Communication

(Chapter 2)
Public & Private Networks:
The networks can be categorized as public or private.

Private Networks:

Private networks are owned by a single company or organization (they are often LANs or
intranets with restricted user access, for example, passwords and user ids are required to join the
network); the companies are responsible for the purchase of their own equipment and software,
maintenance of the network and the hiring and training of staff.

Public Networks:

Public networks are owned by a communications carrier company (such as a telecom

company); many organizations will use the network and there is usually no specific password
requirements to enter the network – but sub-networks may be under security management.

LANs, WANs, MANs, PANs & WLANs:

LANs:

LANs are usually contained within one building, or within a small geographical area. A typical
LAN consists of a number of computers and devices (such as printers) connected to hubs or
switches.

The benefits of connecting PCs in a LAN included the following:

1) The expense of installing application software on each individual PC could be saved by

installing the software on an application server attached to the LAN instead.
2) A file server could be attached to the LAN that allowed users to store larger files and also
allowed files to be shared between users.
3) Instead of supplying individual printers to be connected to a user’s PC, one or more
printers could be attached to a print server that was connected to the LAN; these could
be higher quality printers.
4) Managers in organizations could use electronic mail to communicate with staff rather
than sending round memos on paper.
5) The ‘paper-less off ice’ became a possibility, where files were to be stored in digital form
on a file server rather than as paper copies in a filing cabinet.

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Today, a typical LAN is characterized by the following:

1) It will be used by an organization or a company within a site or branch.

2) It will be owned by the organization or company.
3) It will be one of many individual LANS at one site.
4) The transmission medium will be twisted pair cable or WIFI.
5) The LAN will contain a device that allows connection to other networks.
6) There will be end-systems connected which will be user systems or servers.

WANs:

Wide area networks (WANs) are used when computers or networks are situated a long distance
from each other (for example, they may be in different cities or on different continents). If a
number of LANs are joined together using a router or modem, they can form a WAN.

Example:

The network of automated teller machines (ATMs) used by banks is one of the most common
examples of the use of a WAN.
Because of the long distances between devices, WANs usually make use of a public
communications network (such as telephone lines or satellites), but they can use dedicated or
leased communication lines which can be less expensive and more secure (less risk of hacking).

The benefits of having the computers connected by a WAN were:

1) a ‘job’ could be run on a remote computer that had the required application software.
2) a data archive that was stored on a remote computer could be accessed.
3) a message could be transmitted electronically to a user on a remote computer.

Today, a typical WAN is characterized by the following:

1) It will be used by an organization or a company to connect sites or branches.

2) It will not be owned by the organization or company.
3) It will be leased from a public switched telephone network company (PSTN).
4) A dedicated communication link will be provided by the PSTN.
5) The transmission medium will be fiber-optic cable.
6) Transmission within the WAN will be from switch to switch.
7) A switch will connect the WAN to each site.
8) There will not be any end-systems connected directly to the WAN.

MANs:

In recent years, another type of network – a metropolitan area network (MAN) – has emerged.
MANs are larger than LANs as they can connect together many small computer networks (e.g.
LANs) housed in different buildings within a city (for example, a university campus). MANs are
restricted in their size geographically to, for example, a single city.

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PANs:
It is an interconnection of personal technology devices to communicate over a short distance,
which is less than 33 feet or 10 meters or within the range of an individual person, typically using
some form of wireless technologies. (In other words, a home system).
WLANs:
Wireless LANs (WLANs) are similar to LANs but there are no wires or cables. In other words,
they provide wireless network communications over fairly short distances (up to 100 meters)
using radio or infrared signals instead of using cables.

WAPs:

Devices, known as wireless access points (WAPs), are connected into the wired network at
fixed locations. Because of the limited range, most commercial LANs (such as those on a college
campus or at an airport) need several WAPs to permit uninterrupted wireless communications.

WAPs Technologies:

The WAPs use either spread spectrum technology (which is a wideband radio frequency with a
range from a few meters to 100 meters) or infrared (which has a very short range of about 1 to 2
meters and is easily blocked, and therefore has limited use.

Guide for deciding the ‘size’ of a network:

WAN: 100 km to over 1000 km
MAN: 1 km to 100 km
LAN: 10 m to 1000 m
PAN: 1 m to 10 m

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Client-server and peer-to-peer networking models
Client-server Model

A client-server model is a networking computing system design that illustrates a relationship

between two or more computers, where the client computers request and receive services or
resources from a powerful centralized server computer.

Benefits:

1) The client-server model uses separate dedicated servers and specific client workstations;
client computers will be connected to the server computer(s).
2) Users are able to access most of the files, which are stored on dedicated servers.
3) The server dictates which users are able to access which files.
4) The client-server model allows the installation of software onto a client’s computer.
5) The model uses central security databases which control access to the shared resources.
(Note: passwords and user IDs are required to log into the network.)
6) Client-server networks can be as large as you want them to be and they are much easier to
scale up than peer-to-peer networks.
7) This model offers the most stable system, for example, if someone deletes a shared
resource from the server, the nightly back-up would restore the deleted resource.
8) Client-server networks can become bottlenecked if there are several client requests at the
same time.

Responsibilities of File Server:

1) Central storage and management of data files, thus enabling other network users to access
files.
2) Allowing users to share information without the need for offline devices (such as a memory
stick).
3) Allowing any computer to be configured as the host machine and act as the file server.

