INDEX

• Networks
• Topology
• Ethernet
• Cable and modes of transmissions
• Devices used in networking
• Cable installation
• OSI model
• Protocols and TCP/IP model
• Addressing and types of logical Address
• IP address
• Subneting
• Router back panel
• Router accessing Modes
• Password setting in Router
• Telnet
• Switching
• Commands

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 Networks
One way to categorize the different types of computer network designs is by their scope
or scale. For historical reasons, the networking industry refers to nearly every type of
design as some kind of area network. Common examples of area network types are:

• LAN - Local Area Network

• WLAN - Wireless Local Area Network
• WAN - Wide Area Network
• MAN - Metropolitan Area Network
• SAN - Storage Area Network, System Area Network, Server Area Network, or
sometimes Small Area Network
• CAN - Campus Area Network, Controller Area Network, or sometimes Cluster
Area Network
• PAN - Personal Area Network
• DAN - Desk Area Network

LAN and WAN were the original categories of area networks, while the others have
gradually emerged over many years of technology evolution.

Note that these network types are a separate concept from network topologies such as
bus, ring and star.

LAN - Local Area Network

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A LAN connects network devices over a relatively short distance. A networked office
building, school, or home usually contains a single LAN, though sometimes one building
will contain a few small LANs (perhaps one per room), and occasionally a LAN will span
a group of nearby buildings. In TCP/IP networking, a LAN is often but not always
implemented as a single IP subnet.

In addition to operating in a limited space, LANs are also typically owned, controlled,
and managed by a single person or organization. They also tend to use certain
connectivity technologies, primarily Ethernet and Token Ring.

WAN - Wide Area Network

As the term implies, a WAN spans a large physical distance. The Internet is the largest
WAN, spanning the Earth.

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A WAN is a geographically-dispersed collection of LANs. A network device called a
router connects LANs to a WAN. In IP networking, the router maintains both a LAN
address and a WAN address.

A WAN differs from a LAN in several important ways. Most WANs (like the Internet) are
not owned by any one organization but rather exist under collective or distributed
ownership and management. WANs tend to use technology like ATM, Frame Relay and
X.25 for connectivity over the longer distances.

Metropolitan area network

A MAN is optimized for a larger geographical area than a LAN, ranging from several
blocks of buildings to entire cities. MANs can also depend on communications channels
of moderate-to-high data rates. A MAN might be owned and operated by a single
organization, but it usually will be used by many individuals and organizations. MANs
might also be owned and operated as public utilities. They will often provide means for
internetworking of local networks. Metropolitan area networks can span up to 50km,
devices used are modem and wire/cable

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 Devices used in networking
LAN Card

A LAN card, more commonly referred to as a NIC, is a device that allows computers to
be joined together in a LAN, or local area network. Networked computers communicate
with each other using a given protocol or agreed-upon language for transmitting data
packets between the different machines, known as nodes. The network interface card acts
as the liaison for the machine to both send and receive data on the LAN.

The most common language or protocol for LANs is Ethernet, sometimes referred to as
IEEE 802.3. A lesser-used protocol is Token Ring. When building a LAN, a network
interface card must be installed in each computer on the network and all NICs in the
network must be of the same architecture. For example, all must either be Ethernet cards,
Token Ring cards, or an alternate technology.

An Ethernet network interface card is installed in an available slot inside the computer.
The NIC assigns a unique address called a MAC (media access control) to the machine.
The MACs on the network are used to direct traffic between the computers. The back
plate of the network interface card features a port that looks similar to a phone jack, but is
slightly larger. This port accommodates an Ethernet cable, which resembles a thicker
version of a standard telephone line. Ethernet cable must run from each network interface
card to a central hub or switch. The hub or switch acts like a relay, passing information
between computers using the MAC addresses and allowing resources like printers and
scanners to be shared along with data.

A network interface card does not have to be hard wired with physical cable. Wireless
Ethernet cards are installed like their wired counterparts, but rather than a port for an
Ethernet cable, the card features a small antenna. The card communicates with the central
wireless switch or hub via radio waves. Wireless LANs may have some restrictions

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depending on the material the building is made from. For example, lead in walls can
block signals between the network interface card and hub or switch.

