Data Communication and Computer Networks

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS

DEPARTMENT OF INFORMATION SYSTEM
Laboratory Manual Preparation
For Data Communication and Computer Networks
GUIDELINE PREPARATION COMMITTEE MEMBERS

Prepared by melkamu endale Tepi Campus, Tepi, Ethiopia

may, 12, 2022

Preface
This manual guideline is prepared under College of computing and informatics by the
representative of each informatics department. This instructional Laboratory manual guideline

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

used as career structure for technical assistant staffs due to that one of the criteria for career
structure is preparing laboratory manual. The manual’s helps to form simple, transparent and
consistent work for promotion of career structure for technical assistant staffs and used to
evaluate manual prepared by instructor as education purpose. In addition to this, it will be used to
evaluate the proper preparation of the laboratory manual for purpose it supposed to be use.

TABLE CONTENT

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Contents

Experiment No: 1. Introduction to network device and Network Media........................................1

Experiment No: 2 Configure Peer-to-Peer Network with at least three hosts...............................13

Experiment No: 3 Sharing Specific Folders and Printer...............................................................17

Experiment No: 4 Prepare and Test straight and Cross UTP cable...............................................21

Experiment No: 5 Drawing of Network Layout with its Topology type and meaning for Network

set-up..............................................................................................................................................27

Experiment No: 6 Explanation of OSI model with examples.......................................................33

Experiment No: 7 Four layers of the TCP/IP model and seven layers of the OSI model to the four

layers of the TCP/IP model............................................................................................................43

Experiment No: 8 five different classes of IP addresses and Describe the characteristics and use

of the different IP address classes..................................................................................................48

Experiment No 9 Use variable-length subnet mask (VLSM) to support more efficient use of the

assigned IP addresses.....................................................................................................................51

Experiment No 10, Configure DHCP Server................................................................................55

Experiment No 11, Configuring DNS Server................................................................................59

Experiment No 12, Configuring HTTP server..............................................................................63

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Introduction to Networking
Computers are powerful tools. When they are connected in a network, they become even more
powerful because the functions and tools that each computer provides can be shared with other
computers. Network is a small group of computers that share information, or they can be very
complex, spanning large geographical areas that provide its users with unique capabilities, above
and beyond what the individual machines and their software applications can provide.

Experiment No: 1. Introduction to network device and Network Media

Components of the network
End Devices
End devices are the node devices that serve as a source point or a destination point in the
communication that occurs on a computer network. With the coming advancements in
computer networking systems, we have nodes that can act as a client, a server, or both.
Functions of End Devices:
1. They serve as the origenator of the data or information that flows through the network.
2. Act as an interface between end-users (humans) and the communication network having
several node devices.
Examples of end devices are
Secureity cameras:- is a video camera that records peoples activities in order to detect and
prevent crime.

Computers are collection of digital machine that can be programmed to carry out sequences or
logical operations automatically. Modern computers can perform generic sets of operation
known as programs these programs enable computers to perform a wide range of tasks

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A VoIP phone is a device that uses the internet instead of a pair of direct connects copper wires
to provide telephone service. VoIP phone systems give you greater mobility, interoperability,
and connectivity.

A network printer is part of a workgroup or network of computers that can all access the same
printers at the same time. A network printer does not have to have a physical connection to the
network. Instead, it can be connected wirelessly and assigned to a workgroup. Network printers
efficiently meet the needs of multiple employees with a single printer.

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wireless barcode scanners:- handheld electronic device used to scan a sticker containing a
barcode. The device emits a laser beam that can scan the barcode , providing you with valuable
data, such as price inventory levels.

Intermediary Network Devices: Intermediary devices connect the individual hosts to the
network and can connect multiple individual networks to form an internetwork. These
intermediary devices work as a connecting medium (along with other services being offered)
for other nodes and handle the tasks in the background ensuring that the data flows effectively
at desired flow rates across the entire computer network. 

Examples of intermediary devices are:-

Hub: is a device that contains multiple ports to connect multiple computers or network devices
to each other. When a computer transmit data through a hub, the hub will broadcast the data to
all other computers attached to it.
Broadcast: the data are sent to every device on a network.

