
by tapping the screen in a web browser.
Development of HTTP was initiated by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989.

HTTP functions as a request–response protocol in the client–server model. A web browser, for
example, may be the client whereas a process, named web server, running on a
computer hosting one or more websites may be the server. The client submits an
HTTP request message to the server. The server, which provides resources such as HTML files and
other content or performs other functions on behalf of the client, returns a response message to the
client. The response contains completion status information about the request and may also contain
requested content in its message body.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extension of HTTP Hypertext Transfer

Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication over a computer network. In HTTPS,
the communication protocol is encrypted using “Transport Layer Security (TLS)” or, formerly,
Secure Sockets Layer (SSL). The protocol is therefore also referred to as HTTP over TLS or HTTP
over SSL.
The principal motivations for HTTPS are authentication of the accessed website, and
protection of the privacy and integrity of the exchanged data while in transit.
It protects against man-in-the-middle attacks, and the bidirectional encryption of
communications between a client and server protects the communications
against eavesdropping and tampering.

HTTPS is now used more often by web users than the original non-secure HTTP, primarily to
protect page authenticity on all types of websites; secure accounts; and to keep user communications,
identity, and web browsing private.

HTTPS creates a secure channel over an insecure network. This ensures reasonable
protection from eavesdroppers and man-in-the-middle attacks, provided that adequate cipher
suites are used and that the server certificate is verified and trusted.

HTTPS URLs begin with "https://" and use port 443 by default, whereas, HTTP URLs begin with
"http://" and use port 80 by default.
HTTP is not encrypted and thus is vulnerable to man-in-the-middle and eavesdropping
attacks, which can let attackers gain access to website accounts and sensitive information, and
modify webpages to inject malware or advertisements.

HTTPS is designed to withstand such attacks and is considered secure against them (with the
exception of HTTPS implementations that use deprecated versions of SSL).

FTP

1
 The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer
of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server
model architecture using separate control and data connections between the client and the server.

The original specification for the File Transfer Protocol was written by Abhay
Bhushan and published as RFC 114 on 16 April 1971. IIT-Kanpur

Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)

Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is a simple lockstep File Transfer Protocol which
allows a client to get a file from or put a file onto a remote host. One of its primary uses is in the
early stages of nodes booting from a local area network.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is an internet standard communication

protocol for electronic mail transmission. Mail servers and other message transfer agents use
SMTP to send and receive mail messages.

User-level email clients typically use SMTP only for sending messages to a mail server for
relaying, and typically submit outgoing email to the mail server on port 587 or 465 per RFC 8314.
For retrieving messages, IMAP (which replaced the older POP3) is standard, but proprietary
servers also often implement proprietary protocols, e.g., Exchange ActiveSync.

SMTP servers commonly use the Transmission Control Protocol on port number 25 (for plaintext)
and 587 (for encrypted communications).

Domain Name System (DNS)

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the hierarchical and decentralized naming system used to
identify computers reachable through the Internet or other Internet Protocol (IP) networks.

DNS translates human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses.

An important and ubiquitous function of the DNS is its central role in distributed Internet
services such as cloud services and content delivery networks.

The key functionality of the DNS exploited here is that different users
can simultaneously receive different translations for the same domain name, a key point of
divergence from a traditional phone-book view of the DNS. This process of using the DNS to
assign proximal servers to users is key to providing faster and more reliable responses on the
Internet and is widely used by most major Internet services.

Telnet is an application protocol used on the Internet or local area network to provide a
bidirectional interactive text-oriented communication facility using a virtual terminal connection.
Telnet is a client-server protocol, based on a reliable connection-oriented transport.
Typically, this protocol is used to establish a connection to Transmission Control
Protocol (TCP) port number 23, where a Telnet server application (telnetd) is listening. Telnet,
however, predates TCP/IP and was originally run over Network Control Protocol (NCP).

2
The Secure Shell Protocol (SSH) is a cryptographic network protocol for operating network
services securely over an unsecured network. Its most notable applications are
remote login and command-line execution.

SSH applications are based on a client–server architecture, connecting an SSH client instance with
an SSH server.[2] SSH operates as a layered protocol suite comprising three principal hierarchical
components: the transport layer provides server authentication, confidentiality, and integrity;
the user authentication protocol validates the user to the server; and the connection
protocol multiplexes the encrypted tunnel into multiple logical communication channels.

