Robert Spann October 10, 2013

COMP 204 Homework 4

Answer the following questions based on your reading of the text book, the module key points, and the instructors presentation this week. 1. [4 points] Explain the difference between Host and Network addresses in IPv4. Give an example a Host and a Network address in your home, work, or fictional network. Why is this separation of addresses important? A "Network" address refers to the network itself. A "Host" address is the unique unicast address assigned to the end devices in the network (Dye, McDonald, & Rufi, 2008). An example of a Host address at my home is 192.168.1.0/24. An example of a Network address in my home is 192.168.1.6/24. This separation of "network" and "host" addresses are important because the "network" address essentially organizes hosts into groups and "host" addresses identify the specific location of each host within that group (Dye, McDonald, & Rufi, 2008).

2. [4 points] Most wireless routers for home users are configured with a DHCP server that hands out addresses from the 192.168.1.0/24 range. Why is that? What else must the router do to make it just work when a home user plugs it in? The 192.168.1.0/24 range is the network space that has been set aside for private networking. Private networks are not part of the publicly routed Internet and can be used internally to
segment public from private networks (Rekhter, Moskowitz, Karrenberg, de Groot, & Lear, 2013). A router must also prevent duplicate addresses, provide and control access, and monitor security and performance (Dye, McDonald, & Rufi, 2008).

3.

[4 points] What is the binary subnet mask for the IP address of 172.16.10.15/28? What is the decimal subnet mask? The binary subnet mask for the IP address of 172.16.10.15/28 is 11111111111111111111111111110000. The decimal subnet mask for the IP address of 172.16.10.15/28 is 255.255.255.240.

4.

[4 points] Look up on the internet the concept of the Virtual IP address. What is it used for? What are the advantages of using Virtual IPs? A virtual IP address is an IP address that is not assigned to a specific single server or host. Instead, this IP address is assigned to multiple domain names, multiple servers, or multiple applications on a single server (Zientara, 2013). VIPs are used to combine resources though the sharing of one network interface and for connection redundancy by supplying alternate fail-over options on one machine; thus ending the dependency upon individual network interfaces. (Virtual IP Addresses, 2013).

5.

[4 points] Research addressing on Ipv6. What are the advantages? What are the disadvantages? (Hint: heres a good place to start: http://scale-out-blog.blogspot.com/2011/01/virtual-ipaddresses-and-their.html) The advantages of IPv6 are that it creates 340 undecillion (34 followed by 37 zeroes) IP addresses (Vogt, 2010), improved packet handling, increased scalability and longevity, flowlabeling capabilities, integrated security (Dye, McDonald, & Rufi, 2008), and IPv6 address autoconfiguration (The Advantages of IPv6, 2013).

The disadvantages IPv6 are that it will be difficult to make a smooth transition from IPv4, take time to convert over to IPv6, not available to machines that run IPv4, consumers will have to replace IPv4 machines, be much harder to remember IP addresses (Grevert, 2012).

6.

[5 points] A company has been assigned the IP address range 107.54.223.192/26. List all possible combinations of hosts and networks (i.e. x networks of y hosts). Make sure your host count considers the network and broadcast addresses. The answer is 6 host bits, 26 2 = 62 There are a total of 62 hosts on 1 network. Host addresses between 107.54.223.193 and 107.54.223.254 Network Address: 107.54.223.192/26 Broadcast Address: 107.54.223.255