Week Four: TCP/IP, and Routing

The week four topics focuses on Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP), and Routing. Both contents play an important role in the computer networking environment as we all know. Like every other technology that we heavily relied on to execute our daily activities, TCP/IP had a rough beginning. To put it into content, and be specific, TCP/IP was created by UNIX. In the early 80s, four of major players in the computer and network industry (Microsoft, Apple, Novell, and UNIX) had created their own protocol com communicating and sending data over a network.

No one software or protocol could execute everything that the network required, and because of that, the four major companies decided to put together their “protocol under term the protocol suite.” The following are the lists of those protocol: IPX/ SPX represented Novell, NetBIOS/NetBEUI represented Microsoft, AppleTalk represented Apple, and TCP/IP represented UNIX. Eventually as time went by, the major companies decided to used TCP/IP as the only protocol suite for networking. The TCP/IP Protocol suite operates at Layer 3-7 of the OSI seven-layer mode (Meyers, 2018, p.173).

 

The Internet Protocol Versions

Speaking of TCP/IP, the Internet Protocol (IP) reside at the Internet layer where it extracts data from the layer 4 (Transport Layer) of the Open System Interconnection model (OSI) by adding, addressing, and then creating what is known to being the “final IP packet.” When the final packet gets created, the packet is sent to the second Layer (Data Link) “for encapsulation into a frame. There are two Internet Protocol versions currently in use today and they, Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4), and Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). The IPv4 was created to handle 4 billion naming address at the end of the 70s, and the IPV 6 was created 20 years later to replace the IPv4.

There are huge differences between the IP versions, for example, the IPv4 address four range of numbers “from 0 to 225” where those number are “separated by three periods like: 192.168.1.156. while on the other hand, the newer IP version (IPv6) is a combination of numbers and letters separated by seven colons for example: 2003:1:4127:8e67:34e:3589:4f67: fe8a. One important aspect to keep in mind is that, both the IPv4 and IPv6 are not just the only two protocols reside at the Internet layer, there are other protocols that do reside there and used the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP). Therefore, it is important to think of IPv4, IPv6, and ICMP when thinking about the Internet layer.

Routing

It could be difficult if not impossible for the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) to send its packets (data) from one destination to another without the blessing of the routing. The purpose for Routing is that it gives us the ability to interconnect Local Area Networks (LANs) into a Wide Area Networks (WANs). The router acts as a distribution hub with all the latest technology program to receive incoming packets and directly sent them to their direct LAN destination. Routers automatic for the most part once they are configuring and required far less maintenance because they basically communicate with each other to finalize the proper way to send IP packets.

Routers reside at the Layer three (Network) of the OSI model and at the Internet layer of the TCP/IP model. The main purpose router was invented for was to send data to direct destination IP address. Classically routers are dedicated boxes that contain at least two connections, although many routers contain many more connection (Meyers, 2018. P 217). There are various of others important functions that partake in router that I will not being able to discuss due to the number of times it will require. Some of these functions are, Network Address Translation (NAT), dynamic routing protocol, vector protocol, Routing Information Protocol (RIP) and Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

 

 

Reference:

Meyers, M. (2018). All-In-One CompTIA Network+ Certification, (Exams N 10-007) Seven Edition McGraw Hill Education, Retrieved: July 4, 2022. P 172.

Meyers, M. (2018). All-In-One CompTIA Network+ Certification, (Exams N 10-007) Seven Edition McGraw Hill Education, Retrieved: July 4, 2022. P 217.