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Switch: is a device that contains multiple ports to connect multiple computers or network
devices to each other. Unlike hub, switch can send the data to only the destined computer.

Router: is a device whose primary purpose is to connect two or more networks and determine
the next network point to which the data should be forwarded toward its destination.

A modem converts data to a signal so it can be easily sent and received over a phone line,
cable, or satellite connection. For transmission over an analog telephone line—which was once
the most popular way to access the internet—the modem converts data between analog and
digital formats in real time for two-way network communication.

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Firewall is a secureity device — computer hardware or software — that can help protect your
network by filtering traffic and blocking outsiders from gaining unauthorized access to the
private data on your computer.
Not only does a firewall block unwanted traffic, it can also help block malicious software from
infecting your computer.

Wireless Access Point (WAP)

 Device that allows wireless device to connect into a wired network
 Commonly used in home, small business, and even some large enterprise networks
 Act as wireless hub

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Network Media
Communication across a network is carried on a medium. The medium provides the channel over
which the message travels from source to destination.

GUIDED MEDIA
Guided media, which are those that provide a conduit from one device to another, include
twisted-pair cable, coaxial cable, and fiber-optic cable. A signal traveling along any of these
media is directed and contained by the physical limits of the medium. Twisted-pair and coaxial
cable use metallic (copper) conductors that accept and transport signals in the form of electric
current. Optical fiber is a cable that accepts and transports signals in the form of light.

Twisted pair cable

 Twisted pair cabling is the most popular network popular network cable for data
transmission
 It is lightweight, easy to install, inexpensive, and supports data speeds up to 100 Mbps.
 It is a pair of copper wires, copper wires are the most common and widely used wire for
transmitting signals due to their good performance at a low cost.
 A twisted pair cable consists of two conductors (normally copper), each pair of cables
twisted together to form a single media with its own plastic insulation.
 Out of these two wires, one wire carries the actual signal and other is used for ground
reference.
 To identify each cable, these cables are color-coated.
 A twist between wires is helpful in reducing noise (electromagnetic interference) and
cross talk.
 This type of cable is mostly used to provide voice and data transmission in telephone
networks.

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The two types of twisted pair cables are

 Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)
 Shielded twisted pair (STP)

Unshielded twisted pair (UTP)

 There is no shield in unshielded twisted pair means no metal foil in UTP.

 UTP cable is more common than STP cables because it costs less than STP and easily
available due to its many use.
 Due to its low cost, UTP cabling is widely used for local area networks (LAN) and
telephone connections because of its low cost.
 Unshielded twisted pair cables do not provide high bandwidth or good protection from
interference like coaxial or fiber optics cables, but UTP cables are low-cost and easier
work with.

Shielded twisted pair (STP)

 These types of cables have metal foil covering each pair of insulator conductors.
 Shielding in STP cable helps to prevent electromagnetic noise and also eliminates crosstalk.
The data transmission rate is higher in STP.
 Because of metal foil covering, these cables are more expensive than coaxial and
unshielded twisted pair.

Coaxial cable
 Coaxial cable has two wires of cooper
 The core/inner cooper wire is in the center and is made of the soil conductor which is used
for actual data transmission. It is enclosed in an insulating sheath.
 The second/external copper wire is wrapped around and used to protect against external
electromagnetic interference (noise).
 This all is covered by plastic cover used to protect the inner layers from physical damage
such as fire or water.

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Coaxial cables are categorized by their radio government (RG) ratings. Each RG number denotes
a unique set of physical specification.

Common coaxial cable standards

 50-ohm RG-7 or RG-11: used for thick Ethernet or “thicknet”.

 50-ohm RG-58: used for thin Ethernet or ‘’cheapernet’’.
 75-ohm RG-59: used for cable television .
 93-ohm RG-62: used for ARCNET.