SSH was designed on Unix-like operating systems, as a replacement for Telnet and
for unsecured remote Unix shell protocols, such as the Berkeley Remote Shell (rsh) and the
related rlogin and rexec protocols, which all use insecure, plaintext transmission of authentication
tokens.

The Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a networking protocol for clock synchronization between
computer systems over packet-switched, variable-latency data networks.
NTP is intended to synchronize all participating computers to within a
few milliseconds of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC).

Network Time Security (NTS), a secure version of NTP with TLS and AEAD is a proposed standard
and documented in RFC 8915.

A. https://www.omnisecu.com/tcpip/differences-between-tcp-and-udp.php

Differences between TCP and UDP

TCP stands for Transmission Control Protocol and it guarantees delivery of data packets. This
protocol provides extensive error checking mechanisms such as flow control and acknowledgment of
data. Before transmitting data, a connection must be established between the devices participating in
data transmission. If your Application require guaranteed delivery of data, then you must
choose TCP as the Transport layer protocol.
UDP stands for User Datagram Protocol and it operates in Datagram mode. User Datagram
Protocol (UDP) is a connection-less protocol. User Datagram Protocol (UDP) has only the basic error
checking mechanism using checksums.
Difference between (TCP) and (UDP)

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

1) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a connection oriented protocol, which means the devices
should open a connection before transmitting data and should close the connection gracefully after
transmitting the data.
2) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) assure reliable delivery of data to the destination.
3) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) protocol provides extensive error checking mechanisms such
as flow control and acknowledgment of data.
4) Sequencing of data is a feature of Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).
5) Delivery of data is guaranteed if you are using Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).
6) Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is comparatively slow because of these extensive error
checking mechanisms.
7) Multiplexing and Demultiplexing is possible in Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) using TCP
port numbers.
8) Retransmission of lost packets is possible in Transmission Control Protocol (TCP).

3
 User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
1) User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is Datagram oriented protocol with no overhead for opening a
connection (using three-way handshake), maintaining a connection, and closing (terminating) a
connection.
2) User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is efficient for broadcast/multicast type of network transmission.
3) User Datagram Protocol (UDP) has only the basic error checking mechanism using checksums.
4) There is no sequencing of data in User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
5) The delivery of data cannot be guaranteed in User Datagram Protocol (UDP).
6) User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is faster, simpler and more efficient than TCP. However, User
Datagram Protocol (UDP) is less robust than TCP
7) Multiplexing and Demultiplexing is possible in User Datagram Protocol (UDP) using UDP port
numbers.
8) There is No retransmission of lost packets in User Datagram Protocol (UDP).

https://www.omnisecu.com/cisco-certified-network-associate-ccna/unicast-multicast-
broadcast.php

Unicast? Unicast is a type of communication where data is sent from one computer to another
computer. There is only one sender, and one receiver.
Example:
1) Browsing a website. (Webserver is the sender and your computer is the receiver.)
2) Downloading a file from a FTP Server. (FTP Server is the sender and your computer is the
receiver.)

What is Multicast?
Multicast is a type of communication where multicast traffic addressed for a group of
devices on the network. IP multicast traffic are sent to a group and only members of that group
receive and/or process the Multicast traffic.
Devices which are interested in a particular Multicast traffic must join to that Multicast group to
receive the traffic. IP Multicast Groups are identified by Multicast IP Addresses (IPv4 Class D
Addresses)
In Multicast, the sender transmit only one copy of data and it is delivered and/or processed to
many devices (Not as delivered and processed by all devices as in Broadcast) who are interested
in that traffic.

Example : Multicast Windows Deployment Services (WDS) OS deployment traffic, IP TV etc

4
What is Broadcast? (Broadcast data is delivered to all connected devices.)
Broadcast is a type of communication where data is sent from one computer once
and a copy of that data will be forwarded to all the devices.
In Broadcast, there is only one sender and the data is sent only once.

Switches by design will forward the broadcast traffic and Routers by design will drop the
broadcast traffic. In other words, Routers will not allow a broadcast from one LAN to cross
the Router and reach another Network Segment. The primary function of a Router is to
divide a big Broadcast domain to Multiple smaller Broadcast domain.

Example: ARP Request message, DHCP DISCOVER Message

https://erg.abdn.ac.uk/users/gorry/course/intro-pages/uni-b-mcast.html

Unicast
Unicast is the term used to describe communication where a piece of information is sent from one
point to another point and there is just one sender, and one receiver.
Unicast transmission, in which a packet is sent from a single source to a specified destination, is
still the predominant form of transmission on LANs and within the Internet.