When buying components for a LAN, make sure the NICs and hub or switch have the
same capabilities. The entire network must be either wired or wireless, so a wireless
network interface card cannot talk to a wired switch or hub. In addition, newer versions
of hardware will likely support more features and/or greater speeds than older versions.
Make sure your central switch or hub can utilize the highest capabilities of the network
interface card under consideration.

For those who wish to connect LANs located in different areas of the city, state or
country, ATM (asynchronous transfer mode) can create wide area networks or WANs by
connecting LANs together. LANs are still built with a network interface card in each
networked computer, but ATM uses broadband Internet access to link the LANs to online
ATM switches. This type of ATM WAN is referred to as an Internetwork.

Switch (Network Switch)

A network switch is a small hardware device that joins multiple computers together
within one local area network (LAN). Technically, network switches operate at layer two
(Data Link Layer) of the OSI model.

Network switches appear nearly identical to network hubs, but a switch generally
contains more "intelligence" (and a slightly higher price tag) than a hub. Unlike hubs,
network switches are capable of inspecting data packets as they are received, determining
the source and destination device of that packet, and forwarding it appropriately. By
delivering each message only to the connected device it was intended for, a network
switch conserves network bandwidth and offers generally better performance than a hub.

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As with hubs, Ethernet implementations of network switches are the most common.
Mainstream Ethernet network switches support 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps, or 10/100 Mbps
Ethernet standards.

Different models of network switches support differing numbers of connected devices.

Most consumer-grade network switches provide either four or eight connections for
Ethernet devices. Switches can be connected to each other. Such "daisy chaining" allows
progressively larger number of devices to join the same LAN.

Routers

Routers are physical devices that join multiple wired or wireless networks together.
Technically, a wired or wireless router is a Layer 3 gateway, meaning that the
wired/wireless router connects networks (as gateways do), and that the router operates at
the network layer of the OSI model.

Home networkers often use an Internet Protocol (IP) wired or wireless router, IP being
the most common OSI network layer protocol. An IP router such as a DSL or cable
modem broadband router joins the home's local area network (LAN) to the wide-area
network (WAN) of the Internet.

By maintaining configuration information in a piece of storage called the "routing table,"

wired or wireless routers also have the ability to filter traffic, either incoming or
outgoing, based on the IP addresses of senders and receivers. Some routers allow the
home networker to update the routing table from a Web browser interface. Broadband
routers combine the functions of a router with those of a network switch and a firewall in
a single unit.

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Ethernet hub

A special type of network device called the hub can be found in many home and small business networks.
Though they've existed for many years, the popularity of hubs has exploded recently, especially among
people relatively new to networking. Do you own a hub, or are you considering purchasing one? This
article explains the purpose of hubs and some of the technology behind them... (see below)

General Characteristics of Hubs

A hub is a small rectangular box, often made of plastic that

receives its power from an ordinary wall outlet. A hub joins
multiple computers (or other network devices) together to form
a single network segment. On this network segment, all
computers can communicate directly with each other. Ethernet
hubs are by far the most common type, but hubs for other types
of networks such as USB also exist.

A hub includes a series of ports that each accept a network

cable. Small hubs network four computers. They contain four
or sometimes five ports, the fifth port being reserved for
"uplink" connections to another hub or similar device. Larger
hubs contain eight, 12, 16, and even 24 ports.

Key Features of Hubs

Hubs classify as Layer 1 devices in the OSI model. At the

physical layer, hubs can support little in the way of
sophisticated networking. Hubs do not read any of the data
passing through them and are not aware of their source or
destination. Essentially, a hub simply receives incoming packets, possibly amplifies the
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electrical signal, and broadcasts these packets out to all devices on the network - including
the one that originally sent the packet!

Technically speaking, three different types of hubs exist:

• passive
• active
• intelligent

Passive hubs do not amplify the electrical signal of incoming packets before broadcasting
them out to the network. Active hubs, on the other hand, do perform this amplification, as
does a different type of dedicated network device called a repeater. Some people use the
terms concentrator when referring to a passive hub and multiport repeater when
referring to an active hub.