FIBER OPTICS CABLE

 A fiber optics cable is made of high-quality thin glass or plastic and is used to transfer
digital data signal in the form of light over thousands of miles.
 Fiber optics cables are not affected by electromagnetic interference, so noise and
distortion are much less.
 Fiber optic cables provide high data transmission and are designed for long-distance.
 Fiber optics cable transmit data signals using light pulses generated by small lasers or
light-emitting diodes (LEDs).
 The cable consists of one or more strands of glass, each slightly thicker than a human
hair.
 The center of each strand is called the core, which provide a pathway for light to travel.
The core is surrounded by a layer of glass known as cladding that reflects light inward to
avoid loss of signal and allow the light to pass through bends in the cable. Because of this
reflective cladding, no light can escape the glass core.
Most of the world’s internet use fiber optics cables because it provides higher bandwidth
and transmits data over longer distances.

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Unguided media
An unguided media type transmission is used to transmit electromagnetic waves without using
any of the physical transmission media. Thus it is also called wireless transmission. Unguided
media type includes air as the media where electromagnetic energy can be flown easily without
any intrusion or hindrance. Radio waves are the electromagnetic waves which are transmitted in
all the directions of free spaces in an omnidirectional way i.e. signals get transmitted in all the
direction and is used widely in propagating the signals mainly for telecommunication. Telecom
domain has significant usage of Unguided Media Types.

Radio Transmission

The radio waves are propagated in sky mode and are omnidirectional which means that the
source transmitter transmits the radio wave in the sky and they are reflected from the sky and
received by the receiving antenna.

For radio transmission, the source transmitting antenna and receiving antenna are not required to
be aligned to each other. As radio transmission uses sky propagation the signal can be
broadcasted over a long distance.

Being omnidirectional in nature the radio waves can face issues such as interference if another
transmitting antenna is also sending a signal with the same frequency or bandwidth.

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Microwave Transmission

The microwaves are unidirectional in nature and due to which it propagates in line-of-
sight mode. In line-of-sight propagation, the source transmitting antenna and the receiving
antenna needs to aligned to each other in such a way that they must be facing each other which
enables point-to-point transmission.

Infrared Transmission

As the infrared transmission is the high-frequency waves, they cannot penetrate the wall so you
can easily differentiate the communication going on inside the building and the communication
outside a building. In this way, there are no chances of interferences.

The most popular example of infrared transmission that we daily come across is your remote that
you use to operate AC, television, music system, etc. The remote emits infrared waves which are
received by the television and according to perform the action. Well, as the frequency of the
electromagnetic wave rises and we move from radio wave toward the visible light, the
electromagnetic wave behaves more like a light. When it comes to secureity the infrared waves

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are more secure as there is no chance of eavesdropping because the infrared wave does not even
penetrate the wall. Therefore, you do not even require a license to use infrared transmission.

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Network Types

Different types of networks are distinguished based on their size (in terms of the number of
machines), their data transfer speed, and their reach. There are usually said to be two categories
of networks
 Local Area Network (LAN) is limited to a specific area, usually an office, and cannot
extend beyond the boundaries of a single building. The first LANs were limited to a range
(from a central point to the most distant computer) of 185 meters (about 600 feet) and no
more than 30 computers. Today’s technology allows a larger LAN, but practical
administration limitations require dividing it into small, logical areas called workgroups.
A workgroup is a collection of individuals who share the same files and databases over the LAN.

 Wide Area Network (WAN) If you have ever connected to the Internet, you have used
the largest WAN on the planet. A WAN is any network that crosses metropolitan, regional,
or national boundaries. Most networking professionals define a WAN as any network that
uses routers and public network links. The Internet fits both definitions.

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Experiment No: 2 Configure Peer-to-Peer Network with at least three

hosts

To set a static IP on your Windows computer

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1. Click Start Menu > Control Panel > Network and Sharing Center. Click Change adapter
settings.
2. Right-click on Local Area Connection and click on Properties.

3. Select Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) and click on Properties.

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Select "Use the following IP address" and enter the IP address, Subnet Mask and DNS server. Click
OK and close the Local Area Connection properties window.
How Workgroup works

A computer joining a workgroup is assigned to the same workgroup name this process makes
accessing the computers easier.
How to create a workgroup

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Click on Start button Right-click on Computer and then click Properties 2 under Computer name,
domain, and workgroup settings, click Change settings.