All LANs (e.g. Ethernet) and IP networks support the unicast transfer mode, and most users
are familiar with the standard unicast applications (e.g. http, smtp, ftp and telnet) which
employ the TCP transport protocol.

Broadcast
Broadcast is the term used to describe communication where a piece of information is sent from one
point to all other points and there is just one sender, but the information is sent to all connected
receivers.
Broadcast transmission is supported on most LANs (e.g. Ethernet), and may be used to send the
same message to all computers on the LAN (e.g. the address resolution protocol (arp) uses this to
send an address resolution query to all computers on a LAN, and this is used to communicate with
an IPv4 DHC server). Network layer protocols (such as IPv4) also support a form of broadcast that
allows the same packet to be sent to every system in a logical network (in IPv4 this consists of the
IP network ID and an all 1's host number).

Multicast
Multicast is the term used to describe communication where a piece of information is sent from one
or more points to a set of other points and there is may be one or more senders, and the
information is distributed to a set of receivers (there may be no receivers, or any other number of
5
receivers). One example of an application which may use multicast is a video server sending out
networked TV channels.
Simultaneous delivery of high quality video to each of a large number of delivery platforms
will exhaust the capability of even a high bandwidth network with a powerful video clip server. This
poses a major salability issue for applications which required sustained high bandwidth.
One way to significantly ease scaling to larger groups of clients is to employ multicast
networking.
Multicasting is the networking technique of delivering the same packet simultaneously to a group
of clients. IP multicast provides dynamic many-to-many connectivity between a set of senders (at
least 1) and a group of receivers.
The format of IP multicast packets is identical to that of unicast packets and is distinguished only by
the use of a special class of destination address (class D IPv4 address) which denotes a specific
multicast group. Since TCP supports only the unicast mode, multicast applications must use
the UDP transport protocol.

(Unicast is anything that is not broadcast nor multicast. All right, the definition is not very bright...
When you send a packet and there is only one sender process -yours- and one recipient process
(the one you are sending the packet to), then this is unicast. TCP is, by its own nature, unicast
oriented. UDP supports a lot more paradigms, but if you are sending UDP packets and there is
only one precess supposed to receive them, this is unicast too.)

[Broadcast seems to be a solution, but it's not certainly the solution. If you want all the hosts in your
LAN to attend the conference, you may use broadcast. Packets will be sent only once and every host
will receive them as they are sent to the broadcast address. The problem is that perhaps only a few of
the hosts and not all are interested in those packets. Furthermore: perhaps some hosts are really
interested in your conference, but they are outside of your LAN, a few routers away. And you know
that broadcast works fine inside a LAN, but problems arise when you want broadcast packets to be
routed across different LANs.]

Not read
Unlike broadcast transmission (which is used on some local area networks), multicast clients receive
a stream of packets only if they have previously elect to do so (by joining the specific multicast group
address). Membership of a group is dynamic and controlled by the receivers (in turn informed by the
local client applications). The routers in a multicast network learn which sub-networks have active
clients for each multicast group and attempt to minimise the transmission of packets across parts of
the network for which there are no active clients.

The multicast mode is useful if a group of clients require a common set of data at the same time, or
when the clients are able to receive and store (cache) common data until needed. Where there is a
common need for the same data required by a group of clients, multicast transmission may provide
significant bandwidth savings (up to 1/N of the bandwidth compared to N separate unicast clients).
The majority of installed LANs (e.g. Ethernet) are able to support the multicast transmission mode.
Shared LANs (using hubs/repeaters) inherently support multicast, since all packets reach all network
interface cards connected to the LAN. The earliest LAN network interface cards had no specific
support for multicast and introduced a big performance penalty by forcing the adaptor to receive all
packets (promiscuous mode) and perform software filtering to remove all unwanted packets. Most
modern network interface cards implement a set of multicast filters, relieving the host of the burden
of performing excessive software filtering.

