Computer Science 9608

Sec 1.2.2 IP addresses

with Majid Tahir

Syllabus Content:
1.2.2 IP addressing
explain the format of an IP address and how an IP address is associated with a
device on a network
explain the difference between a public IP address and a private IP address and the
implication for security
explain how a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) is used to locate a resource on the
World Wide Web (WWW) and the role of the Domain Name Service

Internet Protocol (IP) Address

Each device on the internet is given a unique address known as the INTERNET PROTOCOL (IP)
ADDRESS. This is a 32-bit number which is usually written in the form:
109.108.158.1

A home computer is given an IP address when it connects to the internet. This is assigned by
the ISP and is unique for that particular internet session. The only IP addresses that remain
fairly unchanged are web servers. An IP address can be used instead of typing in the full URL.
For example: http://109.108.158.1 would take you straight to the device corresponding to this
address. IP addresses and MAC addresses

You will recall the term MEDIA ACCESS CONTROL (MAC) ADDRESS from earlier chapters.
This is a unique number that identifies a device connected to the internet. So what is the
difference between an IP address and a MAC address?

The IP address gives the location of a device on the internet and IP address is given to
software, whereas the MAC address identifies the device connected to the internet and MAC
address is given to hardware (Network Interface Card NIC).

An Internet Protocol address (IP address) is a numerical label assigned to each device (e.g.,
computer, printer) participating in a Computer network.

IPv4 addresses

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Decomposition of an IPv4 address from decimal value to its binary value.

In IPv4 an address consists of 32 bits which limits the address space to 4294967296 (232)
possible unique addresses.
IPv4 reserves some addresses for special purposes such as private networks (~18 million
addresses) or multicast addresses(~270 million addresses).
IPv4 addresses are canonically represented in dot-decimal notation, which consists of four
decimal numbers, each ranging from 0 to 255, separated by dots, e.g., 172.16.254.1. Each
part represents a group of 8 bits (octet) of the address.
In some cases of technical writing, IPv4 addresses may be presented in
various hexadecimal, octal, or binary representations.

IP address

IPv4 Addresses:
Each device attached to a TCP/IP-based network must be given a unique address. These
addresses are carried in the IP packet to identify the source and destination hosts.

IP defines 32 bit (four octet) addresses, which permit over four billion hosts to attach to a
single internetwork.

IP addresses are represented in a format known as dotted decimal, where each octet is
represented by its decimal equivalent and the four numbers are separated by a dot (.). With
eight bits, you can represent numbers between 0 and 255. Therefore, the IP address

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represented in binary as 10000000 01000011 00100110 00010111 (hexadecimal 80-43-26-

17) is written (and spoken) in dotted decimal as 128.67.38.23.

NET & HOSTID:

Each IP address has two components: a network identifier (NETID) and a host
identifier (HOSTID).
The NETID identifies the specific network to which the host is attached.
The HOSTID uniquely identifies a host within that network. This distinction is important
because routers route to a given NETID and don’t care about the HOSTID. IP actually
permits the boundary between the NETID and the HOSTID to shift. By extending the NETID
and shrinking the HOSTID for a given network, one network can be partitioned into multiple
subnetworks, a process known as subnetting. To indicate where the new boundary has
been set for a given network, a subnet mask is used.

IP does not permit the NETID or HOSTID to be all ones or all zeros. All ones
means broadcast and can be used for all networks or all hosts. For example, the IP address
128.17.255.255 has NETID 128.17 and HOSTID 255.255. It means all hosts on the network
with NETID 128.17. To any IP device, 128.17.0.0 refers to the entire 128.17 network, regardless
of HOSTID.

In classful addressing, an IP address of class A, B and C is divided into netid and hostid.

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The netid determines the network address while the hostid determines the host connected
to that network.

Byte 1 Byte 2 Byte 3 Byte 4

Class A Netid Hostid

Class B Netid Hostid

Class C Netid Hostid

Class D Multicast Address

Class E Reserved for future use

Blocks and Hosts

Each class is divided into blocks. The numbers of block in a class can be calculated by the
number of bits in the netid.