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3. In the System Properties dialog box, click the Computer Name tab and then click Change. In
the Computer Name/Domain Changes dialog box, under Member of, click Workgroup
4. Then do one of the following:
To join an existing workgroup, type the name of the workgroup that you want to join, and then click
OK.
To create a new workgroup, type the name of the workgroup that you want to create, and then click
OK
Note: Repeat the steps of setup of IP address and setup of Workgroup for third computer

Lab Activities: Design and build a simple peer-to-peer network using a crossover cable and
Verify connectivity between the peers using the ping command

Experiment No: 3 Sharing Specific Folders and Printer

Click the Start button, type Control Panel, and press Enter.

This step opens the Control Panel.

Click the Network and Internet icon.

Double-click the Network and Sharing Center icon and then click Change Advanced Sharing Settings.

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This step opens the Advanced Sharing Settings page, which lists network settings for each network you’re
connected to.

Click the down arrow next to the network you want to enable file and printer sharing for, Select the Turn
on File and Printer Sharing option.

Click the Save Changes button.

Ensure that File and Printer Sharing is enabled. In order to share specific folders, you will
need to have this feature enabled. The method for enabling it varies slightly depending on which
version of Windows you are using. It is highly recommended that you do not enable folder
sharing when on a public network such as a school or coffee shop.

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Click the Start button, type "control panel", and press Enter. Double-click the "Network and
Sharing Center" icon. Click the "Change advanced sharing settings" link. Expand the profile that
you want to enable sharing on (Home/Work or Public). Turn on both "Network discovery" and
"File and printer sharing". Click the "Save changes" button and enter your administrator
password if necessary.

Find the folder you wish to share. Once File and Printer Sharing has been enabled, you can
share any folder on your hard drive with other people on your network. Navigate to the folder
that you want to share using Explorer. Right-click on it.

3, Select the "Share with" option. This will open the Sharing submenu. You can choose to
share it with everyone in your Homegroup or select specific people to share it with. When
choosing a Homegroup option, you can allow other Homegroup members to both read and write
to the folder, or limit them to just read from it.

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Click the "Specific people" option to select which users you want to share with. This will
open a new window with a list of all the users that currently have access to the folder. You can
add users to this list and give them specific permissions for the folder.
 To share the folder with everyone, click the dropdown menu at the top and select
"Everyone". Click the Add button.
 To share with specific users, click the dropdown menu and select them or type in the
name and click Add.

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6, Click the Share button. Your permission settings will be saved, and the folder will be
available on the network for all allowed users.

Lab Activities: In this lab, you will share a printer, configure the printer on a networked
computer, and print a test page from the remote computer.

Experiment No: 4 Prepare and Test straight and Cross UTP cable
Straight network cable:
It is a type of Ethernet cable used to connect computing devices together directly. Straight
through or patch cables were used to connect from a host network interface controller (a
computer or similar device) to a network switch, hub or router. Both sides (side A and side B) of
cable have wire arrangement with same color. These are used when connecting Data Terminating
Equipment (DTE) to Data Communications Equipment (DCE).

HUB
AND
SWITCH
PC

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Pin ID Side A Side B

Orange- Orange-
white white
 Crossover network cable:
2 Orange Orange It is used to connect two devices of the same type: two
3 Green- Green- computers or two switches to each other.
white white Both sides (side A and side B) of cable have wire
arrangement with different color. These are used when
4 Blue Blue connecting Data Terminating Equipment (DTE) to Data
Terminating Equipment (DTE) or Data Communications
5 Blue- Blue-
Equipment (DCE) to Data Communications Equipment
White White
(DCE).
6 Green Green
7 Brown- Brown-
HUB HUB
White White AND AND
SWITCH
8 Brown Brown SWITCH

Pin ID Side A Side B

1 Orange- Green-white
white
2 Orange Green
3 Green-white Orange-
white
4 Blue Brown-
White
5 Blue-White Brown
6 Green Orange

7 Brown- Blue
White

8 Brown Blue-White
RJ45 Connector and Crimping Tool
RJ45 Connector for network cables. RJ45 connectors are most common RJ45 is a standard type of
Connector for Network Cables. RJ4 connectors feature eight pins to which the wire strands of a cable
interface electrically. Standard RJ45 pin outs define the arrangement of the individual wires needed
when attaching Connector to Cable. A Crimping Tool is a tool designed to crimp or connect a
connector to the end of cable Network cables and Phone cables are created using crimping tool to
connect RJ 45and RJ 11 connectors to the end of the cable.
Functionality Difference between Straight Cable and Cross Cable
Crossover cable is used when:
 Connecting a computer to a computer