Peer to Peer Model:

Peer-to-peer (P2P) is a decentralized communications model in which each party has the same
capabilities and either party can initiate a communication session.

Node: Any device connected within a network.

Benefits:

1) The provision of services to all other network users; the services available are listed on a
nominated ‘look up’ computer – when a node requests a service, the ‘look up’ computer is
contacted to find out which of the other network nodes can provide the required service.
2) other users on the network to simply access data from another node
3) Communication with other peers connected to the network

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4) Peers to be both suppliers and consumers (unlike the client-server model where consumers and
resources are kept entirely separate from each other)
5) Peers to participate as equals on the network (again this is different to the client-server model
where a webserver and client have different responsibilities).

Drawbacks:

1) The peer-to-peer model does not have a central server.

2) Each of the nodes (workstations) on the network can share its files with all the other nodes, and
each of the nodes will have its own data.
3) Because there is no central storage, there is no requirement to authenticate users.
4) This model is used in scenarios where no more than 10 nodes are required (such as a small
business) where it is relatively easy for users to be in contact with each other on a regular basis.
5) More than 10 nodes lead to performance and management issues.
6) Peer-to-peer offers little data security since there is no central security system. This means it is
impossible to know who is authorized to share certain data. Users can create their own network
node share point which is the only real security aspect since this gives them some kind of
control.

Thin & Thick Clients:

Thin Clients:

A thin-client is one which:

1) Chooses an application to run on the server.
2) Sends input data to the server when requested by the application.
3) Receives output from the application.

Thick Clients:

A thick-client is one which:

1) Chooses an application provided by the server.
2) Possibly carries out some processing before running the application on the server and
also after receiving output from the application.
3) Alternatively, possibly downloads the application from the server and runs the application itself.

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 Thin client software Thick client software

Can run some of the features of the

Always relies on a connection to a remote
software even when not connected to a
server or computer for it to work.
server.

Requires very few local resources (such as SSD,

Relies heavily on local resources.
RAM memory or computer processing time).

Relies on a good, stable and fast network More tolerant of a slow network
connection for it to work. connection.

Can store data on local resources such as

Data is stored on a remote server or computer.
HDD or SSD.

Pros & Cons:

Pros Cons

More robust (device can carry

Thick Clients

Less secure (relies on clients to keep their

out processing even when not
own data secure).
connected to server).

Clients have more control (they Data integrity issues, since many clients
can store their own programs access the same data which can lead to
and data/files). inconsistencies.

Pros Cons

High reliance on the server; if the server

Less expensive to expand (low
Thin Clients

goes down or there is a break in the

powered and cheap devices can
communication link then the devices
be used).
cannot work.

All devices are linked to a server Despite cheaper hardware, the start-up
(data updates and new software costs are generally higher than for thick
installation done centrally) clients.

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Network Topologies:
1) Bus Networks
2) Star Networks
3) Mesh Networks
4) Hybrid Networks.

Bus Networks:

A bus network topology uses a single central cable to which all computers and devices are
connected.

Note:

Terminators are needed at each end to prevent signal reflection (bounce). Bus networks are
typically peer-to-peer.

Benefits:

1) It is easy to expand and requires little cabling.

2) Data can only travel in one direction.
3) If data is being sent between devices then other devices cannot transmit.
4) Even if one node fails, the remainder of the network continues to function.
It is easy to increase the size of the network by adding additional nodes.

Drawbacks:

1) If the main cable fails, the whole network goes down.

2) The performance of the network deteriorates under heavy loading.
3) The network is not secure since each packet passes through every node.

Suitability:
These are most suitable for situations with a small number of devices with light traffic occurring.
For example, a small company or an office environment.

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Star Networks:
A star network topology uses a central hub/switch and each computer/device is connected to
the hub/switch. Data going from host to host is directed through the central hub/switch. Each
computer/device has its own dedicated connection to the central node.

Note:

This type of network is typically a client-server.

Benefits:

1) Data collisions are greatly reduced due to the topology.

2) It is a more secure network since security methods can be applied to the central node and
packets only travel to nodes with the correct address.
3) It is easy to improve by simply installing an upgraded hub.
4) If one of the connections is broken it only affects one of the nodes.

Drawbacks:

1) The initial installation costs are high.

2) If the central hub/switch fails, then the whole network goes down.

Suitability:
Star networks are useful for evolving networks where devices are frequently added or removed.
They are well suited to applications where there is heavy data traffic.

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Mesh Networks:
There are two types of Mesh Network Topologies:

1) Routing
2) Flooding

Routing

Routing works by giving the nodes routing logic (in other words, they act like a router) so that data
is directed to its destination by the shortest route and can be re-routed if one of the nodes in the
route has failed.

Flooding

Flooding simply sends the data via all the nodes and uses no routing logic, which can lead to
unnecessary loading on the network.

Note:

It is a type of peer-to-peer network.

Benefits:

1) It is easy to identify where faults on the network have occurred.

2) Any broken links in the network do not affects the other nodes.
3) Good privacy and security, since packets travel along dedicated routes.
4) The network is relatively easy to expand.

Drawbacks:

1) A large amount of cabling is needed, which is expensive and time consuming.