Intelligent hubs add extra features to an active hub that are of particular importance to
businesses. An intelligent hub typically is stackable (built in such a way that multiple units
can be placed one on top of the other to conserve space). It also typically includes remote
management capabilities via SNMP and virtual LAN (VLAN) support.

Bridge
In computer networking, a bridge divides a LAN into two segments, selectively
forwarding traffic across the network boundary it defines. A bridge is not quite the same
as a switch.

Repeaters
Network repeaters regenerate incoming electrical, wireless or optical signals. With
physical media like Ethernet or Wi-Fi, data transmissions can only span a limited
distance before the quality of the signal degrades. Repeaters attempt to preserve signal
integrity and extend the distance over which data can safely travel.

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Actual network devices that serve as repeaters usually have some other name. Active
hubs, for example, are repeaters. Active hubs are sometimes also called "multiport
repeaters," but more commonly they are just "hubs." Other types of "passive hubs" are
not repeaters. In Wi-Fi, access points function as repeaters only when operating in so-
called "repeater mode."

Higher-level devices in the OSI model like switches and routers generally do not
incorporate the functions of a repeater. All repeaters are technically OSI physical layer
devices.

Modem

Traditional modems used in dial-up networking convert data between the analog form
used on telephone lines and the digital form used on computers. Standard dial-up network
modems transmit data at a maximum rate of 56,000 bits per second (56 Kbps). However,
inherent limitations of the public telephone network limit modem speeds to 33.6 Kbps or
lower in practice.

Broadband modems that are part of cable and DSL Internet service use more advanced
signaling techniques to achieve dramatically higher network speeds than traditional
modems. Broadband modems are sometimes called "digital modems" and those used for
traditional dial-up networking, "analog modems." Cellular modems that establish Internet
connectivity through a digital cell phone also exist.

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 Topologies

In computer networking, topology refers to the layout of connected devices. This article
introduces the standard topologies of networking.

Topology in Network Design

Think of a topology as a network's virtual shape or structure. This shape does not
necessarily correspond to the actual physical layout of the devices on the network. For
example, the computers on a home LAN may be arranged in a circle in a family room,
but it would be highly unlikely to find a ring topology there.

Network topologies are categorized into the following basic types:

• bus
• ring
• star
• tree
• mesh

More complex networks can be built as hybrids of two or more of the above basic
topologies.

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Bus Topology

Bus networks (not to be confused with the system bus of a computer) use a common
backbone to connect all devices. A single cable, the backbone functions as a shared
communication medium that devices attach or tap into with an interface connector. A
device wanting to communicate with another device on the network sends a broadcast
message onto the wire that all other devices see, but only the intended recipient actually
accepts and processes the message.

Ethernet bus topologies are relatively easy to install and don't require much cabling
compared to the alternatives. 10Base-2 ("ThinNet") and 10Base-5 ("ThickNet") both
were popular Ethernet cabling options many years ago for bus topologies. However, bus
networks work best with a limited number of devices. If more than a few dozen
computers are added to a network bus, performance problems will likely result. In
addition, if the backbone cable fails, the entire network effectively becomes unusable.

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Ring Topology

In a ring network, every device has exactly two neighbors for communication purposes.
All messages travel through a ring in the same direction (either "clockwise" or
"counterclockwise"). A failure in any cable or device breaks the loop and can take down
the entire network.

To implement a ring network, one typically uses FDDI, SONET, or Token Ring
technology. Ring topologies are found in some office buildings or school campuses.

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Star Topology

Many home networks use the star topology. A star network features a central connection
point called a "hub" that may be a hub, switch or router. Devices typically connect to the
hub with Unshielded Twisted Pair (UTP) Ethernet.

Compared to the bus topology, a star network generally requires more cable, but a failure
in any star network cable will only take down one computer's network access and not the
entire LAN. (If the hub fails, however, the entire network also fails.)

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Tree Topology

Tree topologies integrate multiple star topologies together onto a bus. In its simplest
form, only hub devices connect directly to the tree bus, and each hub functions as the
"root" of a tree of devices. This bus/star hybrid approach supports future expandability of
the network much better than a bus (limited in the number of devices due to the broadcast
traffic it generates) or a star (limited by the number of hub connection points) alone.