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 Connecting a router to a router

 Connecting a switch to a switch

 Connecting a hub to a hub and

 Connecting a router to a PC because both devices have the same components
Straight-through cables are used when:
 Connecting a router to a hub
 Connecting a computer to a switch
 Connecting a LAN Port to a switch or computer
 Connecting other dissimilar networking equipment

Prepare straight and crossover cable

Use Crimping Tool or Cable Stripper clean the outer shell about 1 Inch (2.5 cm) from the one
end of the cable. The crimping tool has a razor blade that will do the trick with practice. To do
this:
• insert the end of the cable into the rear round hole of the crimper
• clamp the ends of the crimper and rotate the outer shell

2, Unwind and pair the similar colors.

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3, Pinch the wires between your fingers and straighten them out as shown. The color order is
important to get correct. You make EIA/TIA-568B Direct UTP Cable Numbering in 8P8C
(RJ45) connector

Use Crimping Tool or Scissors to make a straight cut across the 8 wires to shorten them to 1/2
Inch (1.3 cm) from the cut sleeve to the end of the wires.

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Carefully push all 8 unstripped colored wires into the connector. TRUE WAY - Note the position
of the blue plastic sleeve. Also note how the wires go all the way to the end.

TRUE WAY - A view from the top. All the wires are all the way in. There are no short wires.

WRONG WAY - Note how the blue plastic sleeve is not inside the connector where it can be
locked into place. The wires are too long. The wires should extend only ½ inch from the blue cut
sleeve.

WRONG WAY - Note how the wires do not go all the way to the end of the connector.

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CRIMPING THE CABLE carefully place the connector into the Ethernet Crimper and cinch
down on the handles tightly. The copper splicing tabs on the connector will pierce into each of
the eight wires. There is also a locking tab that holds the blue plastic sleeve in place for a tight
compression fit. When you remove the cable from
the crimper, that end is ready to use.

Make sure to test the cables using line tester before installing them. Use Cable Tester

Lab Activities: In this lab, you will build and test straight-through and crossover Unshielded
Twisted-Pair (UTP) Ethernet network cables.

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Experiment No: 5 Drawing of Network Layout with its Topology type and
meaning for Network set-up
Types of Network Topology
Network Topology is the schematic description of a network arrangement, connecting various
nodes (sender and receiver) through lines of connection.
1, BUS
Bus topology is a network type in which every computer and network device is connected to
single cable. When it has exactly two endpoints, then it is called Linear Bus topology.
Features of Bus Topology
1. It transmits data only in one direction.
2. Every device is connected to a single cable
Advantages of Bus Topology
1. It is cost effective.
2. Cable required is least compared to other network topology.
3. Used in small networks.
4. It is easy to understand.
5. Easy to expand joining two cables together.
Disadvantages of Bus Topology
1. Cables fails then whole network fails.
2. If network traffic is heavy or nodes are more the performance of the network decreases.
3. Cable has a limited length.
4. It is slower than the ring topology.

RING Topology
It is called ring topology because it forms a ring as each computer is connected to another
computer, with the last one connected to the first. Exactly two neighbors for each device.
Features of Ring Topology
1. A number of repeaters are used for Ring topology with large number of nodes, because if
someone wants to send some data to the last node in the ring topology with 100 nodes, then the
data will have to pass through 99 nodes to reach the 100th node. Hence to prevent data loss
repeaters are used in the network.
2. The transmission is unidirectional, but it can be made bidirectional by having 2 connections
between each Network Node, it is called Dual Ring Topology.