2) Set-up and maintenance is difficult and complex.

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Suitability:

1) Medical monitoring of patients in a hospital.

2) Modern vehicles use wireless mesh network technology to enable the monitoring and
control of many of the components in the vehicle.

Hybrid Network:

A hybrid network is a mixture of two or more different topologies (bus and star, bus and mesh).
The main advantages and disadvantages depend on which types of network are used
to make up the hybrid network.

Additional disadvantage:

1) They can be very complex to install, configure and maintain.

Additional advantages:

1) They can handle large volumes of traffic.

2) It is easy to identify where a network fault has occurred.
3) They are very well suited to the creation of larger network.

Public & Private Computing:

Cloud storage

A method of data storage where data is stored on offsite servers.

Public cloud

A storage environment where the customer/client and cloud storage provider are
different companies.

Private cloud

A storage provided by a dedicated environment behind a company firewall.

Customer/client and cloud storage provider are integrated and operate as a single entity.

Hybrid cloud

A combination of private and public clouds. Some data resides in the private
cloud and less sensitive/fewer commercial data can be accessed from a public cloud storage
provider.

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 Pros of using cloud storage Cons of using cloud storage

Customer/client files stored on the cloud can
be accessed at any time from any device
anywhere in the world provided internet
access is available
No need for a customer/client to carry an
external storage device with them, or use the
same computer to store and retrieve
information
Provides the user with remote back-up of data
to aid data loss and disaster recovery
Recovers data if a customer/client has a hard
disk or back-up device failure
Offers almost unlimited storage capacity
If the customer/client has a slow or
unstable internet connection, they would
have problems accessing or downloading
their data/files
Costs can be high if large storage capacity
is required
Expensive to pay for high
download/upload data transfer limits with
the customer/client internet service
provider (ISP)
Potential failure of the cloud storage
company is possible – this poses a risk of
loss of all back-up data

Wired & Wireless Networking

Wireless:
Bluetooth:

Uses electromagnetic radiation as the carrier of data transmission.

How Bluetooth works & Concept of Spread Spectrum Frequency Hopping:

Bluetooth sends and receives radio waves in a band of 79 different frequencies (known as
channels). These are all centered on a 2.45 GHz frequency. Devices using Bluetooth automatically
detect and connect to each other, but they do not interfere with other devices since each
communicating pair uses a different channel.

When a device wants to communicate, it picks one of the 79 channels at random. If the
channel is already being used, it randomly picks another channel. This is known as spread
spectrum frequency hopping.

To further minimize the risks of interference with other devices, the communication pairs
constantly change the frequencies they are using.

Uses:

1) Transferring data between two or more devices which are less than 30 meters apart.
2) The speed of data transmission is not critical.
3) Using low bandwidth applications (for example, sending music files from a mobile phone to
a headset).

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WIFI:

Wi-Fi also uses spread spectrum technology. However, WIFI is best suited to operating full-scale
networks, since it offers much faster data transfer rates, better range and better security than
Bluetooth.

Uses electromagnetic radiation: radio waves, microwaves or infrared.

Comparison of Radio waves, Microwaves & Infrared.

infrared > microwaves > radio waves

Bandwidth
(infrared has the largest bandwidth)

radio waves > microwaves > infrared

Penetration
(radio waves have the best penetration)

radio waves > microwaves > infrared

Attenuation
(radio waves have the best attenuation)

Bandwidth: Bandwidth specifically refers to the capacity at which a network can transmit data.

Penetration: Penetration depth is one term that describes the decay of electromagnetic waves
inside of a material.

Attenuation: Attenuation is a reduction in the energy of a traveling wave as it propagates through

a medium.

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Wired:
There are three main types of cable used in wired network.
1) Twisted Pair Cables
2) Coaxial Cable
3) Fiber Optic

1) Twisted Pair Cables:

Twisted pair cables are the most common cable type used in LANs.
Uses electricity pulses to transfer data.

Drawbacks:

It has a lowest data transfer rate.

Suffers the most from external interference (such as electromagnetic radiation).

Benefits:

It is the cheapest option.

Types:

There are two types of twisted pair cable: unshielded and shielded.

Unshielded is used by residential users.

Shielded is used commercially.

2) Coaxial Cable:

Coaxial cables are the most commonly used cables in MANs and by cable television companies.
Uses electricity pulses to transfer data.

Drawbacks:

The cost of coaxial cables is higher than twisted pair cables.

Coaxial suffers from the greatest signal attenuation.

Benefits:

They offer a better data transfer rate.

Are affected less by external interference.
Coaxial cables also have about 80 times the transmission capacity of twisted pair.

3) Fiber Optics Cables:

Fiber optic cables are most commonly used to send data over long distances.
Fiber optics use light pulses to transmit data.

Drawbacks:

The main drawback is the high cost.

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Benefits:

They offer the best data transfer rate.

The smallest signal attenuation.
Have a very high resistance to external interference.
They have about 26 000 times the transmission capacity of twisted pair cables.
Fiber optic cables can be single- or multi-mode.

Single-mode uses a single mode light source and has a smaller central core, which results in less
light reflection along the cable. This allows the data to travel faster and further, making them a
good choice for CATV and telecommunications.

Multi-mode allows for a multi-mode light source; the construction causes higher light reflections
in the core, so they work best over shorter distances (in a LAN, for example).

