IP Addressing

IP address is a unique identifier of a computer on TCP/IP networks and on the internet. Every computer requires a unique IP address to be a part of the internet and the IP address is provided by the internet service providers. Every IP address consists of the 32 bits and a binary system of 0s and 1s. The binary number system consist of only two types of digits 0 and 1. It is easier for us to remember the decimal numbers rather than the binary number system such as 011001101. On a same network segment, all the IP address share the same network address. There are five classes of the IP addresses such as A, B, C, D and E and only 3 classes are in the use. Class D IP addresses are reserved for the multicast group ant cannot be assigned to hosts and the E class IP addresses are the experimental addresses and cannot be assigned to the people. Every IP address consists of 4 octets and 32 bits. Every participating host and the devices on a network such as servers, routers, switches, DNS, DHCP, gateway, web server, internet fax server and printer have their own unique addresses within the scope of the network. TCP/IP protocols are installed by default with the Windows based operating systems. After the TCP/IP protocols are successfully installed you need to configure them through the Properties Tab of the Local Area Connection. IP Addresses Classes Class A The binary address for the class A starts with 0. The range of the IP addresses in the class A is between 1 to 126 and the default subnet mask of the class A is 255.0.0.0. Class A supports 16 million hosts on each of 125 networks. An example of the class A is 10.10.1.1. Class A is used for the large networks with many network devices. Class B The binary address for the class B starts with 10. The range of the IP address in the class B is between 128 to 191 and the default subnet mast for the class B is 255.255.0.0. Class B supports 65,000 on each of 16,000 networks. An example of the class B address is 150.10.10.10. Class B addresses scheme is used for the medium sized networks. Class C The binary address for the class C starts with 110. The range of the IP addresses in the class C is between 192 to 223 and the default subnet mask for the class C is 255.255.255. Class C hosts 254 hosts on each of 2 million networks. An example of the Class C IP address is 210.100.100.50. Class C is used for the small networks with less then 256 devices and nodes in a network. Class D The binary addresses for the class D starts with 1110 and the IP addresses range can be between 224 to 239. An example of the class D IP address is 230.50.100.1 Class E The binary address can starts with 1111 and the decimal can be anywhere from 240 to 255. An example of the class E IP address is 245.101.10.10 It is very important to know that all the computers in the same network segment should have the IP addresses for the same class i.e. form A, B or C. IP Addressing Tips A Network ID cannot be All 0s A host ID cannot be All 1 because this represents a broadcast address for the local network. Each host must have a unique host portion of the IP address. All hosts on the same network segment should have the same network id. A host address cannot be 127 because 127 has been reserved for the loop back functionalities.

Computer Networking

Computer networking is a linking of the network devices and computers with each other to provide the data communications and sharing the network resources such as printer, scanner, modem, CD/DVD and internet access. A computer network can be interconnected with the UTP/STP cables, coaxial cables, fiber optics and wirelessly through the radio waves. Today, no business can work effectively without the data communications within the organization. A network can be designed by different layouts known as topologies. The common topologies include star, hub, mesh, hybrid and ring. Star topology is the most common topology in Ethernet based local area network. There are specialized rules and standards and based on these standards, the devices communicate with each other. One of these specialized standards and agree up ways is known as protocols. TCP/IP is the protocol suite that contains the multiple communication protocols such as TCP, IP, SMTP, FTP, DHCP, LDAP, PPP, Telnet and many others. TCP/IP works together and it is the most common communication protocol for the LAN, WAN and internet. The communications on the internet is based on the IP addresses, which is a part of the TCP/IP stack. No computer on the internet or in the LAN/MAN/WAN can communicate without a unique IP address. Networking and data communications provides the flexibility, easy of work and communications with each other and today every kind of business in the world, which involves more than one computer, require a computer network. A network can be setup by using the following things. Computer with Windows/Linux operating system installed. Every computer requires a unique LAN card, which should be properly installed and configured. Ethernet cable with the RJ-45 connectors at both ends. A Router/Switch or hub. The other devices are bridges, transceivers, terminal servers and gateways and they can be setup according to your requirements. There are three main types of the computer network i.e. LAN, MAN, WAN, CAN, GAN and PAN and each network either be a peer to peer or client server network. In a client/server network model, a centralized domain controller is used to control all the computer network. It provides the services to the clients like logon authentication, printer access, scanner access, centralized data storage, user management, resources management, DHCP, DNS, FTP and internet access. To communicate with the other computer, each computer should support the same protocol and the TCP/IP is the most commonly used protocol in a computer network. Internetwork is a type of computer network that connects the two or more different networks. There are three main types of the internetwork i.e. intranet, extranet and internet.