CLASS A
Class A has 1 byte (8 bits) netid and from the binary notation we see that Class A address starts with 0
so there are total 7 bits that can be changed out of 8.
7
Therefore total number of blocks in Class A = 2 = 128
24
There are 3 bytes (24 bits) for hostid in Class A so total number of host in each block = 2 = 16,777,216
So total number of addresses in Class A = No. of Blocks in Class A x No. of Hosts in each block
of Class A

= 128 x 16,777,216
= 2,147,483,648
This is 50% of the total addresses in IPv4.
st
1 block of Class A has the netid 0
And the host id is between
0.0.0.0
…

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0.255.255.255
nd
Similarly, 2 block of Class A has the netid 1
And the host id is between
1.0.0.0
1.255.255.255

Netid 0 Netid 1 Netid 127

0.0.0.0 1.0.0.0 127.0.0.0

…
Class A to to to
0.255.255.255 1.255.255.255 127.255.255.255

Block 1 Block 2 Block 128

CLASS B
Class B has 2 bytes (16 bits) netid and from the binary notation we see that Class B
address starts with 10, so there are total 14 bits that can be changed out of 16.
Therefore total number of blocks in Class B = 214 = 16,384
There are 2 bytes (16 bits) for hostid in Class B so total number of host in each block = 216 =
65,536
So total number of addresses in Class B = No. of Blocks in Class B x No. of Hosts in each
block of Class B
= 16,384 x 65,536
= 1,073,741,824
This is 25% of the total addresses in IPv4.
1st block of Class B has the netid 128.0
And the host id is between
128.0.0.0
…
128.0.255.255
Similarly, 2nd block of Class B has the netid 128.1
And the host id is between
128.1.0.0
128.1.255.255

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Netid 128.0 Netid 128.1 Netid 191.255

128.0.0.0 128.1.0.0 … 191.255.0.0

Class B to to to
128.0.255.255 128.1.255.255 191.255.255.255

Block 1 Block 2 Block 16,384

CLASS C
Class C has 3 bytes (24 bits) netid and from the binary notation we see that Class C
address starts with 110, so there are total 21 bits that can be changed out of 24.
Therefore total number of blocks in Class C = 221 = 2,097,152
There is 1 byte (8 bits) for hostid in Class C so total number of host in each block = 28 = 256
So total number of addresses in Class C = No. of Blocks in Class C x No. of Hosts in each
block of Class C
= 2,097,152 x 256
= 536,870,912
This is 12.5% of the total addresses in IPv4.

1st block of Class C has the netid 192.0.0

And the host id is between
192.0.0.0
…
192.0.0.255

Similarly, 2nd block of Class B has the netid 192.0.1

And the host id is between
192.0.1.0
192.0.1.255

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Netid 192.0.0 Netid 192.0.1 Netid 223.255.255

192.0.0.0 192.0.1.0 223.255.255.0

…
Class C to to to
192.0.0.255 192.0.1.255 223.255.255.255

Block 1 Block 2 Block 2,097,152

CLASS D
It consists of a single block. It is designed for multicasting.

224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255
Class D
Single block of 268,435,456 addresses

CLASS E

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most of the block of addresses allocated going unused.

The inflexibility of the class system accelerated IPv4 address pool exhaustion. With IPv6,
addresses grow to 128 bits, greatly expanding the number of possible addresses on the
Internet. The transition to IPv6 is slow, however, so IPv4 address exhaustion continues to be a
significant issue.

CIDR reduced the problem of wasted address space by providing a new and more flexible way
to specify network addresses in routers. CIDR lets one routing table entry represent an
aggregation of networks that exist in the forward path that don't need to be specified on that
particular gateway. This is much like how the public telephone system uses area codes to
channel calls toward a certain part of the network. This aggregation of networks in a single
address is sometimes referred to as a supernet.

Using CIDR, each IP address has a network prefix that identifies either one or several network
gateways. The length of the network prefix in IPv4 CIDR is also specified as part of the IP
address and varies depending on the number of bits needed, rather than any arbitrary class
assignment structure. A destination IP address or route that describes many possible
destinations has a shorter prefix and is said to be less specific. A longer prefix describes a
destination gateway more specifically.

Routers are required to use the most specific, or longest, network prefix in the routing table
when forwarding packets. (In IPv6, a CIDR block always gets 64 bits for specifying network
addresses.)

A CIDR network address looks like this under IPv4:

192.30.250.00/18

The "192.30.250.0" is the network address itself and the "18" says that the first 18 bits are the
network part of the address, leaving the last 14 bits for specific host addresses.

