INTERNET ARCHITECTURE

Internet is called the network of networks. It is a global communication system that links together
thousands of individual networks.

In other words, internet is a collection of interlinked computer networks, connected by copper wires,
fiber-optic cables, wireless connections, etc.

As a result, a computer can virtually connect to other computers in any network.

These connections allow users to interchange messages, to communicate in real time (getting instant
messages and responses), to share data and programs and to access limitless information.

Process

TCP/IP provides end to end transmission, i.e., each and every node on one network has the ability to
communicate with any other node on the network.

Layers of Internet Architecture

Internet architecture consists of three layers –

IP

In order to communicate, we need our data to be encapsulated as Internet Protocol (IP) packets. These
IP packets travel across number of hosts in a network through routing to reach the destination. However
IP does not support error detection and error recovery, and is incapable of detecting loss of packets.

TCP

TCP stands for "Transmission Control Protocol". It provides end to end transmission of data, i.e., from
source to destination. It is a very complex protocol as it supports recovery of lost packets.

Application Protocol
Third layer in internet architecture is the application layer which has different protocols on which the
internet services are built. Some of the examples of internet services include email (SMTP facilitates
email feature), file transfer (FTP facilitates file transfer feature), etc.

INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDER

ISP stands for Internet Service Provider.

It is a company that provides access to the internet and similar services such as Website designing and
virtual hosting.

For example, when you connect to the Internet, the connection between your Internet-enabled device
and the internet is executed through a specific transmission technology that involves the transfer of
information packets through an Internet Protocol route.

Data is transmitted through different technologies, including cable modem, dial-up, DSL, high speed
interconnects. Accordingly, based on the method of data transmission, the Internet access provided by
ISPs can be divided into many types, some of which are as follows:

Dial-up Internet access: It is the oldest technology to provide Internet access by modem to modem
connection using telephone lines. In this method, the user's computer is connected to a modem with a
telephone line. This method has become outdated today due to slow connection speed. However, in
remote areas, this method can be used where the broadband network is not available.

DSL: DSL, which stands for 'digital subscriber line' is an advanced version of the dial-up Internet access
method. It uses high frequency to execute a connection over the telephone network and allows the
internet and the phone connection to run on the same telephone line. This method offers an
Asymmetric Digital Subscriber (ADSL), where the upload speed is less than the download speed, and a
Symmetric Digital Subscriber Line (SDSL), which offers equal upload and download speeds. Out of these
two, ADSL is more popular among users and is popularly known as DSL.

Wireless Broadband (WiBB): It is a modern broadband technology for Internet access. It allows high-
speed wireless internet within a large area. To use this technology, you are required to place a dish on
the top of your house and point it to the transmitter of your Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP).
Wi-Fi Internet: It is the short form for "wireless fidelity," which is a wireless networking technology that
provides wireless high-speed Internet connections using radio waves. To use the internet, you are
required to be within the range of wi-fi network. It is commonly used in public places such as hotels,
airports, restaurants to provide internet access to customers.

ISDN: It is a short form of Integrated Services Digital Network. It is a telephone system network which
integrates a high-quality digital transmission of voice and data over the same standard phone line. It
offers a fast upstream and downstream Internet connection speed and allows both voice calls and data
transfer.

Ethernet: It is a wired LAN (Local Area Network) where computers are connected within a primary
physical space. It enables devices to communicate with each other via a protocol (a set of rules or
common network language). It may provide different speeds such as 10 Mbps, 100 Mbps and 10 Gbps.

IP ADDRESSING
IP address is an address having information about how to reach a specific host, especially
outside the LAN. An IP address is a 32 bit unique address having an address space of 232.
Generally, there are two notations in which IP address is written, dotted decimal notation and
hexadecimal notation.

Dotted Decimal Notation:

Hexadecimal Notation:

Some points to be noted about dotted decimal notation:

The value of any segment (byte) is between 0 and 255 (both included).
There are no zeroes preceding the value in any segment (054 is wrong, 54 is correct).

