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Introduction to Networking

Neworking Introduction

  • Network is formed when multiple things gets connected and work together.
  • A network can contain anywhere from 2 to billions of devices.

Internet

  • An internet is a giant network with many small networks inside it.
  • First iteration of internet was within ARPANET project in late 1960s.
  • Tim Berners-Lee created World-Wide-Web (WWW) on 1989 which is the internet as we know today.

Types of network

  • Private network
  • Public network

Identifying devices

  • Devices can be identified in two ways
    • IP (Internet Protocol) address
    • MAC (Media Access Control) address

IP Address

  • IP (Internet Protocol) Address is used for identifying devices on the network for a period of time.
  • Protocol is the set of standards that IP addresses follow.
  • IP Address contains different parts called octets.
  • IPV4 address contains 4 octets containing numbers.
    • For example: 192.168.12.1
  • IPV4 supports upto 2^32 devices.
  • IPV6 was introduces as IPV4 addresses are running out due to the number of devices getting connected.
  • IPV6 address is made up of alphanumeric characters.
    • For example: 2405:201:e033:68a0:2f2:151c:2c3d:9d1f
  • IPV6 supports upto 2^128 devices.

MAC Address

  • MAC (Media Access Control) Address is a 12 character hexadecimal number divided into 6 parts separated by a colon(:).
  • For example: a4:c3:f0:85:ac:2d
  • MAC address is set by the manufacturer and it is literally burnt into the network interface card.
  • MAC address can be faked using a process called Spoofing.

Ping

  • Ping command is used to check if the connection between two devices is available and reliable.
  • Ping uses ICMP(Internet Control Message Protocol).