Hardware requirements of networks

In this section we will consider a number of hardware items needed to form a LAN network and
the hardware needed to form a WAN.

1) Hub
2) Switch
3) Repeater
4) Bridge
5) Router
6) Gateway
7) Modems

1) Hub:

Hubs are hardware devices that can have a number of devices or computers connected to them.

They are often used to connect a number of devices to form a local area network (LAN), for
example a star network. A hub’s main task is to take any data packet (a group of data being
transmitted) received at one of its ports and then send the data to every computer in the
network.

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Using hubs is not a very secure method of data distribution and is also wasteful of bandwidth.

Note:

Hubs can be wired or wireless devices.

2) Switch:

Switches are hardware devices that can have a number of devices or computers connected to
them.

The switch checks the data packet received and works out its destination address (or addresses)
and sends the data to the appropriate computer(s) only.

This makes using a switch a more secure and efficient way of distributing data.

Each device or computer on a network has a media access control (MAC) address which
identifies it uniquely. Data packets sent to switches will have a MAC address identifying the
source of the data and additional addresses identifying each device which should receive the
data.

Note:

Switches can be wired or wireless devices.

3) Repeater:

Repeaters are devices which are added to transmission systems to boost the signal so it can travel
greater distances.

Repeating Hubs:

Sometimes, hubs contain repeaters and are known as repeating hubs. All signals fed to the hub
are boosted before being sent to all devices in the network, thus increasing the operational range.

Drawback of using Repeating Hubs:

1) They have only one collision domain. When the signals are boosted and then broadcast to
devices, any collisions which might occur are not resolved there and then. One way to deal
with this problem is to make use of jamming signals – while this manages the collisions, it
also reduces network performance since it involves repeated broadcasts as the collisions are
resolved.
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2) The devices are referred to as unmanaged since they are unable to manage delivery paths and
also security in the network.

4) Bridge

Bridges are devices that connect one LAN to another LAN that uses the same protocol
(communication rules). They are often used to connect together different parts of a LAN so that
they can function as a single LAN.

Bridges are used to interconnect LANs (or parts of LANs), since sending out every data packet
to all possible destinations would quickly flood larger networks with unnecessary traffic. For
this reason, a router is used to communicate with other networks, such as the internet.

Note:

Bridges can be wired or wireless devices.

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5) Router:

Routers enable data packets to be routed between the different networks for example, to join a
LAN to a WAN. The router takes data transmitted in one format from a network (which is
using a particular protocol) and converts the data to a protocol and format understood by
another network, thereby allowing them to communicate via the router.

Role of Routers:

Restrict broadcasts to a LAN

Act as a default gateway
Can move data between networks
Can calculate the best route to a network destination address.

6) Gateway:

A gateway is a network point (or node) that acts as an entrance to another network. It is a key
point for data on its way to or from other networks. It can be used to connect two or more
dissimilar LANs (LANs using different protocols). The gateway converts data packets from one
protocol to another.

7) Modems:

To allow the transmission of digital data over analogue communication channels we need to use a
modem (modulator demodulator). Modems converts digital data to analogue data. It also does
the reverse and converts data received over the analogue network into digital data which can
be understood by the computer.

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Important:

Routers Gateways

Forwards packets of data from one network to Convert one protocol (or data format) to
another; routers read each incoming packet of another protocol (format) used in a different
data and decide where to forward the packet network.

Convert data packets from one protocol to

Can route traffic from one network to another
another; they act as an entry and exit point
network.
to networks.

Can be used to join LANs together to form a WAN

Translate from one protocol to
and also to connect number of LANs to the
another.
internet.

Ethernet
Ethernet is a protocol used by many wired LANs. It was adopted as a standard by the Institute
of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) and Ethernet is also known as IEEE 802.3.

A network using Ethernet is made up of:

1) A node (any device on the LAN)

2) Medium (path used by the LAN devices, such as an Ethernet cable)
3) Frame (data is transmitted in frames which are made up of source address and destination
address – the addresses are often the MAC address).

Collisions: (very imp)

Ethernet supports broadcast transmission (communications where pieces of data are sent from
sender to receiver) and are used to send messages to all devices connected to a LAN. The risk is
that two messages using the same data channel could be sent at the same time, leading to a
collision.

A collision occurs when two devices send a packet at the same time on the shared network
segment. The packets collide and both devices must send the packets again, which reduces
network efficiency.

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CSMA/CD:

Carrier sense multiple access with collision detection (CSMA/CD) was developed to resolve
collisions in ethernet.

When a frame is sent it causes a voltage change on the Ethernet cable. When a collision is
detected, a node stops transmitting a frame and transmits a ‘jam’ signal and then waits for a
random time interval before trying to resend the frame. CSMA/CD protocol will define the
random time period for a device to wait before trying again.

Bit Streaming:

Bit streaming is a contiguous sequence of digital bits sent over the internet or a network that
requires a high-speed data communication link (such as fast broadband).

How Media Player controls the transmission rate?

The data transmission rate from the file server (containing the video, for example) to the buffer
must be greater than the rate at which data is transmitted from buffer to media player. The larger
the buffer, the better the control over the bit rate being sent to the media player. The media
player will always check to ensure data lies between a minimum value (often referred to as low
water mark) and a maximum value (often referred to as a high-water mark). The difference
between the two values is usually about 80% of the total buffer capacity.