Mesh Topology

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Topologies involve the concept of routes. Unlike each of the previous topologies,
messages sent on a mesh network can take any of several possible paths from source to
destination. (Recall that even in a ring, although two cable paths exist, messages can only
travel in one direction.) Some WANs, most notably the Internet, employ mesh routing.

A mesh network in which every device connects to every other is called a full mesh. As
shown in the illustration below, partial mesh networks also exist in which some devices
connect only indirectly to others.

Ethernet

Ethernet is a family of frame-based computer networking technologies for local area

networks (LANs). The name comes from the physical concept of the ether. It defines a
number of wiring and signaling standards for the physical layer, through means of
network access at the Media Access Control (MAC)/Data Link Layer, and a common
addressing format.

Ethernet is standardized as IEEE 802.3. The combination of the twisted pair versions of
Ethernet for connecting end systems to the network, along with the fiber optic versions
for site backbones, is the most widespread wired LAN technology. It has been in use
from around 1980[1] to the present, largely replacing competing LAN standards such as
token ring, FDDI, and ARCNET.

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Ethernet Cabling
Ethernet cabling is an important discussion, especially if you are planning on taking the
Cisco exams. Three types of Ethernet cables are available:
_ Straight-through cable
_ Crossover cable
_ Rolled cable
We will look at each in the following sections.

Straight-Through Cable
The straight-through cable is used to connect
_ Host to switch or hub
_ Router to switch or hub
Four wires are used in straight-through cable to connect Ethernet devices. It is relatively
simple to create this type; Figure 1.22 shows the four wires used in a straight-through
Ethernet cable. Notice that only pins 1, 2, 3, and 6 are used. Just connect 1 to 1, 2 to 2, 3
to 3, and 6 to 6 and you’ll be up and networking in no time. However, remember that this
would be an Ethernet-only cable and wouldn’t work with voice, Token Ring, ISDN, and

so on.

Crossover Cable
The crossover cable can be used to connect
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_ Switch to switch
_ Hub to hub
_ Host to host
_ Hub to switch
_ Router direct to host
The same four wires are used in this cable as in the straight-through cable; we just
connect different pins together. Figure 1.23 shows how the four wires are used in a
crossover Ethernet cable. Notice that instead of connecting 1 to 1, 2 to 2, and so on, here
we connect pins 1 to 3 and 2 to 6 on each side of the cable.

Rolled Cable
Although rolled cable isn’t used to connect any Ethernet connections together, you can
use a rolled Ethernet cable to connect a host to a router console serial communication
(com) port. If you have a Cisco router or switch, you would use this cable to connect
your PC running HyperTerminal to the Cisco hardware. Eight wires are used in this cable
to connect serial devices, although not all eight are used to send information, just as in
Ethernet networking.
Figure 1.24 shows the eight wires used in a rolled cable.

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 The OSI Reference Model

One of the greatest functions of the OSI specifications is to assist in data transfer between
disparate Hosts—meaning, for example, that they enable us to transfer data between a
UNIX host and a PC or a Mac. The OSI isn’t a physical model, though. Rather, it’s a set
of guidelines that application Developers can use to create and implement applications
that run on a network. It also provides a framework for creating and implementing
networking standards, devices, and internetworking schemes. The OSI has seven different
layers, divided into two groups. The top three layers define how the applications within
the end stations will communicate with each other and with users. The bottom four layers
define how data is transmitted end to end.

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The upper layers
• Provides a user interface
• Presents data
• Handles processing such as encryption
• Keeps different applications’ data separate
Application
Presentation
Session
Transport
Network
Data Link
Physical
We understand that the user interfaces with the computer at the
Application layer and also that the upper layers are responsible for applications
communicating between hosts. Remember that none of the upper layers knows anything
about networking or network addresses. That’s the responsibility of the four bottom
layers. Lower Layer you can see that it’s the four bottom layers that define how data is
transferred through a physical wire or through switches and routers. These bottom layers
also determine how to rebuild a data stream from a transmitting host to a destination
host’s application.