Classful Addressing
The 32 bit IP address is divided into five sub-classes. These are:

Class A
Class B
Class C
Class D
Class E
Each of these classes has a valid range of IP addresses. Classes D and E are reserved for
multicast and experimental purposes respectively. The order of bits in the first octet determine
the classes of IP address.
IPv4 address is divided into two parts:

Network ID
Host ID
The class of IP address is used to determine the bits used for network ID and host ID and the
number of total networks and hosts possible in that particular class. Each ISP or network
administrator assigns IP address to each device that is connected to its network.
Note: IP addresses are globally managed by Internet Assigned Numbers Authority(IANA) and
regional Internet registries(RIR).

Note: While finding the total number of host IP addresses, 2 IP addresses are not counted and
are therefore, decreased from the total count because the first IP address of any network is the
network number and whereas the last IP address is reserved for broadcast IP.
IP address belonging to class A are assigned to the networks that contain a large number of
hosts.

The network ID is 8 bits long.

The host ID is 24 bits long.
Class B:

IP address belonging to class B are assigned to the networks that ranges from medium-sized to
large-sized networks.

The network ID is 16 bits long.

The host ID is 16 bits long.
Class C:

IP address belonging to class C are assigned to small-sized networks.

The network ID is 24 bits long.

The host ID is 8 bits long.
Class D:

IP address belonging to class D are reserved for multi-casting. The higher order bits of the first
octet of IP addresses belonging to class D are always set to 1110. The remaining bits are for the
address that interested hosts recognize.

Class D does not posses any sub-net mask. IP addresses belonging to class D ranges from
224.0.0.0 – 239.255.255.255.
Class E:

IP addresses belonging to class E are reserved for experimental and research purposes. IP
addresses of class E ranges from 240.0.0.0 – 255.255.255.254. This class doesn’t have any sub-
net mask. The higher order bits of first octet of class E are always set to 1111.

DNS
An application layer protocol defines how the application processes running on different
systems, pass the messages to each other.
o DNS stands for Domain Name System.
o DNS is a directory service that provides a mapping between the name of a host on the
network and its numerical address.
o DNS is required for the functioning of the internet.
o Each node in a tree has a domain name, and a full domain name is a sequence of
symbols specified by dots.
o DNS is a service that translates the domain name into IP addresses. This allows the users
of networks to utilize user-friendly names when looking for other hosts instead of
remembering the IP addresses.
o For example, suppose the FTP site at EduSoft had an IP address of 132.147.165.50, most
people would reach this site by specifying ftp.EduSoft.com. Therefore, the domain name
is more reliable than IP address.
DNS is a TCP/IP protocol used on different platforms. The domain name space is divided into
three different sections: generic domains, country domains, and inverse domain

Generic Domains
It defines the registered hosts according to their generic behavior.
Each node in a tree defines the domain name, which is an index to the DNS database.
It uses three-character labels, and these labels describe the organization type.
Label Description
aero Airlines and aerospace companies
biz Businesses or firms
com Commercial Organizations
coop Cooperative business Organizations
edu Educational institutions
gov Government institutions
info Information service providers
int International Organizations
mil Military groups
museum Museum & other nonprofit organizations
name Personal names
net Network Support centers
org Nonprofit Organizations
pro Professional individual Organizations

Country Domain
The format of country domain is same as a generic domain, but it uses two-character country
abbreviations (e.g., us for the United States) in place of three character organizational
abbreviations.
Inverse Domain
The inverse domain is used for mapping an address to a name. When the server has received a
request from the client, and the server contains the files of only authorized clients. To
determine whether the client is on the authorized list or not, it sends a query to the DNS server
and ask for mapping an address to the name.
Working of DNS
o DNS is a client/server network communication protocol. DNS clients send requests to
the. server while DNS servers send responses to the client.
o Client requests contain a name which is converted into an IP address known as a
forward DNS lookups while requests containing an IP address which is converted into a
name known as reverse DNS lookups.
o DNS implements a distributed database to store the name of all the hosts available on
the internet.
o If a client like a web browser sends a request containing a hostname, then a piece of
software such as DNS resolver sends a request to the DNS server to obtain the IP
address of a hostname. If DNS server does not contain the IP address associated with a
hostname, then it forwards the request to another DNS server. If IP address has arrived
at the resolver, which in turn completes the request over the internet protocol.

