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Computer Networking Terminology

In this chapter, we will discuss the major terminologies used in computer networking −

WAN
It stands for Wide Area Network and covers a wide area such as a city.

LAN
It stands for Local Area Network and covers a small area such as a small office or home. It
physically connects all the computers located in the premises.

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Internet
It is a computer network system that connects the computers of the world. It is normally
connecting through WAN and LAN.

Intranet
It is a close room computer network system, as it covers a small area and only authorized
people can access it.

Extranet
It is also a sort of Internet the access to which is granted only to a few.

World Wide Web (WWW)

It is the service that is used on Internet to view and search contents (in the form of web-
pages).

Instant messaging (IM)

It is an online facility that facilitates us to chat or talk. Such service is provided by Skype,
Google Talk, Windows Live Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, etc.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP)

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It is a Protocol, which is used especially for voice transfer over IP network. Likewise, it
facilitates users to make phone-calls by using internet.

Really Simple Syndication (RSS)

It is a technique, which is used for the dissemination of information, articles, etc. Users
normally subscribe to the RSS channel in order to receive news. After subscription, users
do not need to visit the respective website rather they receive emails regarding the same.

Web log
It is a sort of online inventory (normally on a specialized topics) that consists of a series of
entries. These entries are arranged in opposite chronological order. The person who
maintains the weblog regularly update it with a new information.

Podcast
It is a digital file that normally contains audio or video record and is available on the
Internet as well.

Social networking websites

It refers to the websites that facilitate users with a common platform where they can
share their message (in text, audio, or even video form), images, videos, etc. For
example, Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn, MySpace, etc.

Chat Rooms

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It is a dedicated area on the Internet that facilitates users to communicate.

Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN)

It is a technical expression for public telephone system.

Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN)

It is a set of communication standards that transmits voice, video, data, and other
network services simultaneously.

Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL)

It is a sort of digital subscriber line (DSL) technology that facilitates faster data transmission.

Download
It is a process that saves data from Internet onto a personal computer.

Upload
It is a process that transfers the saved data from a personal computer to Internet server.

Dial-up
It is a technique in which a phone line is used in order to connect to the Internet.

Broadband
It is a wide bandwidth data transmission that transports multiple signals and traffic types
swiftly.

Domain Name System (DNS) in Application Layer

The Domain Name System (DNS) is like the internet’s phone book. It helps you find websites
by translating easy-to-remember names (like www.example.com) into the numerical IP
addresses (like 192.0.2.1) that computers use to locate each other on the internet. Without
DNS, you would have to remember long strings of numbers to visit your favorite websites.

Domain Name System (DNS) is a hostname used for IP address translation services. DNS is
a distributed database implemented in a hierarchy of name servers. It is an application layer
protocol for message exchange between clients and servers. It is required for the functioning
of the Internet.

What is the Need for DNS?

Every host is identified by the IP address but remembering numbers is very difficult for people
also the IP addresses are not static therefore a mapping is required to change the domain
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name to the IP address. So DNS is used to convert the domain name of the websites to their
numerical IP address.

DNS translates domain names to IP addresses, making it an essential part of the internet.

There are various kinds of domains:

 Generic Domains: .com(commercial), .edu(educational), .mil(military), .org(nonprofit

organization), .net(similar to commercial) all these are generic domains.

 Country Domain: .in (India) .us .uk

 Inverse Domain: if we want to know what is the domain name of the website. IP to
domain name mapping. So DNS can provide both the mapping for example to find the IP
addresses of geeksforgeeks.org then we have to type.
Internet Connection

An Internet connection refers to a direct link that allows devices to access the World Wide
Web. It is essential for browsing websites and online content, with different types of
connections available depending on the user's needs, such as dial-up or high-speed
connections.

IP Address Definition And Explanation

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is the unique identifying number assigned to every
device connected to the internet. An IP address definition is a numeric label assigned to
devices that use the internet to communicate. Computers that communicate over the internet
or via local networks share information to a specific location using IP addresses.

IP addresses have two distinct versions or standards. The Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4)
address is the older of the two, which has space for up to 4 billion IP addresses and is
assigned to all computers. The more recent Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) has space for
trillions of IP addresses, which accounts for the new breed of devices in addition to
computers. There are also several types of IP addresses, including public, private, static, and
dynamic IP addresses.