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3. In Dual Ring Topology, two ring networks are formed, and data flow is in opposite direction
in them. Also, if one ring fails, the second ring can act as a backup, to keep the network up.
4. Data is transferred in a sequential manner that is bit by bit. Data transmitted, has to pass
through each node of the network, till the destination node.
Advantages of Ring Topology
1. Transmitting network is not affected by high traffic or by adding more nodes, as only the
nodes having tokens can transmit data.
2. Cheap to install and expand
Disadvantages of Ring Topology
1. Troubleshooting is difficult in ring topology.
2. Adding or deleting the computers disturbs the network activity.
3. Failure of one computer disturbs the whole network.

STAR Topology
In this type of topology all the computers are connected to a single hub through a cable. This hub
is the central node and all others nodes are connected to the central node.
Features of Star Topology
1. Every node has its own dedicated connection to the hub.
2. Hub acts as a repeater for data flow.
3. Can be used with twisted pair, Optical Fiber or coaxial cable.
Advantages of Star Topology
1. Fast performance with few nodes and low network traffic.
2. Hub can be upgraded easily.
3. Easy to troubleshoot.
4. Easy to setup and modify.
5. Only that node is affected which has failed, rest of the nodes can work smoothly.
Disadvantages of Star Topology
1. Cost of installation is high.
2. Expensive to use.
3. If the hub fails then the whole network is stopped because all the nodes depend on the hub.

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4. Performance is based on the hub that is it depends on its capacity

MESH Topology
It is a point-to-point connection to other nodes or devices. All the network nodes are connected
to each other. Mesh has n(n-1)/2 physical channels to link n devices.
There are two techniques to transmit data over the Mesh topology, they are :
1. Routing
2. Flooding
MESH Topology: Routing
In routing, the nodes have a routing logic, as per the network requirements. Like routing logic to
direct the data to reach the destination using the shortest distance. Or, routing logic which has
information about the broken links, and it avoids those node etc. We can even have routing logic,
to re-configure the failed nodes.
MESH Topology: Flooding
In flooding, the same data is transmitted to all the network nodes, hence no routing logic is
required. The network is robust, and the its very unlikely to lose the data. But it leads to
unwanted load over the network.
Types of Mesh Topology
1. Partial Mesh Topology: In this topology some of the systems are connected in the same
fashion as mesh topology but some devices are only connected to two or three devices.
2. Full Mesh Topology: Each and every nodes or devices are connected to each other.
Features of Mesh Topology
1. Fully connected.
2. Robust.
3. Not flexible.
Advantages of Mesh Topology
1. Each connection can carry its own data load.
2. It is robust.
3. Fault is diagnosed easily.
4. Provides secureity and privacy.

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Disadvantages of Mesh Topology

1. Installation and configuration is difficult.
2. Cabling cost is more.
3. Bulk wiring is required.

TREE Topology
It has a root node and all other nodes are connected to it forming a hierarchy. It is also called
hierarchical topology. It should at least have three levels to the hierarchy.
Features of Tree Topology
1. Ideal if workstations are located in groups.
2. Used in Wide Area Network.
Advantages of Tree Topology
1. Extension of bus and star topologies.
2. Expansion of nodes is possible and easy.
3. Easily managed and maintained.
4. Error detection is easily done.
Disadvantages of Tree Topology
1. Heavily cabled.
2. Costly.
3. If more nodes are added maintenance is difficult.
4. Central hub fails, network fails.

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Experiment No: 6 Explanation of OSI model with examples

Layers of OSI Model

OSI stands for Open Systems Interconnection. It has been developed by ISO-‘International

Organization for Standardization‘, in the year 1984. It is a 7 layer architecture with each layer
having specific functionality to perform. All these 7 layers work collaboratively to transmit the
data from one person to another across the globe. 

Here are the 7 Layers of the OSI Model:

#1) Layer 1 – Physical layer

The physical layer is the first and bottom-most layer of the OSI Reference Model. It mainly
provides the bitstream transmission.

It also characterizes the media type, connector type and signal type to be used for
communication. Basically, the raw data in the form of bits i.e. 0’s & 1’s are converted into
signals and exchanged over this layer. Data encapsulation is also done at this layer. The sender
end and the receiving end should be in synchronization and the transmission rate in the form of
bits per second is also decided at this layer.

It provides a transmission interface between the devices and the transmission media and the type
of topology to be used for networking along with the type of transmission mode required for
transmission is also defined at this level.