URL
URL stands for Uniform Resource Locator. It is the address of a resource, which can be a specific
webpage or a file, on the internet. It is also known as web address when it is used with http. It
was created in 1994 by Tim Berners-Lee. URL is a specific character string that is used to access
data from the World Wide Web. It is a type of URI (Uniform Resource Identifier).
Every URL contains the following information:
o The scheme name or protocol.
o A colon, two slashes.
o A host, normally called a domain name but sometimes as a literal IP address.
o A colon followed by a port number.
o Full path of the resource.
The URL of a web page is displayed above on the page in the address bar. A typical URL looks
like this:
http://www.javatpoint.com/full-form

The above URL contains:

o protocol: http
o host or domain: www.javatpoint.com
 o Path of the resource: /full-form
A URL can be entered manually by typing it in the address bar of your web browser. If the URL
does not contain a valid server, a browser may display a "Server not found" error and if the
path in the URL is incorrect, the browser may display a "404 error". A URL does not contain
spaces and uses forward slashes to represent different directories. So, dashes and underscores
are used separate the

Concept of Intranet & Extranet

The intranet is a private network that belongs to a particular organization.
It is designed for the exclusive use of an organization and its associates, such as employees,
customers, and other authorized people.
It offers a secure platform to convey information and share data with authorized users.
Confidential information, database, links, forms, and applications can be made available to the
staff through the intranet.
So, it is like a private internet or an internal website that is operating within an organization to
provide its employees access to its information and records.
Each computer in intranet is identified by a unique IP Address.
It is based on internet protocols (TCP/IP) and is protected from unauthorized access with
firewalls and other security systems.
The firewall monitors the incoming and outgoing data packets to ensure they don't contain
unauthorized requests.
So, users on the intranet can access the internet, but the internet users can't access the
intranet if they are not authorized for it.
Furthermore, to access the intranet, the authorized user is required to be connected to its LAN
(Local Area Network).
Some of the benefits of the intranet are:

It is cheap and easy to implement and run, and is more safe than the internet and extranet
.It streamlines communication that enables the company to share its data, information, and
other resources among employees without any delay. The entire staff can receive company's
announcements, ask questions, and access internal documents.
It provides a secure space to store and develop applications to support business operations.
It improves the efficiency of the company by speeding up workflow and reducing errors. Thus, it
helps achieve targets by completing the tasks on time.
It offers a testing platform for new ideas before they are uploaded on the company's internet
webpage. Thus, it helps maintain the credibility of the company
Information is shared in real-time, or updates are reflected immediately to all the authorized
users.
Modern intranets also offer a mobile app that allows employees to stay connected on the go.
It aids in project management and tracking workflow and teams' progress.
It can work with mobile devices, which means it can provide information that exists on intranet
directly to mobile devices of employees such as phones, tablets, etc.
It can also be used to motivate employees, facilitate employee recognition, and to reward them
for performing beyond expectations.

Extranet
Extranet is a part of an organization's intranet. It is a communication network that is based on
internet protocols (TCP/IP).
It provides controlled access to firm's intranet to its trading partners, customers, and other
businesses.
So, it is a private network that securely shares internal information and operations of a firm
with authorized people outside the firm without giving access to the company's entire network.
The users are required to have IDs, passwords, and other authentication mechanisms to access
this network.
Some of the benefits of extranet:
It acts as a single interface between the company and its trading partners.
It automates the firm's processes like automatically places an order with suppliers when
inventory drops.
It improves customer service by providing customers a platform to resolve their queries and
complaints.
It enables the firm to share information with trading partners without engaging in paper-based
publishing processes.
It streamlines business processes that are repetitive in nature, such as ordering from a vendor
on a regular basis.
History of Internet Protocol
The development of the protocol gets started in 1974 by Bob Kahn and Vint Cerf.
It is used in conjunction with the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), so they together named
the TCP/IP.
The first major version of the internet protocol was IPv4, which was version 4.
This protocol was officially declared in RFC 791 by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) in
1981.
After IPv4, the second major version of the internet protocol was IPv6, which was version 6. It
was officially declared by the IETF in 1998.
The main reason behind the development of IPv6 was to replace IPv4. There is a big difference
between IPv4 and IPv6 is that IPv4 uses 32 bits for addressing, while IPv6 uses 128 bits for
addressing.