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Every device with an internet connection has an IP address, whether it's a computer, laptop,
IoT device, or even toys. The IP addresses allow for the efficient transfer of data between two
connected devices, allowing machines on different networks to talk to each other.

How does an IP address work?

An IP address works in helping your device, whatever you are accessing the internet on, to
find whatever data or content is located to allow for retrieval.

Common tasks for an IP address include both the identification of a host or a network, or
identifying the location of a device. An IP address is not random. The creation of an IP address
has the basis of math. The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA) allocates the IP
address and its creation. The full range of IP addresses can go from 0.0.0.0 to
255.255.255.255.

With the mathematical assignment of an IP address, the unique identification to make a

connection to a destination can be made.

Public IP address

A public IP address, or external-facing IP address, applies to the main device people use to
connect their business or home internet network to their internet service provider (ISP). In
most cases, this will be the router. All devices that connect to a router communicate with
other IP addresses using the router’s IP address.

Knowing an external-facing IP address is crucial for people to open ports used for online
gaming, email and web servers, media streaming, and creating remote connections.

Private IP address

A private IP address, or internal-facing IP address, is assigned by an office or home intranet

(or local area network) to devices, or by the internet service provider (ISP). The home/office
router manages the private IP addresses to the devices that connect to it from within that
local network. Network devices are thus mapped from their private IP addresses to public IP
addresses by the router.

Private IP addresses are reused across multiple networks, thus preserving valuable IPv4
address space and extending addressability beyond the simple limit of IPv4 addressing
(4,294,967,296 or 2^32).

In the IPv6 addressing scheme, every possible device has its own unique identifier assigned
by the ISP or primary network organization, which has a unique prefix. Private addressing is
possible in IPv6, and when it's used it's called Unique Local Addressing (ULA).

Static IP address

All public and private addresses are defined as static or dynamic. An IP address that a person
manually configures and fixes to their device’s network is referred to as a static IP address. A
static IP address cannot be changed automatically. An internet service provider may assign a
static IP address to a user account. The same IP address will be assigned to that user for
every session.
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Dynamic IP address

A dynamic IP address is automatically assigned to a network when a router is set up.

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) assigns the distribution of this
dynamic set of IP addresses. The DHCP can be the router that provides IP addresses to
networks across a home or an organization.

Each time a user logs into the network, a fresh IP address is assigned from the pool of
available (currently unassigned) IP addresses. A user may randomly cycle through several IP
addresses across multiple sessions.

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What Is IPv4?

IPv4 is the fourth version of the IP. It is one of the core protocols of the standards-based
methods used to interconnect the internet and other networks. The protocol was first
deployed on the Atlantic Packet Satellite Network (SATNET), which was a satellite network
that formed a segment of the initial stages of the internet, in 1982. It is still used to route
most internet traffic despite the existence of IPv6.

IPv4 is currently assigned to all computers. An IPv4 address uses 32-bit binary numbers to
form a unique IP address. It takes the format of four sets of numbers, each of which ranges
from 0 to 255 and represents an eight-digit binary number, separated by a period point.

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IP Address Classes

Some IP addresses are reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). These
are typically reserved for networks that carry a specific purpose on the Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), which is used to interconnect devices. Four
of these IP address classes include:

1. 0.0.0.0: This IP address in IPv4 is also known as the default network. It is the non-
routeable meta address that designates an invalid, non-applicable, or unknown network
target.

2. 127.0.0.1: This IP address is known as the loopback address, which a computer uses to
identify itself regardless of whether it has been assigned an IP address.

3. 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.254.254: A range of addresses that are automatically

assigned if a computer is unsuccessful in an attempt to receive an address from the
DHCP.

4. 255.255.255.255: An address dedicated to messages that need to be sent to every

computer on a network or broadcasted across a network.

Further reserved IP addresses are for what is known as subnet classes. Subnetworks are small
computer networks that connect to a bigger network via a router. The subnet can be assigned
its own IP address system, so that all devices connecting to it can communicate with each
other without having to send data via the wider network.