The lower layers

The following network devices operate at all seven layers of the OSI model:
_ Network management stations (NMSs)
_ Web and application servers
_ Gateways (not default gateways)
_ Network hosts
Basically, the ISO is pretty much the Emily Post of the network protocol world. Just as
Ms. Post wrote the book setting the standards—or protocols—for human social
interaction, the ISO developed the OSI reference model as the precedent and guide for an

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open network protocol set. Defining the etiquette of communication models, it remains
today the most popular means of comparison for protocol suites.
The OSI reference model has seven layers:
_ Application layer (layer 7)
_ Presentation layer (layer 6)
_ Session layer (layer 5)
_ Transport layer (layer 4)
_ Network layer (layer 3)
_ Data Link layer (layer 2)
_ Physical layer (layer 1)
The Application Layer
The Application layer of the OSI model marks the spot where users actually
communicate to the computer. This layer only comes into play when it’s apparent that
access to the networks going to be needed soon. Take the case of Internet Explorer (IE).
You could uninstall every trace of networking components from a system, such as
TCP/IP, NIC card, and so on, and you could still use IE to view a local HTML document
—no problem. But things would definitely get messy if you tried to do something like
view an HTML document that must be retrieved using HTTP or nab a file with FTP or
TFTP. That’s because IE will respond to requests such as those by attempting to access
the Application layer. And what’s happening is that the Application layer is acting as an
interface between the actual application program—which isn’t at all a part of the layered
structure—and the next layer down by providing ways for the application to send
information down through the protocol stack. In other words, IE doesn’t truly reside
within the Application layer—it interfaces with Application layer protocols when it needs
to deal with remote resources. The Application layer is also possible for identifying and
establishing the availability of the intended communication partner and determining
whether sufficient resources for the intended communication exist. These tasks are
important because computer applications sometimes require more than only desktop
resources. Often, they’ll unite communicating components from more than one network
application. Prime examples are file transfers and email, as well as enabling remote

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access, network management activities, client/server processes, and information location.
Many network applications provide services for communication over enterprise networks,
but for present and future internetworking, the need is fast developing to reach beyond
the limits of current physical networking.
The Presentation Layer
The Presentation layer gets its name from its purpose: It presents data to the Application
layer and is responsible for data translation and code formatting. This layer is essentially
a translator and provides coding and conversion functions. A successful data-transfer
technique is to adapt the data into a standard format before transmission. Computers are
configured to receive this generically formatted data and then convert the data back into
its native format for actual reading (for example, EBCDIC to ASCII). By providing
Translation services, the Presentation layer ensures that data transferred from the
Application layer of one system can be read by the Application layer of another one.
The OSI has protocol standards that define how standard data should be formatted. Tasks
like data compression, decompression, encryption, and decryption are associated with
this layer. Some Presentation layer standards are involved in multimedia operations too.
The Session Layer
The Session layer is responsible for setting up, managing, and then tearing down sessions
Between Presentations layer entities. This layer also provides dialog control between
devices, or nodes. It coordinates communication between systems and serves to organize
Their communication by offering three different modes: simplex, half duplex, and full
Duplex. To sum up, the Session layer basically keeps different applications’ data separate
From other applications’ data.
The Transport Layer
The Transport layer segments and reassembles data into a data stream. Services located
in the Transport layer segment and reassemble data from upper-layer applications and
unite it into the same data. They provide end-to-end data transport services and can
establish a logical connection between the sending host and destination host on an
internetwork.

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Some of you are probably familiar with TCP and UDP already. (But if you’re not, no
worries—I’ll tell you all bout them in Chapter 2.) If so, you know that both work at the
Transport layer and that TCP is a reliable service and UDP is not. This means that
application developers have more options because they have a choice between the two
protocols when working with TCP/IP protocols.