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a standard that defines how to establish and maintain a
network conversation by which applications can exchange data.
TCP works with the Internet Protocol (IP), which defines how computers send packets of data to
each other.
Together, TCP and IP are the basic rules that define the internet.
The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines TCP in the Request for Comment (RFC)
standards document number 793.
How Transmission Control Protocol works
TCP is a connection-oriented protocol, which means a connection is established and maintained
until the applications at each end have finished exchanging messages.
TCP performs the following actions:
determines how to break application data into packets that networks can deliver;
sends packets to, and accepts packets from, the network layer;
manages flow control;
handles retransmission of dropped or garbled packets, as it's meant to provide error-free data
transmission; and
acknowledges all packets that arrive.
In the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) communication model, TCP covers parts of Layer 4,
the transport layer, and parts of Layer 5, the session layer.
When a web server sends an HTML file to a client, it uses the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP)
to do so.
The HTTP program layer asks the TCP layer to set up the connection and send the file.
The TCP stack divides the file into data packets, numbers them and then forwards them
individually to the IP layer for delivery.

FTP
FTP stands for File transfer protocol.
FTP is a standard internet protocol provided by TCP/IP used for transmitting the files from one
host to another.
It is mainly used for transferring the web page files from their creator to the computer that acts
as a server for other computers on the internet.
It is also used for downloading the files to computer from other servers.
Objectives of FTP
It provides the sharing of files.
It is used to encourage the use of remote computers.
It transfers the data more reliably and efficiently.
Why FTP?
Although transferring files from one system to another is very simple and straightforward, but
sometimes it can cause problems. For example, two systems may have different file
conventions. Two systems may have different ways to represent text and data. Two systems
may have different directory structures. FTP protocol overcomes these problems by
establishing two connections between hosts. One connection is used for data transfer, and
another connection is used for the control connection.
Mechanism of FTP

The above figure shows the basic model of the FTP.

The FTP client has three components: the user interface, control process, and data transfer
process.
The server has two components: the server control process and the server data transfer
process.
There are two types of connections in FTP:

o Control Connection: The control connection uses very simple rules for communication.
Through control connection, we can transfer a line of command or line of response at a
time. The control connection is made between the control processes. The control
connection remains connected during the entire interactive FTP session.
o Data Connection: The Data Connection uses very complex rules as data types may vary.
The data connection is made between data transfer processes. The data connection
opens when a command comes for transferring the files and closes when the file is
transferred.

HTTP
o HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol.
o It is a protocol used to access the data on the World Wide Web (www).
o The HTTP protocol can be used to transfer the data in the form of plain text, hypertext,
audio, video, and so on.
 o This protocol is known as HyperText Transfer Protocol because of its efficiency that
allows us to use in a hypertext environment where there are rapid jumps from one
document to another document.
o HTTP is similar to the FTP as it also transfers the files from one host to another host. But,
HTTP is simpler than FTP as HTTP uses only one connection, i.e., no control connection
to transfer the files.
o HTTP is used to carry the data in the form of MIME-like format.
o HTTP is similar to SMTP as the data is transferred between client and server. The HTTP
differs from the SMTP in the way the messages are sent from the client to the server
and from server to the client. SMTP messages are stored and forwarded while HTTP
messages are delivered immediately.
Features of HTTP:
o Connectionless protocol: HTTP is a connectionless protocol. HTTP client initiates a
request and waits for a response from the server. When the server receives the request,
the server processes the request and sends back the response to the HTTP client after
which the client disconnects the connection. The connection between client and server
exist only during the current request and response time only.
o Media independent: HTTP protocol is a media independent as data can be sent as long
as both the client and server know how to handle the data content. It is required for
both the client and server to specify the content type in MIME-type header.
o Stateless: HTTP is a stateless protocol as both the client and server know each other
only during the current request. Due to this nature of the protocol, both the client and
server do not retain the information between various requests of the web pages.
HTTP Transactions