The buffer is a temporary storage area of the computer.

Pros of bit streaming Cons of bit streaming

Cannot stream video or music files if

broadband connection is lost.
No need to wait for a whole video or music file
Video or music files will pause to allow the data
to be downloaded.
being streamed to ‘catch up’ if there is
No need to store large files on your device.
insufficient buffer capacity or slow broadband
Allows video files and music files to be played
connection.
on demand.
Streaming uses up a lot of bandwidth
Affords piracy protection.
Security risks associated with downloading files
from the internet.

Bit streaming can be either on demand or real time.

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On demand:

1) Digital files stored on a server are converted to a bit streaming format (encoding takes place
and the encoded files are uploaded to a server).
2) A link to the encoded video/music file is placed on the web server to be downloaded.
3) The user clicks on the link and the video/music file is downloaded in a contiguous bit stream.
4) Because it is on demand, the streamed video/music is broadcast to the user as and when
required.
5) It is possible to pause, rewind and fast forward the video/music if required.

Real time:

1) An event is captured by camera and microphone and is sent to a computer.

2) The video signal is converted (encoded) to a streaming media file.
3) The encoded file is uploaded from the computer to the dedicated video streaming server.
4) The server sends the encoded live video to the user’s device.
5) Since the video footage is live it is not possible to pause, rewind or fast forward.

The Internet:
Public switched telephone network (PSTN)

Communication systems that were not originally designed for computer networking provide
significant infrastructure support for the Internet. The longest standing example is what is
often referred to as POTS (plain old telephone service) but is more formally described as
a PSTN (public switched telephone network).

Comparison between PSTN and internet when making a phone call

Public switched telephone network (PSTN)

PSTN uses a standard telephone connected to a telephone line.

The telephone line connection is always open whether or not anybody is talking – the link is not
terminated until the receivers are replaced by both parties.
Modern phones are digitized systems and use fiber optic cables.
Existing phone lines use circuit switching.

Phone calls using the internet

Phone calls using the internet use either an internet phone or microphone and speakers.
The internet connection is only ‘live’ while data (sound/video image) is being transmitted.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) converts sound to digital packages (encoding) which can be
sent over the internet. VoIP uses packet switching; the networks simply send and retrieve data as
it is needed so there is no dedicated line, unlike PSTN. Data is routed through thousands of
possible pathways, allowing the fastest route to be determined.

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Cellular networks and satellites:

Satellites are an important part of all network communications that cover vast distances. Due to
the curvature of the Earth, the height of the satellite’s orbit determines how much coverage it can
give.

1) Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO)

Provides long distance telephone & computer network communications.
Distance: 35,800 kms
Orbital Speed : 24 hours
2) Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)
Used for GPS systems.
Distance: 5000-12000 kms
Orbital Speed : 2 to 12 hours
3) Low Earth Orbit (LEO)
Used by mobile phone networks.
Distance: 500-2500 kms
Orbital Speed : 80 mints to 2 hours

Satellites have the advantage that they will always give complete coverage and don’t suffer from
signal attenuation to the same extent as underground/undersea cables. It is also difficult to
isolate and resolve faults in cables on the sea bed.

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Internet Protocol (IP) Address:
It is a unique address allocated to each device on the internet by the network/ISP (internet
service providers).
It is used to identify the location of a device on the Internet/network.
IP addresses can be IPv4 (32 bit) or IPv6 (128 bit).
It can be static meaning it doesn’t change each time a device is connected to the Internet.
It can be dynamic meaning that it can change each time a device is connected to the Internet.
It can be used in place of URL.
Example: 198.167.214.1
192.168.0.255

Purpose of IP address:
It is an address given to each device that is unique within the network.
It is used to locate a device on a network.
It allows a device/gateway to send data to the correct destination i.e., specific device/gateway.
Characteristics of an IP address:
It consists of values between 0–255 / 0–FFFF.
The values are separated by full stops/colons.
It is a unique address.
It can be static or dynamic.
It can be public or private.
It can be IPv4 having four groups of digits.
It can be IPv6 having eight groups of digits.
The consecutive groups of 0000 can be replaced with double colons (::) in IPv6.

Public & Private IP Address:

Public IP Address:
It can be reached over the Internet.
It is less secure than a private address.
It is provided by the ISP (Internet Service Provider).
It is unique to the Internet and cannot be duplicated in different networks.
Private IP Address:
It can only be reached internally/through the LAN.
The NAT (Network Address Translation) is necessary for a private IP address to access the
Internet directly.
It is more secure than a public address.
It is assigned by the router of the network.
It is unique within its network but can be duplicated in other/different discrete networks.

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Static & Dynamic IP Address:
Static IP Address:

In this type of address, when a computer/device disconnects and rejoins a network, the
address does not change.
This address is permanently assigned to a device by the internet service provider (ISP).
It is usually assigned to:
remote servers which are hosting a website
an online database
a File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server.
FTP servers are used when files need to be transferred to various computers throughout
the network.

Dynamic IP Address:

In this type of address, each time the computer/device rejoins a network, the address changes.
This address is temporarily assigned by the network OS.
It is automatically temporarily assigned using a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
server.