The router on a TCP/IP network can be configured to ensure it recognizes subnets, then route
the traffic onto the appropriate network. IP addresses are reserved for the following subnets:

1. Class A: IP addresses between 10.0.0.0 and 10.255.255.255

2. Class B: IP addresses between 172.16.0.0 and 172.31.255.255

3. Class C: IP addresses between 192.186.0.0 and 192.168.255.255

4. Class D or multicast: IP addresses between 224.0.0.0 and 239.255.255.255

5. Class E, which are reserved for experimental usage: IP addresses between

240.0.0.0 and 254.255.255.254

IP addresses listed under Class A, Class B, and Class C are most commonly used in the
creation of subnets. Addresses within the multicast or Class D have specific usage rules
outlined in the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) guidelines, while the release of Class E
addresses for public use was the cause of plenty of debate before the IPv6 standard was
introduced.

Internet Addresses and Subnets

The IANA reserves specific IP address blocks for commercial organizations, government
departments, and ISPs. When a user connects to the internet, their ISP assigns them an
address from within one of the blocks assigned to it. If they only go online from one
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computer, then they can use the address assigned to it by their ISP.

However, most homes now use routers that share a network connection with multiple
devices. So if a router is used to share the connection, then the ISP assigns the IP address to
the router, and then a subnet is created for all computers that connect to it.

IP addresses that fall within a subnet have a network and a node. The subnet is identified by
the network. The node, also known as the host, connects to the network and needs its own
address. Computers separate the network and node via a subnet mask, which filters the
appropriate IP address designation. When a large network is set up, the subnet mask that
best fits the number of nodes or subnets required is determined.

When it comes to IP addresses within a subnet, the first address is reserved for the subnet,
and the final one indicates the broadcast address for the subnet’s systems.

IPv4 vs IPv6

IPv4 has not been able to cope with the massive explosion in the quantity and range of
devices beyond simply mobile phones, desktop computers, and laptops. The original IP
address format was not able to handle the number of IP addresses being created.

To address this problem, IPv6 was introduced. This new standard operates a hexadecimal
format that means billions of unique IP addresses can now be created. As a result, the IPv4
system that could support up to around 4.3 billion unique numbers has been replaced by an
alternative that, theoretically, offers unlimited IP addresses.

That is because an IPv6 IP address consists of eight groups that contain four hexadecimal
digits, which use 16 distinct symbols of 0 to 9 followed by A to F to represent values of 10 to
15.

How Do I Locate My IP Address?

Windows computer users can look up their IP address by typing "cmd" into the search tab and
hitting Enter, then typing "ipconfig" into the pop-up box. Mac computer users can find their IP
address by heading into System Preferences and selecting Network.

To look up an IP address on a mobile phone, users need to head into Settings, then open the
Wi-Fi menu and their network menu. The IP address should be listed under the Advanced
section, depending on the phone they use.

IP address vs MAC address

When you analyze an IP address vs. a MAC address, you can start with the similarities. For
both of these IP address types, you are dealing with a unique identifier with an attachment to
that device. The manufacturer of a network card or router is the provider of the MAC address,
while the internet service provider (ISP) is the provider of the IP address.

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The main difference between the two is that the MAC address is the physical address of a
device. If you have five laptops on your home Wi-Fi network, you can identify each of those
five laptops on your network via their MAC address.

The IP address works differently as it is the identifier of the connection of the network with
that device. Other differences include:

 A MAC address is a 6-byte hexadecimal address while an IP address is a 4 or 16-byte

address.

 A MAC address is in a data link layer, while an IP address is in a network layer.

 A third party will have a difficult time finding a MAC address, while it can easily find an
IP address.

 MAC addresses are static, while IP addresses can change dynamically

 MAC addresses and IP addresses are necessary to get a network packet to a destination.
However, no one can see your MAC address unless they are on your LAN

What are security threats related to IP addresses?

A variety of security threats are related to IP addresses. Cybercriminals can deceive devices
to either reveal your IP address and pretend they are you or stalk it to track activity and take
advantage. Online stalking and social engineering are the two leading security threats
existing for IP addresses.

Some of the other security threats to an IP address include:

1. Allowing a cybercriminal to use your IP address to track your location

2. Using your IP address to target your network and launch a DDoS attack

3. Using your IP address to download illegal content

5 ways to protect your IP address

There are multiple ways to protect your IP address from cybercriminals. Some of these
options include:

1. Use a VPN

2. Make use of a proxy server

3. Have your ISP make use of dynamic IP addresses

4. Employ a NAT firewall to hide your private IP address

5. Resetting your modem may change your IP address

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https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Learn/Common_questions/Web_mechanics/
What_is_a_URL

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