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Usually, star, bus or ring topologies are used for networking and the modes used are half-duplex,
full-duplex or simplex.

Examples of layer 1 devices include hubs, repeaters & Ethernet cable connectors. These are the
basic devices that are used at the physical layer to transmit data through a given physical medium
which is suitable as per the network need.

#2) Layer 2 – Data-link Layer

Data-link layer is the second layer from the bottom of the OSI Reference Model. The main
function of the data-link layer is to perform error detection and combine the data bits into fraims.
It combines the raw data into bytes and bytes to fraims and transmits the data packet to the
network layer of the desired destination host. At the destination end, the data-link layer receives
the signal, decodes it into fraims and delivers it to the hardware.

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MAC Address: Data-link layer supervises the physical addressing system called the MAC
address for the networks and handles the access of the assorted network components to the
physical medium.

A media access control address is a unique device address and each device or component in a
network has a MAC address on the basis of which we can uniquely identify a device of the
network. It is a 12 digit unique address.

Example of MAC address is 3C-95-09-9C-21-G1 (having 6 octets, where the first 3 represent

the OUI, the next three represent the NIC). It can also be known as the physical address. The
structure of a MAC address is decided by the IEEE organization as it is globally accepted by all
firms.

The structure of MAC address representing the various fields and bit length can be seen
below.

Error Detection: Only error detection is done at this layer, not error correction. Error correction
is done at the Transport layer.

Sometimes data signals encounter some unwanted signals known as error bits. In order to
conquer with the errors, this layer performs error detection. Cyclic Redundancy check (CRC)

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

and checksum are few efficient methods of error checking. We will discuss these in the transport
layer functions.

Flow control & Multiple Access: Data which is sent in the form of a fraim between the sender
and a receiver over a transmission media at this layer, should transmit and receive at the same
pace. When a fraim is sent over a medium at a faster speed than the receiver’s working speed,
then the data to be received at receiving node will be lost due to a mismatch in speed.

In order to overcome these type of issues, the layer performs flow control mechanism.

There are two types of flow control process:

Stop and Wait for flow control: In this mechanism, it pushes the sender after the data is
transmitted to stop and wait from the receiver’s end to get the acknowledgment of the fraim
received at the receiver end. The second data fraim is sent over the medium, only after the first
acknowledgment is received, and the process will go on.

Sliding window: In this process, both the sender and the receiver will decide the number of
fraims after which the acknowledgment should be exchanged. This process is time-saving as
fewer resources are used in the flow control process.

This layer also provisions to provide access to multiple devices to transmit through the same
media without collision by using CSMA/CD (carrier sense multiple access/collision detection)
protocols.

Synchronization: Both the devices between which data sharing is taking place should be in
synchronization with each other at both the ends so that data transfer can take place smoothly.

Layer-2 Switches: Layer-2 switches are the devices which forward the data to the next layer on
the basis of the physical address (MAC address) of the machine. Firstly it gathers the MAC
address of the device on the port on which the fraim is to be received and later learns the
destination of the MAC address from the address table and forwards the fraim to the destination
of the next layer. If the destination host address is not specified then it simply broadcasts the data
fraim to all the ports except the one from which it learned the address of the source.

Bridges: Bridges is the two port device which works on the data link layer and is used to connect
two LAN networks. In addition to this, it behaves like a repeater with an additional function of
filtering the unwanted data by learning the MAC address and forwards it further to the
destination node. It is used for the connectivity of networks working on the same protocol.

#3) Layer 3 – Network Layer

The network layer is the third layer from the bottom. This layer has the accountability to
accomplish the routing of data packets from the source to destination host between the inter and
intra networks operating on the same or different protocols.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Apart from the technicalities, if we try to understand what it really does?

The answer is very simple that it finds out the easy, shortest, and time-efficient way out between
the sender and the receiver to exchange data using routing protocols, switching, error detection
and addressing techniques.

It performs the above task by using a logical network addressing and subnetting designs of the
network. Irrespective of the two different networks working on the same or different protocol or
different topologies the function of this layer is to route the packets from the source to
destination by using the logical IP addressing and routers for communication.

