Module 8 - Network Layer

1. How does IP’s efficiency affect reliability? How is this addressed? (2)

Using IP that isn't well certified and waiting for problems to arise right
before tape-out during the design-to-verification phase can be quite risky. The
IP layer protocol is unreliable (called a best-effort protocol). IP packet delivery
is not guaranteed, nor is it guaranteed that they will arrive just once and
without errors. The TCP protocol has this reliability built in, while the UDP
protocol does not. You must make sure that dependability is integrated into
the UDP applications if you need reliable transport between two UDP
applications.

2. Provide the major header fields in IPv4 and their corresponding roles. (3)

Version - The first 4-bit header field provides information about the currently
used IP version, which is IPv4 in this case.

Differentiated Services or DiffServ (DS) - a protocol for classifying and

managing network traffic to give some types of traffic priority

Time To Live (TTL) - TTL limits the datagram's lifetime by causing

undeliverable datagrams to be automatically discarded, preventing packets
from getting stuck in an endless loop in the internet system.

Protocol – This 8-bit field specifies the protocol used in the packet's data
section.

Header Checksum – The Header Checksum field notices any communication

faults in the header.

Source IPv4 Address – The 32-bit IPv4 address of the sender of the packet.

Destination IPv4 Address - The 32-bit IPv4 address of the receiver of the
packet.

3. Provide the major header fields in IPv6 and their corresponding roles. (3)

Version – The Version field, which displays the IP version, is set to 6. This field
has a 4-bit size. Although having the same definition for IPv4 and IPv6, the
Version field's value is not used to send the packet to either an IPv4 or IPv6
protocol layer.
 Traffic Class – The Traffic Class field indicates the IPv6 packet’s class or
priority. The size of this field is 8 bits. This field provides functionality like the
IPv4 Type of Service field.

Flow Label – According to the flow label field, this packet is part of a specified
sequence between a source and destination that needs to be handled
differently by intermediate IPv6 routers. This field has a 20-bit size.

Payload Length – The IPv6 payload's length is indicated by the Payload Length
parameter. This field has a 16-bit size. The extension headers and the upper-
layer PDU are included in the Payload Length field.

Next Header – The length of the IPv6 payload is indicated by the Payload
Length parameter. This field is 16 bits in size. The upper-layer PDU and
extension headers are both included in the Payload Length field.

Hop Limit – The IPv6 packet's maximum number of links it can cross before
being dropped is indicated by the Hop Limit field. This field has an 8-bit size.

Source IPv6 Address – The IPv6 address of the originating host is displayed in
the Source Address column. This field has a 128-bit size.

Destination IPv6 Address - The IPv6 address of the current destination node
is displayed in the Destination Address field. This field has a 128-bit size.

4. How does a router decide when forwarding packets? (2)

Each packet that is received is evaluated by the router to determine

whether to forward it, where to send it, and which network interface to utilize.
Most packets are forwarded using the IP destination address and routing data
stored in the router's routing table.

Module 9 - Address Resolution Protocol

1. What is the major difference of MAC addresses from IP addresses in terms of

device communication in a network? (2)

Since MAC addresses are used to verify the physical address of the machine,
they differ most from IP addresses. It gives each device on a network a
distinct identity. While IP addresses are used to identify a connection to a
network and the devices that are a part of it uniquely.

2. What are the two basic functions of ARP? (2)

 Resolving IPv4 Addresses to MAC Addresses - A frame needs to have a
destination MAC address to be sent via LAN media. The node consults a table
in its memory to locate the Data Link layer address that corresponds to the
destination IPv4 address when a packet is transmitted to the Data Link layer
to be encapsulated into a frame address The ARP table or ARP cache is the
name of this table. The device's RAM is where the ARP table is kept.

Maintaining the ARP Table - The ARP table is dynamically updated. A device
can collect MAC addresses in two different methods addresses.

1. One method is to keep an eye on the activity on the local network segment.
the node when the media sends frames, it can save the source IP and MAC
address as a in the ARP table mapping.

2. Broadcasting an ARP request is another approach for a device to obtain an

address pair. ARP messages a Layer 2 broadcast to all Ethernet LAN devices.
The frame includes an ARP. Request message including the host's IP address.

3. How is an ARP poisoning attack performed? (2)

Using ARP's weaknesses to tamper with other networked devices' MAC-to-IP

mappings.

4. Why do you suppose ICMPv6 Neighbor Solicitations are sent as a multicast

and not broadcast? (2)

Nodes send Neighbor Solicitations to target nodes, along with their own link-
layer address, to obtain the target node's link-layer address. When a node
needs to resolve an address, neighbor solicitations are multicast, and when it
wants to confirm a neighbor's reachability, they are unicast.

5. How is ICMPv6 ND different from ARP? (2)

ICMP messages are used by the IPv6 neighbor discovery (ND) process for
address resolution, neighbor reachability testing, and nearby device tracking.
The ICMPv6 messages utilized by the IPv6 ND protocol are listed in Table 8.
Only local IPv6 addresses are used for ND functionalities. ND messages, in
contrast to ARP, are multicast rather than broadcast. Many multicast groups are
joined by an IPv6 host or router when it first boots up. The all-nodes group must
accept the IPv6 mode. Moreover, it must join a solicited-node group for each
IPv6-enabled interface and IPv6 address it possesses. The device can receive
packets without having all the specifics of its address defined by joining these
groups. Compared to the ARP mechanism used in IPv4, this setup is far more
complicated.