Until here

6
Ethernet MAC Address
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/introduction-of-mac-address-in-
computer-network/ VVVVIMP
The Ethernet network uses two hardware addresses which identify the source and destination
of each frame sent by the Ethernet. The MAC destination address (all 1 s) is used to identify a
broadcast packet (sent to all connected computers in a broadcast domain) or a multicast packet (lsb of
1st byte=1) (received by a selected group of computers).
The hardware address is also known as the Medium Access Control (MAC) address, in reference to
the IEEE 802.x series of standards that define Ethernet. Each computer network interface card is
allocated a globally unique 6 byte MAC source address when the factory manufactures the card
(stored in a PROM). This is the normal source address used by an interface for completing the MAC
source address field, and also a filter for received frames.
A computer sends all packets which it creates with its own hardware source address, and receives all
packets, which match its hardware address or the broadcast address. When configured to use
multicast, a selection of multicast hardware addresses may also be received.

https://www.esds.co.in/blog/difference-between-unicast-broadcast-and-multicast/

Difference between Unicast, Broadcast & Multicast

Data is transported over a network by three simple methods i.e. Unicast, Broadcast, and Multicast. So
let‟s begin to summarize the difference between these three:
 Unicast: from one source to one destination i.e. One-to-One
 Broadcast: from one source to all possible destinations i.e. One-to-All
 Multicast: from one source to multiple destinations stating an interest in receiving the traffic
i.e. One-to-Many

Note: There is no separate classification for Many-to-Many applications, for example, video
conferencing or online gaming, where multiple sources for the same receiver and where receivers
often are double as sources. This service model works on the basis of one-to-many multicast and for
that reason requires no unique protocol. The original multicast design i.e. RFC 1112, supports both
the ASM (any-source-multicast) based on a many-to-many service model and the SSM (source-
specific multicast) based on a one-to-many model.
So let’s Dig Deeper into this subject

7
Unicast: traffic, many streams of IP packets that move across networks flow from a single point,
such as a website server, to a single endpoint such as a client PC. This is the most common form of
information transference on networks.

Broadcast: Here, traffic streams from a single point to all possible endpoints within reach on the
network, which is generally a LAN. This is the easiest technique to ensure traffic reaches its
destinations.
This mode is mainly utilized by television networks for video and audio distribution. Even if the
television network is a cable television (CATV) system, the source signal reaches all possible
destinations, which is the key reason that some channels‟ content is scrambled. Broadcasting is not
practicable on the public Internet due to the massive amount of unnecessary data that would
continually reach each user‟s device, the complications and impact of scrambling, and related privacy
issues.

Multicast: In this method traffic recline between the boundaries of unicast (one point to one
destination) and broadcast (one point to all destinations). And multicast is a “one source to many
destinations” way of traffic distribution, which means that only the destinations that openly point
to their requisite to accept the data from a specific source to receive the traffic stream.

On an IP network, destinations (i.e. clients) do not regularly communicate straight to sources

(i.e. servers), because the routers between source and destination must be able to regulate the
topology of the network from unicast or multicast side to avoid disordered routing traffic. Multicast
routers replicate packets received on one input interface and send the replicas out on multiple output
interfaces.
In the multicast model, the source and destinations are almost every time “Host” and not “Routers”.
The multicast traffic is spread by multicast routers across the network from source to destination. The
multicast routers must find multicast sources on the network, send out copies of packets on a number
of interfaces, avoid loops, connect interested destinations with accurate sources and keep the flow of
unsolicited packets to a minimum. The standard protocols of multicast routing provide most of these
facilities, but some router architecture cannot send multiple copies of packets and so do not support
direct multicasting.
So what is t he difference between Mult icast and Unicast?
There are two central methods that Windows Media servers use to send data to Windows Media
Player clients i.e. Unicast and Multicast…
Multicast or Unicast can be used for broadcasting live video or audio. Your network setting by
default determines who your clients are and what sort of broadcast you need to prefer.
Unicast
1. Traffic is sent from one host to another. A replica of each packet in the data stream goes to every
host that requests it.
2. The implementation of unicast applications is a bit easy as they use well-established IP protocols;
however, they are particularly incompetent when there is a need for many-to-many communications.
In the meantime, all packets in the data stream must be sent to every host requesting access to the
data stream. However, this type of transmission is ineffective in terms of both network and server
resources as it equally presents obvious scalability issues.
3. This is a one-to-one connection between the client and the server. Unicast uses IP provision
techniques such as TCP (transmission control protocol) and UDP (user datagram protocol), which are
session-based protocols. Once a Windows media player client connects via unicast to a Windows
media server that client gets a straight connection to the server. Every unicast client that connects to
the server takes up extra bandwidth. For instance, if you have 10 clients all performing 100 Kbps
(kilobits per second) streams, it means those clients taking up 1,000 Kbps. But you have a single client
using the 100 Kbps stream, only 100 Kbps is being used.