The above figure shows the HTTP transaction between client and server. The client initiates a
transaction by sending a request message to the server. The server replies to the request
message by sending a response message.
Messages
HTTP messages are of two types: request and response. Both the message types follow the
same message format.

Request Message: The request message is sent by the client that consists of a request line,
headers, and sometimes a body.

Response Message: The response message is sent by the server to the client that consists of a
status line, headers, and sometimes a body.
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used to
dynamically assign an IP address to nay device, or node, on a network so they can communicate
using IP (Internet Protocol). DHCP automates and centrally manages these configurations.
There is no need to manually assign IP addresses to new devices. Therefore, there is no
requirement for any user configuration to connect to a DHCP based network.
DHCP can be implemented on local networks as well as large enterprise networks. DHCP is the
default protocol used by the most routers and networking equipment. DHCP is also called RFC
(Request for comments) 2131.
DHCP does the following:
DHCP manages the provision of all the nodes or devices added or dropped from the network.
DHCP maintains the unique IP address of the host using a DHCP server.
It sends a request to the DHCP server whenever a client/node/device, which is configured to
work with DHCP, connects to a network. The server acknowledges by providing an IP address to
the client/node/device.
DHCP is also used to configure the proper subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server
information on the node or device.
There are many versions of DCHP are available for use in IPV4 (Internet Protocol Version 4) and
IPV6 (Internet Protocol Version 6).
How DHCP works
DHCP runs at the application layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack to dynamically assign IP
addresses to DHCP clients/nodes and to allocate TCP/IP configuration information to the DHCP
clients. Information includes subnet mask information, default gateway, IP addresses and
domain name system addresses.
DHCP is based on client-server protocol in which servers manage a pool of unique IP addresses,
as well as information about client configuration parameters, and assign addresses out of those
address pools.
The DHCP lease process works as follows:
o First of all, a client (network device) must be connected to the internet.
o DHCP clients request an IP address. Typically, client broadcasts a query for this
information.
o DHCP server responds to the client request by providing IP server address and other
configuration information. This configuration information also includes time period,
called a lease, for which the allocation is valid.
o When refreshing an assignment, a DHCP clients request the same parameters, but the
DHCP server may assign a new IP address. This is based on the policies set by the
administrator.
Components of DHCP
When working with DHCP, it is important to understand all of the components. Following are
the list of components:
o DHCP Server: DHCP server is a networked device running the DCHP service that holds IP
addresses and related configuration information. This is typically a server or a router but
could be anything that acts as a host, such as an SD-WAN appliance.
o DHCP client: DHCP client is the endpoint that receives configuration information from a
DHCP server. This can be any device like computer, laptop, IoT endpoint or anything else
that requires connectivity to the network. Most of the devices are configured to receive
DHCP information by default.
o IP address pool: IP address pool is the range of addresses that are available to DHCP
clients. IP addresses are typically handed out sequentially from lowest to the highest.
o Subnet: Subnet is the partitioned segments of the IP networks. Subnet is used to keep
networks manageable.
o Lease: Lease is the length of time for which a DHCP client holds the IP address
information. When a lease expires, the client has to renew it.
o DHCP relay: A host or router that listens for client messages being broadcast on that
network and then forwards them to a configured server. The server then sends
responses back to the relay agent that passes them along to the client. DHCP relay can
be used to centralize DHCP servers instead of having a server on each subnet.