IP Addressing

One of the most important topics in any discussion of TCP/IP is IP addressing. An IP

address is a numeric identifier assigned to each machine on an IP network. It designates
the specific location of a device on the network. An IP address is a software address, not
a hardware address—the latter is hard-coded on a network interface card (NIC) and used
for finding hosts on a local network. IP addressing was designed to allow hosts on one
network to communicate with a host on a different network regardless of the type of
LANs the hosts are participating in.
IP Terminology
Throughout this chapter you’ll learn several important terms vital to your understanding
of the Internet Protocol. Here are a few to get you started:
Bit A bit is one digit, either a 1 or a 0.
Byte A byte is 7 or 8 bits, depending on whether parity is used. For the rest of this
chapter, always assume a byte is 8 bits.
Octet An octet, made up of 8 bits, is just an ordinary 8-bit binary number. In this chapter,
the terms byte and octet are completely interchangeable.
Network address This is the designation used in routing to send packets to a remote
network— for example, 10.0.0.0, 172.16.0.0, and 192.168.10.0.
Broadcast address The address used by applications and hosts to send information to all
Nodes on a network are called the broadcast address. Examples include 255.255.255.255
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Which is all networks, all nodes; 172.16.255.255, which is all subnets and hosts on
network 172.16.0.0; and 10.255.255.255, which broadcasts to all subnets and hosts on
Network 10.0.0.0.
The Hierarchical IP Addressing Scheme
An IP address consists of 32 bits of information. These bits are divided into four sections,
Referred to as octets or bytes, each containing 1 byte (8 bits). You can depict an IP
address using one of three methods:
_ Dotted-decimal, as in 172.16.30.56
_ Binary, as in 10101100.00010000.00011110.00111000
_ Hexadecimal, as in AC.10.1E.38
All these examples truly represent the same IP address. Hexadecimal isn’t used as often
as
Dotted-decimal or binary when IP addressing is discussed, but you still might find an IP
address stored in hexadecimal in some programs. The Windows Registry is a good
example of a program that stores a machine’s IP address in hex. The 32-bit IP address is a
structured or hierarchical address, as opposed to a flat or nonhierarchical address.
lthough either type of addressing scheme could have been used, hierarchical addressing
was chosen for a good reason. The advantage of this scheme is that it can handle a large
number of addresses, namely 4.3 billion (a 32-bit address space with two possible values
for each position—either 0 or 1—gives you 232, or 4,294,967,296). The disadvantage
of the flat addressing scheme, and the reason it’s not used for IP addressing, relates to
Routing. If every address were unique, all routers on the Internet would need to store the
Address of each and every machine on the Internet. This would make efficient routing
impossible, even if only a fraction of the possible addresses were used. The solution to
this problem is to use a two- or three-level hierarchical addressing scheme that is
structured by network and host or by network, subnet, and host. This two- or three-level
scheme is comparable to a telephone number. The first section, the area code, designates
a very large area. The second section, the prefix, narrows the scope to a local calling area.
The final segment, the customer number, zooms in on the specific connection. IP
addresses use the same type of layered structure. Rather than all 32 bits being treated

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as a unique identifier, as in flat addressing, a part of the address is designated as the
network address and the other part is designated as either the subnet and host or just the
node address. In the following sections, I’m going to discuss IP network addressing and
the different classes of address we can use to address our networks.

Network Addressing
The network address (which can also be called the network number) uniquely identifies
each network. Every machine on the same network shares that network address as part of
its IP address. In the IP address 172.16.30.56, for example, 172.16 is the network address.
The node address is assigned to, and uniquely identifies, each machine on a network.
This part of the address must be unique because it identifies a particular machine—an
individual—as opposed to a network, which is a group. This number can also be referred
to as a host address. In the sample IP address 172.16.30.56, the 30.56 is the node address.
The designers of the Internet decided to create classes of networks based on network size.
For the small number of networks possessing a very large number of nodes, they created
the rank Class A network. At the other extreme is the Class C network, which is reserved
for the numerous networks with a small number of nodes. The class distinction for
networks between very large and very small is predictably called the Class B network.
Subdividing an IP address into a network and node address is determined by the class
designation of one’s network. Figure 2.12 summarizes the three classes of networks—

25
To ensure efficient routing, Internet designers defined a mandate for the leading-bits
section of the address for each different network class. For example, since a router knows
that a Class A network address always starts with a 0, the router might be able to speed a
packet on its way after reading only the first bit of its address. This is where the address
schemes define the difference between a Class A, a Class B, and a Class C address. In the
next sections, I’ll discuss the differences between these three classes, followed by a
discussion of the Class D and Class E addresses (Classes A, B, and C are the only ranges
that are used to address hosts in our networks).