8
 Multicast
Multicast lets server‟s direct single copies of data streams that are then simulated and routed to hosts
that request it.
Hence, rather than sending thousands of copies of a streaming event, the server instead streams a
single flow that is then directed by routers on the network to the hosts that have specified that they
need to get the stream. This removes the requirement to send redundant traffic over the network and
also be likely to reduce CPU load on systems, which are not using the multicast system, yielding
important enhancement to efficiency for both server and network.
Multicast is true broadcast?
The multicast source depends on multicast-enabled routers to forward the packets to all clients‟
subnets that have clients listening. However, there is no direct affiliation between clients and
Windows media servers. The Windows media server creates a “.nsc” (NetShow channel) file when
the multicast station is first formed. Usually, the .nsc file is sent to the client from a web server. This
file holds data that the Windows media player requires to listen for the multicast. This is quite the
same as fine-tuning a station on a radio. Every client which eavesdrops on the multicast includes no
extra overhead on the server. In fact, the server sends out only a single stream per multicast station.
The equal load is experienced on the server whether only a single client or multiple clients are
listening.
Important note
Multicast on the Internet is usually not a concrete solution because only small sections of the Internet
are enabled with Multicast. On the other hand, incorporate environments where all routers are
multicast-enabled can save quite a bit of bandwidth.

Tutorials point

Casting in computer networks means transmitting data (stream of packets) over a network.
Following are the different types of casting used in networking −
 Unicast transmission
 Broadcast transmission
 Multicast transmission

Unicast Transmission (One-to-One)

In Unicast transmission, the data is transferred from a single sender (or a single source host) to a
single receiver (or a single destination host).
The network switches hear the MAC addresses of the devices on the networks to which they
are connected. They can then forward packets only onto those networks containing devices with the
connected MAC addresses. Unicast gradually becomes less efficient as more receivers need to see
identical data.
Example
In the following figure, Host A sends the IP address 11.1.2.2 data to the Host B IP address 20.12.4.3.
 Source Address = IP address of host A is 11.1.2.2
 Destination Address = IP address of host B is 20.12.4.3

9
Broadcast Transmission (One-to-All)
In Broadcast transmission, the data is transmitted from one or more senders to all the receivers
within the same network or in other networks. This type of transmission is useful in network
management packets such as ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) and RIP (Routing Information
Protocol) where all the devices must see the data.
There are two types of broadcast transmission −
 Directed Broadcast, and
 Limited Broadcast
Directed Broadcast
Directed Broadcast transmits data from one source host to all the other hosts that exist in some other
network. It is used in two scenarios −
 When the hosts are responsible for parsing data from broadcast packets.
 When all the hosts require the same data.

Limited Broadcast
In Limited Broadcast, the data is transmitted from a single source host to all the other hosts residing
in the same network. It is “limited” because it is never forwarded across a router, unlike
a directed broadcast.

Multicast Transmission (One-to-Many)

When the data is transmitted from a single source host to a specific group of hosts having
the interest to receive the data. Multicast can be more efficient than unicast when different groups of
receivers need to see the same data.
Example − Multicast is the technique used in Internet streaming of video or audio teleconference,
sending an email to a particular group of people, etc.

10
GFG
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/difference-between-unicast-broadcast-and-multicast-in-computer-
network/

The cast term here signifies some data(stream of packets) is being transmitted to the
recipient(s) from the client(s) side over the communication channel that helps them to
communicate. Three “cast” concepts prevail in the computer networks field.

1. Unicast –
2. Broadcast –
Broadcasting transfer (one-to-all) techniques can be classified into two types :
 Limited Broadcasting –
Suppose you have to send a stream of packets to all the devices over the network that you
reside, this broadcasting comes in handy. For this to achieve, it will append 255.255.255.255 (all
the 32 bits of IP address set to 1) called as Limited Broadcast Address in the destination
address of the datagram (packet) header which is reserved for information transfer to all the
recipients from a single client (sender) over the network.

 Direct Broadcasting –
This is useful when a device in one network wants to transfer packet stream to all the devices
over the other network. This is achieved by translating all the Host ID part bits of the
destination address to 1, referred to as Direct Broadcast Address in the datagram header for
information transfer.

