Introduction To
The Internet Protocol
Introduction
Perhaps
one of the most important and well known protocols
is the Internet Protocol
or, if you like, IP. IP gives us the ability to
uniquely identify each computer in a network or on
the Internet.
When a
computer is connected to a network or the Internet,
it is assigned a unique IP address. If you're
connecting to the Internet, chances are you're given
an IP automatically by your ISP, if you're
connecting to your LAN then you're either given the
IP automatically or you manually configure the
workstation with an assigned IP.
I can't
over emphasise the importance of fully understanding
IP if you really want to understand how network
communications work, especially when it comes to an
IP network, like the Internet.
DNS, FTP,
SNMP,
SMTP,
HTTP and a lot of other
protocols and services rely heavily on the IP
protocol in order to function correctly, so you can
immediately see that IP is more than just an IP
Address on your workstation.
Now,
because IP is a HUGE subject and it's impossible to
cover in one or two pages, I decided to split it
into a few different sections in order to make it
easy to read and learn about.
Here is a
summary of what's covered:
-
Section 1:
Binary and the Internet Protocol. Here we
cover a few basic Binary concepts and get to see
how Binary and IP fit together.
-
Section 2:
Internet Protocol Header.
Find out how the Internet
Protocol fits in the OSI Model. Also
includes a detailed 3d diagram of the IP Header
which shows the fields that exist in the IP
Header
-
Section 3:
Internet Protocol Classes.
We get to see the 5 different IP Classes and
analyse them in Binary. Also you get to learn
about the Network ID and Host ID in an IP
Address.
-
Section 4:
Subnetting. One of
the most important things you should know.
Detailed explanation on how subnetting works.
Includes simple to complicated examples. You
should be comfortable with the first 3 sections
in order to understand this section. For more
information, please see the Subnetting
Introduction page.
So, what
are you waiting for ? Let's discover and learn all
about one of the most important protocols in the
networking world !
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