Network Address Range: Class A

The designers of the IP address scheme said that the first bit of the first byte in a Class A
network address must always be off, or 0. This means a Class A address must be between
0 and 127 in the first byte, inclusive.
Consider the following network address:
0xxxxxxx If we turn the other 7 bits all off and then turn them all on, we’ll find the Class
A range of network addresses:
00000000 = 0
01111111 = 127
So, a Class A network is defined in the first octet between 0 and 127, and it can’t be less

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or more. (Yes, I know 0 and 127 are not valid in a Class A network. I’ll talk about
reserved addresses in a minute.)

Network Address Range: Class B

In a Class B network, the RFCs state that the first bit of the first byte must always be
turned on but the second bit must always be turned off. If you turn the other 6 bits all off
and then all on, you will find the range for a Class B network:
10000000 = 128
10111111 = 191
As you can see, a Class B network is defined when the first byte is configured from 128
to 191.

Network Address Range: Class C

For Class C networks, the RFCs define the first 2 bits of the first octet as always turned
on, but the third bit can never be on. Following the same process as the previous classes,
convert from binary to decimal to find the range. Here’s the range for a Class C network:
11000000 = 192
11011111 = 223
So, if you see an IP address that starts at 192 and goes to 223, you’ll know it is a Class C
IP address.

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 Variable Length Subnet Masks (VLSMs)

Classless routing protocols, however, do support the advertisement of subnet information.

Therefore, you can use VLSM with routing protocols such as RIPv2, EIGRP, and OSPF.
(EIGRP and OSPF will be discussed in Chapter 7.) The benefit of this type of network is
that you save a bunch of IP address space with it. As the name suggests, with VLSMs we
can have different subnet masks for different router interfaces. In a typical classful
network design (RIP or IGRP routing protocols), you could subnet a network like this:
192.168.10.0 = Network
255.255.255.240 (/28) = Mask

Our subnets would be (you know this part, right?) 0, 16, 32, 48, 64, 80, etc. This allows
us to assign 16 subnets to our internetwork. But how many hosts would be available on
each network? Well, as you probably know by now, each subnet provides only 14 hosts.
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This means that each LAN has 14 valid hosts available—one LAN doesn’t even have
enough addresses needed for all the hosts! But the point-to-point WAN link also has 14
valid hosts. It’s too bad we can’t just nick some valid hosts from that WAN link and give
them to our LANs! All hosts and router interfaces have the same subnet mask—again,
this is called classful routing. And if we want this network to be more efficient, we
definitely need to add different masks to each router interface. But there’s still another
problem—the link between the two routers will never use more than two valid hosts! This
wastes valuable IP address space, and it’s the big reason I’m going to talk to you about
VLSM network design.

VLSM Design

Let’s take Figure above and use a classless design…which will become the new network
shown in Figure below In the previous example, we wasted address space—one LAN
didn’t have enough addresses because every router interface and host used the same
subnet mask. Not so good. What would be good is to provide only the needed number of
hosts on each router interface. To do this, we use what are referred to as Variable Length
Subnet Masks (VLSMs). Now remember that we can use different size masks on each
router interface. And if we use /30 on our WAN links and a /27, /28, and /29 on our
LANs, we’ll get 2 hosts per WAN interface, and 30, 14, and 8 hosts per LAN interface

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ice! This makes a huge difference—not only can we get just the right amount of hosts

Different Protocols
A network protocol defines rules and conventions for communication between network
devices. Protocols for computer networking all generally use packet switching techniques
to send and receive messages in the form of packets.

Network protocols include mechanisms for devices to identify and make connections
with each other, as well as formatting rules that specify how data is packaged into
messages sent and received. Some protocols also support message acknowledgement and
data compression designed for reliable and/or high-performance network communication.
Hundreds of different computer network protocols have been developed each designed
for specific purposes and environments.