Comparison of Dynamic & Static IP addressing:

A device using Dynamic IP addressing:

When the device wants to download a webpage from a website, the DNS translates the
required website URL into an IP address and sends it back to the device.
A message is sent by the device to the IP address of the website server (given by the DNS)
requesting a webpage. The website server sends the required webpage back to the device.
A device using Static IP addressing:
The device can access the website resources directly.
This gives the device a consistent location and also means less bandwidth is used reducing
the network traffic (and takes less time to retrieve data).
Reasons for a web server using a Static instead of a Dynamic IP address:

The static IP does not change whereas a dynamic IP address does change.
In the static IP, the DNS does not need updating which might be delayed causing ‘address
not found’ errors.
The web server may be accessed directly using just the IP address as it is still held in cache
memory.
This gives a device consistent location and also means less bandwidth is used reducing the
network traffic (and takes less time to retrieve data).

23
The following table compares Dynamic & Static IP addresses:

Dynamic IP addresses Static IP addresses

It provides greater privacy since it changes It allows each device to be fully traceable since
each time a user logs on. it does not change.

It can be an issue when using, for example,
VoIP since this type of addressing is less
reliable as it can disconnect and change the IP
address causing the VoIP connection to fail.
It allows for faster upload & download speeds.
It is more expensive to maintain since the
device must be constantly running so that
information is always available.

VoIP: Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), is a technology that allows you to make voice calls using
a broadband Internet connection instead of a regular (or analog) phone line.

IPv4 address:
Features of IPv4 address:

It has 4 groups of numbers separated by full stops (.)

Each group has values between 0–255
It is 32 bits long (4 bytes).
It is represented in denary.
Format of IPv4 address:

It has 4 groups of denary or hexadecimal integers separated by full stops (.)

Each group has numbers between 0–255 in Denary and 0–FF in Hexadecimal.
Each group is stored in 8 bits (1 byte) and the whole is stored in 32 bits (4 bytes).
Examples of valid IPv4 addresses:

1. 192.168.0.1
2. 128.12.2.30
3. 254.25.28.77

24
Classes in IPv4:

Classless inter-domain routing (CIDR)

The first approach developed for improving the addressing scheme is called ‘classless
inter-domain routing’ (CIDR). This retains the concept of a netID and a hostID but removes
the rigid structure and allows the split between the netID and the hostID to be varied to
suit individual need. The simple method used to achieve this is to add an 8-bit suffix to the
address that specifies the number of bits for the netID. If, for instance, we define the suffix as
21, that means that 21 bits are used for the netID and there are 11 bits remaining (of a 32-bit
address) to specify hostIDs allowing 211 (i.e. 2048) hosts. One example of an IP address using
this scheme is shown in Figure. The 21 bits representing the netID have been highlighted.
The remaining 11 bits represent the hostID which would therefore have the binary value
11000001110.

25
IPv6 address:
Features of IPv6 address:

It has 8 groups of numbers separated by colons (:)

Each group has values between 0–FFFF.
It is 128 bits long (16 bytes).
The consecutive groups of 0000 can be replaced with double colons (::)
It is represented in hexadecimal.
Format of IPv6 address:

It has 8 groups of hexadecimal digits separated by colons (:)

Each group has numbers between 0–FFFF.
Each number is 4 hexadecimal digits.
Each group is stored in 16 bits (2 bytes) and the whole is stored in 128 bits (16 bytes).
The first instance of multiple groups of zero can be replaced by a double colon (::)
NOTE: The range of numbers of 0–FFFF in Hexadecimal is equivalent to 0–65535 in Denary.

Examples of valid IPv6 addresses:

1. 12F3:2356:AB12:2015:0000:0000:1234:5123
2. A8FB:7A88:F FF0:0FFF:3D21:2085:66FB:F0FA
3. 12F3:2356:AB12:2015:0000:0000:1234:5123

Problems with IPv4 addressing:

The use of IPv4 is only 32-bit addresses which considerably reduces potential number of
devices and routers used on the internet at any one time.
A newer version called IPv6 is now used which is 128-bit addresses and so considerably
increases number of devices and routers used on the internet at any one time.
Why is there a need for IPv6 addressing:

The number of IP addresses needed will exceed the number available using IPv4.

Advantages of IPv6 compared to IPv4:

1. It removes the risk of IP address collisions.

2. It has built-in authentication checks.
3. It allows for more efficient packet routes.

Main Differences between formats of IPv4 address & IPv6 address:

1. The IPv4 has 4 groups of digits whereas IPv6 has 8 groups of digits.
2. In IPv4, each group is from 0–255 whereas in IPv6, each group is from 0–65535.
3. The IPv4 uses a full-stop between each group whereas IPv6 uses a colon between each group.
4. The IPv4 is 32-bit (4 bytes) whereas IPv6 is 128-bit (16 bytes).

26
Zero compression:
IPv6 addresses can be quite long; but there is a way to shorten them using zero compression.

For example, 900B:3E4A:AE41:0000:0000:AFF7:DD44:F1FF can be written as:

900B:3E4A:AE41::AFF7:DD44:F1FF

With the section 0000:0000 replaced by ::

The zero compression can only be applied ONCE to an IPv6 address, otherwise it would be
impossible to tell how many zeros were replaced on each occasion where it was applied.