Classless inter-domain routing (CIDR}

The simple method used to achieve this is to add an 8-bit suffix to the address that specifies the
number of bits for the netlD. If, for instance, we define the suffix as 21, that means that 21 bits
are used for the netlD and there are 11 bits remaining (of a 32-bit address) to specify hostlDs
allowing 211 i.e. 2048, hosts. One example of an IP address using this scheme is shown in
Figure 2.06. The 21 bits representing the netlD have been highlighted.
The rema ining 11 bits represent the hostlD which would therefore have the binary value
11000001110.

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Sub netting
A quite different approach, sub-netting, allows further
structure in the addressing. To illustrate an example
of this we can consider a medium-sized organisation
with about 150 employees each with their own
computer workstation. Let's assume that there are six
individual department LANs and one head-office LAN.
Figure 2.07 shows a schematic diagram of how the
LANs would be connected to the Internet if the original
scheme were used. The organization would need
seven individual Class C netlDs. Each of these would
point to one of the LAN gateways (which have to function as routers). Each netlD would be
associated with 256 hosts so an organisation with just 150 computer workstations would leave
1642 IP addresses unused and unavailable for use by any other organisation.

The sub-netting solution for this organisation would require allocating just one Class C netlD.
For example, the IP addresses allocated might be 194.10.9.0 to 194.10.9.255 where the netlD
comprises the first three bytes, represented by the decimal values 194, 10 and 9.

The sub-netting now works by having a defined structure for the 256 codes constituting the
host ID. A sensible solution for this organisation is to use the top three bits as a code for the individual
LANs and the remaining five bits as codes for the individual workstations. Figure

2.08 shows a schematic diagram of this arrangement.

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On the Internet, all of the allocated IP addresses have a netlD pointing to the router. The router
then has to interpret the hostlD to direct the transmission to the appropriate host on one of the
LANS. For example:

• hostlD code 00001110 could be the address for workstation 14 on the head office LAN (LAN
000).
• hostlD code 01110000 would be the address for workstation 16 on LAN 3 (LAN 011).

A subnet mask is a screen of numbers used for routing traffic within a subnet. Once a packet
has arrived at an organization's gateway or connection point with its unique network number, it
can be routed to its destination within the organization's internal gateways using
the subnet number.

Private IP Addresses
Because the IP address space is relatively small, much work has been done to conserve that
address space. Enter NAT (or NAPT). These technologies make it possible for a consumer
(corporate or residential) to be allocated as few as a single address from their ISP and use it to
support multiple systems within their network. The addresses actually used by the internal
systems are translated by the NAT or NPAT device before being forwarded onto the Internet.

To prevent conflict, the IANA has allocated three address blocks for these private networks.
These addresses, which may not be used across the public Internet, include:

 10.0.0.0 through 10.255.255.255

 172.16.0.0 through 172.31.255.255

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 192.168.0.0 through 192.168.255.255

A fourth block is reserved for Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA):

 169.254.0.0 through 169.254.255.255

.

Table: Default masks for classful addressing

The mask can help us to find the netid and the hostid. The mask for a class A address has eight 1 s,
which means the first 8 bits of any address in class A define the netid; the next 24 bits define the
hostid.

Private addresses:
Early network design, when global end-to-end connectivity was envisioned for communications with
all Internet hosts, intended that IP addresses be uniquely assigned to a particular computer or
device. However, it was found that this was not always necessary as private networks developed
and public address space needed to be conserved.
Computers not connected to the Internet, such as factory machines that communicate only with each
other via TCP/IP, need not have globally unique IP addresses. Three non-overlapping ranges of
IPv4 addresses for private networks were reserved in RFC 1918. These addresses are not routed on
the Internet and thus their use need not be coordinated with an IP address registry.
Today, when needed, such private networks typically connect to the Internet through network
address translation (NAT).

IANA-reserved private IPv4 network ranges

Start End No. of addresses

24-bit block (/8 prefix, 1 × A) 10.0.0.0 10.255.255.255 16777216

20-bit block (/12 prefix, 16 × B) 172.16.0.0 172.31.255.255 1048576

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16-bit block (/16 prefix, 256 × C) 192.168.0.0 192.168.255.255 65536

Any user may use any of the reserved blocks. Typically, a network administrator will divide a block
into subnets; for example, many home routers automatically use a default address range of
192.168.0.0 through 192.168.0.255 (192.168.0.0/24).

Public address
A public IP address, in common parlance, is a globally routable unicast IP address, meaning that the
address is not an address reserved for use in private networks, such as those reserved by RFC
1918, or the various IPv6 address formats of local scope or site-local scope, for example for link-
local addressing. Public IP addresses may be used for communication between hosts on the global
Internet.