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File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is the protocol that actually lets us transfer files, and it can
accomplish this between any two machines using it. But FTP isn’t just a protocol; it’s also
a program Operating as a protocol, FTP is used by applications. As a program, it’s
employed by users to perform file tasks by hand. FTP also allows for access to both
directories and files and can accomplish certain types of directory operations, such as
relocating into different ones. FTP teams up with Telnet to transparently log you into the
FTP server and then provides for the transfer of files.

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP), answering our ubiquitous call to e-mail, uses a
spooled, or queued, method of mail delivery. Once a message has been sent to a
destination, the message is spooled to a device—usually a disk. The server software at the
destination posts a vigil, regularly checking this queue for messages. When it detects
them, it proceeds to deliver them to their destination. SMTP is used to send mail; POP3 is
used to receive mail

Internet Protocol (IP)

Internet Protocol (IP) essentially is the Internet layer. The other protocols found here
merely exist to support it. IP holds the big picture and could be said to “see all,” in that
it’s aware of all the interconnected networks. It can do this because all the machines on
the network have software, or logical, address called an IP address. IP looks at each
packet’s address. Then, using a routing table, it decides where a packet is to be sent next,
choosing the best path. The protocols of the Network Access layer at the bottom of the
DoD model don’t possess IP’s enlightened scope of the entire network; they deal only
with physical links (local networks).

HTTP

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HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the set of rules for transferring files (text, graphic
images, sound, video, and other multimedia files) on the World Wide Web. As soon as a
Web user opens their Web browser, the user is indirectly making use of HTTP. HTTP is
an application protocol that runs on top of the TCP/IP suite of protocols (the foundation
protocols for the Internet).

HTTP concepts include (as the Hypertext part of the name implies) the idea that files can
contain references to other files whose selection will elicit additional transfer requests.
Any Web server machine contains, in addition to the Web page files it can serve, an
HTTP daemon, a program that is designed to wait for HTTP requests and handle them
when they arrive. Your Web browser is an HTTP client, sending requests to server
machines. When the browser user enters file requests by either "opening" a Web file
(typing in a Uniform Resource Locator or URL) or clicking on a hypertext link, the
browser builds an HTTP request and sends it to the Internet Protocol address (IP address)
indicated by the URL. The HTTP daemon in the destination server machine receives the
request and sends back the requested file or files associated with the request. (A Web
page often consists of more than one file.)

Telnet

Telnet is the chameleon of protocols—its specialty is terminal emulation. It allows a user

on a remote client machine, called the Telnet client, to access the resources of another
machine, the Telnet server. Telnet achieves this by pulling a fast one on the Telnet server
and making the client machine appears as though it were a terminal directly attached to
the local network. This projection is actually a software image—a virtual terminal that
can interact with the chosen remote host. These emulated terminals are of the text-mode
type and can execute refined procedures like displaying menus that give users the
opportunity to choose options from them and access the applications on the duped server.

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Users begin a Telnet session by running the Telnet client software and then logging into
the Telnet server.

Switching
Circuit Switching
Switched circuits allow data connections that can be initiated when needed and
terminated when communication is complete. This works much like a normal telephone
line works for voice communication. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a
good example of circuit switching. When a router has data for a remote site, the switched
circuit is initiated with the circuit number of the remote network. In the case of ISDN
circuits, the device actually places a call to the telephone number of the remote ISDN
circuit. When the two networks are connected and authenticated, they can transfer data.
When the data transmission is complete, the call can be terminated. Figure 3-3 illustrates
an example of this type of circuit.

Packet Switching
Packet switching is a WAN technology in which users share common carrier resources.
Because this allows the carrier to make more efficient use of its infrastructure, the cost to
the customer is generally much better than with point-to-point lines. In a packet switching
setup, networks have connections into the carrier’s network, and many customers share
the carrier’s network. The carrier can then create virtual circuits between customers’ sites
by which packets of data are delivered from one to the other through the network. The
section of the carrier’s network that is shared is often referred to as a cloud. Some
examples of packet-switching networks include Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM),
Frame Relay, Switched Multimegabit Data Services (SMDS), and X.25. Figure
3-4 shows an example packet-switched circuit.

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