For example, 8055:F2F2:0000:0000:FFF1:0000:0000:DD04 can be rewritten either as:

8055:F2F2::FFF1:0000:0000:DD04
or as:
8055:F2F2:0000:0000:FFF1::DD04

8055:F2F2::FFF1::DD04 is not a legal way of compressing the original address – we have no

way of knowing whether the original address was

8055:F2F2:0000:FFF1:0000:0000:0000:DD04
or

8055:F2F2:0000:0000:0000:FFF1:0000:DD04
or
8055:F2F2:0000:0000:FFF1:0000:0000:DD04

It would, therefore, be regarded as ambiguous.

Sub-netting
CIDR is actually based on sub-netting and the two are similar in many ways. Sub-netting
divides a LAN into two or more smaller networks. This helps reduce network traffic and can also
hide the complexity of the overall network.

Subnets are subdivisions of networks that are treated logically as separate networks. The standard
definition of a LAN is 'a set of connected computers within a limited geographical range'. However
this can also be qualified with 'all the devices should also be in the same IP network'. The network
id of each subnet is different.

27
NAT (Network Address Translation)
With NAT, a pool of public IP addresses is held by an edge router (at the point where it connects
to the internet). Any packet heading out to the internet, with a private IP address as its source
address, has swapped the private address for a public, routable address. This is then routable over
the internet and the response comes back to the right place. A single routable IP address can be
used for an entire private network.

As a result, a large organization can share a small number of public IP addresses between
outgoing conversations and dynamically allocate them as needed.

The following table compares IPv4 & IPv6 addresses:

IPv4 IPv6
Statement
(✓) (✓)

Can use hexadecimal notation ✓ ✓

Each group of digits is a number between 0 and 65535 ✓

Consists of four groups of digits ✓

Uses double colons (::) ✓

The total length of the address is 32 bits ✓

The following True & False statements are regarding IP addresses:

True False
Statement
(✓) (✓)

The IP address consists of any number of digits separated by single

✓
dots (.)

Each number in an IP address can range from 0 to 255 ✓

IP addresses are used to ensure that messages and data reach their
✓
correct destinations

Public IP addresses are considered to be more secure than private

✓
IP addresses

28
A few examples are given below which will help you better understand the formats of IPv4 & IPv6
addresses. The examples will show whether the given IP addresses are valid or invalid and the
justification needed for proving that according to the examination question.

Example 1:
The following table shows four IPv6 addresses. State if each address is valid or invalid.

IP Address Valid or invalid

21E5:69AA:FFFF:E100:B691:1285:F56E Valid

::255.255.255.255 Valid

59FB::1005:CC57:6571 Valid

56FE::2159:5BBC::6594 Invalid

Example 2:
The following table shows four IPv4 addresses. Indicate for each IP address whether it is valid
or invalid and give a reason.

IP Address Valid or invalid Reason

3A.21.2H.1 Invalid H is not a valid hexadecimal digit

299.53.2.2 Invalid 299 is out of range as largest individual number is 255

It consists of four numbers in the range 0–255

192.2.1.0 Valid
separated by full stops

258 is out of range as largest individual number is 255

12.258.3 Invalid 4 numbers are needed and so one group of numbers is
missing

29
Example 3:
The following table shows four possible IP addresses. Indicate for each IP address whether it
is valid or invalid and give a reason.

Denary/ Valid or
IP Address Reason
Hexadecimal Invalid

This is more than 32 bits

6AA/BBBB in Hex is bigger than FF/255 in
3.2A.6AA.BBBB Hexadecimal Invalid
denary
6AA/BBBB uses more than 8 bits (1 byte)

There are 4 bytes, each 255 or below

2.0.255.1 Denary Valid
All the values are in the range 0–255

6.0.257.6 Denary Invalid 257 is above 255 // third group is above 255

0A.78.F4.J8 Hexadecimal Invalid J is not a valid hexadecimal digit

Example 4:
The following is an IPv6 address:

15EF:5L63::2014:BB::60AA

Why is this IP address invalid?

L is not a valid hexadecimal number.

There are two double colons whereas in IPv6 only one double colon is allowed.

Example 5:
The following is an IPv6 address:

C100:2235::1000:25AA:AA50

Why this IPv6 address would be an invalid IPv4 address.

There are too many digits per group.

There are too many groups of digits.
The address is more than 32 bits (4 bytes).
The colons are used as separators.

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Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

Question 2:

31
Answer:

Question 3:

Answer:

32
Question 4:

33
4
Answer:

Question 5:

Answer:

34
Question 6:

Answer:

35
Question 7:

Answer:

36
IP address & MAC address:
The IP address gives the location of a device on the internet. It is an address given to each device
on the internet by the network/ISP.
The MAC address identifies the device connected to the internet. It is a unique address given to a
device on a network by the manufacturer.

Main Similarities between IP Address & MAC Address:

1. Both addresses can be used to identify a computer/device.

2. Both addresses are unique.
3. Both addressed can be represented as hexadecimal.
4. Both addresses do not change if the IP address is static.
Main Differences between IP Address & MAC Address:

1. An IP address is assigned by the network/ISP whereas a MAC address is assigned by the

manufacturer.
2. An IP address can be changed if dynamic, whereas a MAC address cannot be changed.
3. The IP address has 4/8 groups of values whereas MAC address has 6 groups/pairs of values.
4. The IP address is 32-bit/128-bit whereas MAC address is 48-bit.
5. The IP address does not contain serial number or manufacturer ID whereas MAC address
does.
6. The IPv4 address is denary and MAC address is hexadecimal.