IPv6 addresses

Decomposition of an IPv6 address from hexadecimal representation to its binary value.

The rapid exhaustion of IPv4 address space prompted the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF) to explore new technologies to expand the addressing capability in the
Internet. The permanent solution was deemed to be a redesign of the Internet Protocol
itself. This new generation of the Internet Protocol was eventually named Internet

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Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) in 1995.[3][4]

The address size was increased from 32 to 128 bits (16 octets), thus providing up to
2128 (approximately 3.403×1038) addresses. This is deemed sufficient for the
foreseeable future.
The intent of the new design was not to provide just a sufficient quantity of addresses,
but also redesign routing in the Internet by more efficient aggregation of subnetwork
routing prefixes.
This resulted in slower growth of routing tables in routers. The smallest possible
individual allocation is a subnet for 264 hosts, which is the square of the size of the entire
IPv4 Internet. At these levels, actual address utilization rates will be small on any IPv6
network segment.
The new design also provides the opportunity to separate the addressing infrastructure
of a network segment, i.e. the local administration of the segment's available space,
from the addressing prefix used to route traffic to and from external networks.
IPv6 has facilities that automatically change the routing prefix of entire networks, should
the global connectivity or the routing policy change, without requiring internal redesign
or manual renumbering.
The large number of IPv6 addresses allows large blocks to be assigned for specific
purposes and, where appropriate, to be aggregated for efficient routing. With a large
address space, there is no need to have complex address conservation methods as
used in CIDR.
All modern desktop and enterprise server operating systems include native support for
the IPv6 protocol, but it is not yet widely deployed in other devices, such as residential
networking routers, voice over IP (VoIP) and multimedia equipment, and network
peripherals.

What is a DNS server?

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a standard technology for managing public names
of Web sites and other Internet domains. DNS technology allows you to type names into
your Web browser like
“soundcloud.com” and
your computer to
automatically find that
address on the Internet.
A key element of the
DNS is a worldwide
collection of DNS
servers.

DNS: It's like your

computer's GPS for the
Internet. Its basic job is to

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turn a user-friendly domain name like "google.com" into an Internet Protocol (IP) address like
64.233.167.104 that computers use to identify each other on the network. Computers and other
network devices on the Internet use an IP address to route your request to the site you're trying
to reach. This is similar to dialing a phone number to connect to the person you're trying to call.
Thanks to DNS, though, you don't have to keep your own address book of IP addresses.
Instead, you just connect through a domain name server, also called a DNS server or name
server, which manages a massive database that maps domain names to IP addresses.

A DNS server is any computer registered to join the Domain Name System. A DNS
server runs special purpose networking software, features a public IP address, and
contains a database of network names and addresses for other Internet hosts. A DNS
server is similar to looking up contacts on your phone, to call a contact, you simply look
up that

Person’s name, but that name is of no use to the phone itself, it has to look up the
contact number and dial that. Simply speaking, both systems translate the
website/contact name into an IP address or phone number.

DNS Root Servers

DNS servers communicate with each other using private network protocols. All DNS
servers are organized in a hierarchy. At the top level of the hierarchy, so-called “root
servers” store a complete database of Internet domain names and their corresponding
IP addresses. The Internet employs 13 root servers that have become somewhat
famous for their special role. Maintained by various independent agencies, the servers
are aptly named A, B, C and so on up to M. Ten of these servers reside in the United
States, one in Japan, one in London, UK and one in Stockholm, Sweden.

How DNS Works

The DNS is a distributed system, meaning that only the 13 root servers contain the
complete database of names and addresses. All other DNS servers are installed at
lower levels of the hierarchy and maintain only certain pieces of the overall database.
Most lower level DNS servers are owned by businesses or Internet Service Providers
(ISPs). For example, Google maintains various DNS servers around the world that
manage the google.com, google.co.uk, and other domains.

Your ISP also maintains DNS servers as part of your Internet connection setup.
DNS networking is based on the client / server architecture. Your Web browser
functions as a DNS client (also called DNS resolver) and issues requests to your
Internet provider's DNS servers when navigating between Web sites.

When a DNS server receives a request not in its database (such as a geographically
distant or rarely visited Web site), it temporarily transforms from a server to a DNS
client. The server automatically passes that request to another DNS server or up to the
next higher level in the DNS hierarchy as needed.

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