This mode is mainly utilized by television networks for video and audio distribution.
One important protocol of this class in Computer Networks is Address Resolution Protocol
(ARP) which is used for resolving an IP address into a physical address which is necessary for
underlying communication.
3. Multicast –
In multicasting, one/more senders and one/more recipients participate in data transfer traffic. In
this method traffic recline between the boundaries of unicast (one-to-one) and broadcast (one-to-
all). IP multicast requires the support of some other protocols like IGMP (Internet Group
Management Protocol), Multicast routing for its working. Also in Classful IP addressing Class
D is reserved for multicast groups.

11
Difference between Unicast and Multicast :
S.No.Unicast Multicast
It has one or more senders and multiple
1. It has one sender and one receiver. receivers.

It sent data from one device to multiple

2. It sends data from one device to single device. devices.

It works on star, mesh, tree and hybrid

3. It works on Single Node Topology. topology.

It does not scale well across large

4. It does not scale well for streaming media. networks.

Multiple unicasting utilizes more bandwidth

5. as compared. It utilizes bandwidth efficiently.

Web surfing, file transfer is an example of a Switch is an example of a multicast

6. unicast. device.

7. It has one-to-one mapping. It has one-to-many mapping.

Difference between Broadcast and Multicast :

S.No. Broadcast Multicast
It has one or more senders and
1. It has one sender and multiple receivers. multiple receivers.

It sent data from one device to all the other It sent data from one device to
2. devices in a network. multiple devices.

It works on star, mesh, tree and

3. It works on star and bus topology. hybrid topology.

It does not scale well across large

4. It scale well across large networks. networks.

5. Its bandwidth is wasted. It utilizes bandwidth efficiently.

6. It has one-to-all mapping. It has one-to-many mapping.

Switch is an example of a multicast

7. Hub is an example of a broadcast device. device.

12
 An autonomous system (AS) in networking is a collection of one or more associated Internet
Protocol (IP) prefixes with a clearly defined routing policy that governs how the AS exchanges
routing information with other autonomous systems.
In simpler terms, an AS can be thought of as a connected group of IP networks
managed by a single administrative entity, such as a university, government, commercial
organization or other type of internet service provider (ISP).
An AS is sometimes described as a set of routers that are managed by a single
administrative entity. The AS appears to other autonomous systems as having a unified interior
routing plan that provides a consistent picture of the networks available in that AS.

https://www.omnisecu.com/cisco-certified-network-associate-ccna/what-is-autonomous-
system.php#:~:text=BGP%20is%20used%20to%20route,to%20identify%20the%20Autonomous%20Sy
stems.

What is Autonomous System | What is Autonomous System Number

An Autonomous System (AS) is a group of networks under a single administrative

control which could be an Internet Service Provider (ISP) or a large Enterprise
Organization. An Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP) refers to a routing protocol that handles routing
within a single autonomous system. IGPs include RIP, IGRP, EIGRP, and OSPF. An Exterior
Gateway Protocol (EGP) handles routing between different Autonomous Systems (AS). Border
Gateway Protocol (BGP) is an EGP. BGP is used to route traffic across the Internet
backbone between different Autonomous Systems.
When BGP (Border Gateway Protocol) was at development and standardization stage, a 16-bit
binary number was used as the Autonomous System Number (ASN) to identify the Autonomous
Systems. 16-bit Autonomous System Number (ASN) is also known as 2-Octet Autonomous System
Number (ASN). By using a 16 bit binary number, we can represent (2 16) numbers, which is equal
to 65536 in decimals.
The Autonomous System Number (ASN) value 0 is reserved, and the largest ASN value 65,535, is
also reserved. The values, from 1 to 64,511, are available for use in Internet routing, and the values
64,512 to 65,534 is designated for private use.
https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/border-gateway-protocol-bgp/

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is used to Exchange routing information for the internet and is
the protocol used between ISP which are different ASes.

Characteristics of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP):

 Inter-Autonomous System Configuration: The main role of BGP is to provide

communication between two autonomous systems.
 BGP supports Next-Hop Paradigm.
 Coordination among multiple BGP speakers within the AS (Autonomous System).

 Path Information: BGP advertisement also include path information, along with the reachable
destination and next destination pair.

13
 Policy Support: BGP can implement policies that can be configured by the administrator. For ex:-
a router running BGP can be configured to distinguish between the routes that are known within
the AS and that which are known from outside the AS.
 Runs Over TCP.
 BGP conserve network Bandwidth.
 BGP supports CIDR.
 BGP also supports Security.