The following True & False statements compare IP addresses & MAC addresses:

True False
Statement
(✓) (✓)

A MAC address is unique to a computer on a network ✓

Once an IP address has been set it cannot be changed ✓

A MAC address is made up of the computer’s serial number and the

✓
IP address

If a computer does not have an IP address, it cannot communicate

✓
with another device using the Internet

37
Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

38
Question 2:

Answer:

39
Question 3:

Answer:

40
Uniform Resource Locator (URL):
A uniform resource locator (URL) is a text-based address for a web page.
It contains the domain name, protocol used and the web page/file name.
It is the website address that is typed into the browser’s address bar used to access websites.
It directs a browser to a specific page online called a web page.
In essence, it's a set of directions and every web page has a unique one.

In a web browser, the address bar (also URL bar) shows the current URL. The user can either click on
a link or type a URL into the bar manually to navigate to a chosen website.

It is typed into the browser address bar using the following format:

protocol://website address/path/file name

The protocol is either http or https.

The website address is:

– domain host → www

– domain name → website name
– domain type → .com, .org, .net, .gov etc.
– country code → .pk, .uk, .de, .cy etc.

The path is the web page, which is often omitted and it then becomes the root directory of
the website.
The file name is the item on the web page.

For example, the web browser will break up the URL into three parts:

The first part: It is the access protocol used. It can only be either http or https.

The second part: It is the domain name or also called web servers name.

The third part: It is the file name/web page.

41
Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

Answer:

Part 1 = access protocol Part 2 = domain name Part 3 = file name

Question 2:

Answer:
https = protocol
cambridgeassessment.org.uk = domain name
/index.html = file name/web page

42
Question 3:

Answer:

http = enables browser to know what protocol is being used to access information in domain

cie.org.uk = it is the domain name

computerscience.html = it is the actual web page / file being viewed

43
Question 4:

Answer:

Question 5:

Answer:

44
Retrieval, Location & Displaying Of Web Pages:
Domain Name Server (DNS):
It is a system for finding IP addresses for a domain name given in a URL.
It stores an index of URL and matching IP address.
It searches for URL to obtain the IP address.
The DNS process involves converting a URL (such as www.visionacademy.com.pk) into an IP
address the computer can understand (such as 107.162.140.19).
So, it basically translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet
resources.
Therefore, the URL and domain name servers eliminate the need for a user to memorize IP
addresses.

NOTE: The process of how web pages are located, retrieved, and displayed on a device when
a user enters a URL including the roles of the web browser, IP address, DNS, web server &
HTML involves using the same keywords for all kind of scenarios with little variations.
Therefore, a few examples according to questions asked in past examinations are given below
for you to understand this important concept better and easily.
However, the basic keywords, reasoning and concepts remain fairly same for all questions.

Description of how Web Pages for a Website is requested and displayed on a user’s computer:

The browser sends URL to DNS (domain name server) using HTTP/HTTPS.
The DNS finds matching IP addresses for URL and sends IP address to web browser.
The web browser sends request to IP address/web server for web pages.
The web server sends web pages back to browser.
The browser renders/interprets the HTML to display web pages.
Any security certificates are exchanged/authenticated.
How the web browser uses the URL to access the Web Pages:

The web browser sends the URL to DNS (domain name server) to find the IP address.
DNS stores an index of URL and matching IP address.
DNS searches for URL to obtain the IP address.
IP address is sent to the web browser, if found.
It connects to the web server (using the IP address) using HTTP/HTTPS.
Web server sends the web page to web browser.
Web browser interprets/translates HTML code to display the web page.
If URL is not found, DNS returns an error to the browser.

45
Explanation of role of browser when accessing the Web Pages:

The web browser sends the URL to DNS (domain name server) to find the IP address.
It connects to the webserver (using the IP address) using HTTP/HTTPS.
It renders/translates HTML.
It runs active/client-side scripts built into webpages.
It manages SSL/TLS certificate process.
It stores/retrieves cookies.

Exam Style Questions:

Question 1:

A company sells smartphones over the internet.

Explain how the information stored on the company's website is requested by the customer,
sent to the customer's computer and displayed on the screen.

Requested:

A web browser is used.

The user enters the URL/web address (into the address bar) OR clicks a link containing the
web address.
The URL/web address specifies the protocol used e.g. Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
(HTTP)/Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS).
Sent:

The URL/web address contains the domain name.

The domain name is used to look up the IP address of the company.
The domain name server (DNS) stores an index of domain names and IP addresses.
The web browser sends a request to the web server/IP address.
Received:

The data for the website is stored on the company’s web server.
The web server sends the data for the website back to the web browser.
The web server uses the customer’s IP address to return the data.
The data is transferred into Hyper Text Mark-up Language (HTML).
HTML is interpreted by the web browser to display the website.

46
Question 2:

Answer (in correct sequence):

1. URL
2. https
3. Domain name
4. Web server
5. Browser
6. HTML

47
Question 3:

Answer:

48
Question 4:

Answer:

49