Functionality of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP):

BGP peers performs 3 functions, which are given below.
1. The first function consist of initial peer acquisition and authentication. both the peers
established a TCP connection and perform message exchange that guarantees both sides have
agreed to communicate.
2. The second function mainly focus on sending negative or positive reach-ability
information.
3. The third function verifies that the peers and the network connection between them are
functioning correctly.

BGP Route Information Management Functions:

 Route Storage: Each BGP stores information about how to reach other networks.
 Route Update: In this task, Special techniques are used to determine when and how to use the
information received from peers to properly update the routes.
 Route Selection: Each BGP uses the information in its route databases to select good routes to
each network on the internet network.
 Route advertisement: Each BGP speaker regularly tells its peer what is knows about various
networks and methods to reach them.

Wikipedia

Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a standardized exterior gateway protocol designed to

exchange routing and reachability information among autonomous systems (AS) on
the Internet.
BGP used for routing within an autonomous system is called Interior Border Gateway
Protocol, Internal BGP (iBGP). In contrast, the Internet application of the protocol is called Exterior
Border Gateway Protocol, External BGP (eBGP).

https://www.fortinet.com/resources/cyberglossary/bgp-border-gateway-
protocol#:~:text=Border%20Gateway%20Protocol%20(BGP)%20refers,This%20is%20accomplished%2
0through%20peering.

What is BGP? BorderGateway Protocol (BGP) refers to a gateway protocol that

enables the internet to exchange routing information between autonomous
systems (AS). As networks interact with each other, they need a way to communicate. This is
accomplished through peering. BGP makes peering possible. Without it, networks would not be able
to send and receive information with each other.

Characteristics of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

a. Inter-autonomous System Configuration
BGP’s inter-autonomous system configuration allows it to make two autonomous systems
communicate with each other. Otherwise, they would not be able to connect and share
information.
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b. Supports Next-hop Paradigm

The next-hop paradigm dictates that a packet of data goes to the next or most optimal
choice among all the potential routers it can be sent to.

Coordination Among Multiple BGP Speakers Within an Autonomous System

BGP is able to scan all the available options before deciding which one is the best choice for
the next stop of data. This requires its ability to coordinate among more than one BGP speaker at the
same time.

Path Information
Within the BGP advertisement system is the path information that includes the next
destination and which destinations are reachable.
Policy Support
An administrator can design and implement policies by programming them into the BGP
system. This can be used, for example, to choose between routes that exist within the autonomous
system and those that exist outside it.
Runs Over TCP
Because BGP runs over Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), it is compatible with
the rest of the internet, which uses TCP for communications. TCP makes sure data packets
get sent and delivered across networks. BGP also interfaces well with secure sockets layer
(SSL), a virtual private network (VPN), and transport layer security (TLS).

BGP Conserves Network Bandwidth

The conservation of network bandwidth allows an organization to get the most out of
its network, and because BGP supports this, it can be used to facilitate efficient network
transmissions.
BGP Supports CIDR
Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) refers to a way to allocate Internet Protocol
(IP) addresses so they can be used for IP routing. Because BGP supports CIDR, it does not
interfere with how IP addresses get assigned or managed.
BGP Also Supports Security
While BGP does not have any security features inherent to it, it supports the existing
security tools and protocols that various networks use. This enables administrators to secure
their networks and use BGP simultaneously.

Functions of Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

Initial Peer Acquisition and Authentication
BGP allows the right peer to be identified, authenticated, and connected to, making the network run
more efficiently.
Sending of Negative or Positive Reachability Information
BGP sends information regarding whether or not a peer is reachable. This saves time by eliminating
errant connections.
Verification That the Peers and the Network Connection Between Them Are Functioning
Correctly
Once a connection happens, BGP is able to verify the health of the communication. In this way, BGP
facilitates more consistent, reliable connections.

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Information Management Functions of BGP Route
Route Storage
With route storage, individual BGPs keep information regarding how to connect with networks
within a set of databases. Databases are also used to store routing information that can be accessed by
BGP.
Route Update
BGP delivers update messages to advertise pertinent routing information. These are stored in a
routing table that becomes available after the system has started up.
Route Selection
The BGP speaker, which advertises routes, only conveys information about the best route to peers.
Route Advertisement
When there is more than one feasible route, BGP only advertises the best one to peers. This helps the
network function more efficiently because only viable routes are advertised.
Difference Between External BGP and Internal BGP
Internal BGP refers to a mechanism that gives information about the internal routers in a system. This
is done using a mesh topology, which involves routes being received from internal BGP neighbors
without them being advertised to other internal BGP neighbors. In this way, an internal BGP system
avoids loops. Routing loops are more common in external BGP systems because they do not use a
similar mesh topology.
What Are Autonomous Systems and Who Operates BGP Autonomous Systems?
An autonomous system, also known as a routing domain, consists of a collection of networks that use
the same BGP protocols. They are operated by a single administrator or entity. This may be an
enterprise, university, or another entity that utilizes a select set of routing protocols.

Techtarget

How does BGP work?

Each router maintains a routing table controlling how packets are directed. Routing table
information is generated by the BGP process on the router, based on incoming information from
other routers, and information in the BGP routing information base (RIB), which is a data table stored
on a server on the BGP router. The RIB contains information both from directly connected external
peers, as well as internal peers, and based on policies for what routes should be used and what
information should be published, continually updates the routing table as changes occur.

https://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=762938&seqNum=3

BGP
This section covers BGP theory and design concepts. The current version of BGP, Version 4, is
defined in RFC 1771 (March 1995). BGP is an interdomain routing protocol. What this means is that
you use BGP to exchange routing information between autonomous systems. The primary
function of BGP is to provide and exchange network-reachability information between
domains or autonomous systems. BGP is a path vector protocol that is suited for setting
routing policies between autonomous systems.

https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/collision-domain-and-broadcast-domain-in-computer-
network/?ref=rp

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Collision Domain and Broadcast Domain in Computer Network
Prerequisite – Network Devices, Transmission Modes
The most common network devices used are routers and switches. But we still hear people talking
about hubs, repeaters, and bridges. Do you ever wonder why these former devices are preferred
over the latter ones? One reason could be: „because they are more efficient and powerful‟. But what
actually is the reason behind their efficiency? This is when terms like “Collision
Domains” and “Broadcast Domains” come into the picture.
Before going further, let us recall that a hub is a multiple-port repeater. Similarly, a switch is a
multiple-port bridge so that you can understand why repeaters and bridges are not typically used
in production networks(because of less number of ports).
Now, narrowing it down to Hubs, Switches and Routers, let us discuss them in reference to the
below domains.
1. Collision Domain –
A Collision Domain is a scenario in which when a device sends out a message to the network,
all other devices which are included in its collision domain have to pay attention to it, no matter
if it was destined for them or not. This causes a problem because, in a situation where two
devices send out their messages simultaneously, a collision will occur leading them to wait and
re-transmit their respective messages, one at a time. Remember, it happens only in the case of a
half-duplex mode.
2. Broadcast Domain –
A Broadcast Domain is a scenario in which when a device sends out a broadcast message, all
the devices present in its broadcast domain have to pay attention to it. This creates a lot of
congestion in the network, commonly called LAN congestion, which affects the bandwidth of
the users present in that network.
From this, we can realize that the more the number of collision domains and the more the
number of broadcast domains, the more efficient is the network providing better bandwidth to
all its users.
So, which of our network devices break collision domains, and which of them break broadcast
domains?
 HUB –
We start with a hub because we should get rid of it as soon as possible. The reason being, it
neither breaks a collision domain nor a broadcast domain,i.e a hub is neither a collision domain
separator nor a broadcast domain separator. All the devices connected to a hub are in a single
collision and single broadcast domain. Remember, hubs do not segment a network, they just
connect network segments.
 SWITCH –
Coming to switches, we have an advantage over the hub. Every port on a switch is in a different
collision domain, i.e a switch is a collision domain separator. So messages that come from
devices connected to different ports never experience a collision. This helps us during
designing networks but there is still a problem with switches. They never break broadcast
domains, which means it is not a broadcast domain separator. All the ports on the switch are
still in a single broadcast domain. If a device sends a broadcast message, it will still cause
congestion.
 ROUTER –
Last, but not least, we have our savior. A router not only breaks collision domains but also
breaks broadcast domains, which means it is both collisions as well as broadcast domain
separators. A router creates a connection between two networks. A broadcast message from one
network will never reach the other one as the router will never let it pass.

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Also, as repeaters and bridges differ from hubs and switches only in terms of the number of ports,
a repeater does not break collision and broadcast domains, while a bridge breaks only collision
domains.

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