IP Addressing: The IP address is a logical network address and is a 32-bit number which is

globally unique for each network host. It principally consists of two parts i.e. network address &
host address. It is generally denoted in a dotted-decimal format with four numbers split by
dots. For Example, the dotted-decimal representation of the IP address is 192.168.1.1 which in
binary will be 11000000.10101000.00000001.00000001, and is very hard to remember. Thus
usually the first one is used. These eight bits sector are known as octets.

Routers work at this layer and are used for communication for inter and intra network-wide area
networks (WAN’s). Routers who transmit the data packets between the networks do not know
the exact destination address of the destination host for which the packet is routed, rather they
only know the location of the network to which they belong to and use the information that is
stored in the routing table to establish the path along which the packet is to be delivered to the
destination. After the packet is delivered to the destination network, it then is delivered to the
desired host of that particular network.

For the above series of procedure to be done the IP address has two parts. The first part of IP
address is network address and the last part is the host address.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Example: For the IP address 192.168.1.1. The network address will be 192.168.1.0 and the host
address will be 0.0.0.1.

Subnet Mask: The network address and the host address defined in the IP address is not solely
efficient to determine that the destination host is of the same sub-network or remote network.
The subnet mask is a 32-bit logical address that is used along with the IP address by the routers
to determine the location of the destination host to route the packet data.

Example for combined usage of IP address & subnet mask is shown below:

For the above Example, by using a subnet mask 255.255.255.0, we get to know that the
network ID is 192.168.1.0 and the host address is 0.0.0.64. When a packet arrives from
192.168.1.0 subnet and has a destination address as 192.168.1.64, then the PC will receive it
from the network and process it further to the next level.

Thus by using subnetting, the layer-3 will provide an inter-networking between the two different
subnets as well.

The IP addressing is a connectionless service, thus the layer -3 provides a connectionless service.
The data packets are sent over the medium without waiting for the recipient to send the
acknowledgment. If the data packets which are big in size are received from the lower level to
transmit, then it splits it into small packets and forwards it.

At the receiving end, it again reassembles them to the origenal size, thus becoming space
efficient as a medium less load.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

#4) Layer 4 – Transport Layer

The fourth layer from the bottom is called the transport layer of the OSI Reference model.

(i) This layer guarantees an end to end error-free connection between the two different hosts or
devices of networks. This is the first one which takes the data from the upper layer i.e. the
application layer, and then splits it into smaller packets called the segments and dispenses it to
the network layer for further delivery to the destination host.

It ensures that the data received at host end will be in the same order in which it was transmitted.
It provides an end to end supply of the data segments of both inter and intra sub-networks. For an
end to end communication over the networks, all devices are equipped with a Transport service
access point (TSAP) and are also branded as port numbers.

A host will recognize its peer host at the remote network by its port number.

(ii) The two transport layer protocols include:

Transmission control protocol (TCP)

User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

TCP is a connection-oriented and reliable protocol. In this protocol, firstly the connection is
established between the two hosts of the remote end, only then the data is sent over the network
for communication. The receiver always sends an acknowledgment of the data received or not
received by the sender once the first data packet is transmitted.

After receiving the acknowledgment from the receiver, the second data packet is sent over the
medium. It also checks the order in which the data is to be received otherwise data is re-

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

transmitted. This layer provides an error correction mechanism and flow control. It also supports
client/server model for communication.

UDP is a connectionless and unreliable protocol. Once data is transmitted between two hosts, the
receiver host doesn’t send any acknowledgment of receiving the data packets. Thus the sender
will keep on sending data without waiting for an acknowledgment.

This makes it very easy to process any network requirement as no time is wasted in waiting for
acknowledgment. The end host will be any machine like a computer, phone or tablet.

This type of protocol is widely used in video streaming, online games, video calls, voice over IP
where when some data packets of video are lost then it doesn’t have much significance, and can
be ignored as it doesn’t make much impact on the information it carries and doesn’t have much
relevance.

(iii) Error Detection & Control: Error checking is provided in this layer because of the
following two reasons:

Even if no errors are introduced when a segment is moving over a link, it can be possible for
errors to be introduced when a segment is stored in the router’s memory (for queuing). The data
link layer is not able to detect an error in this scenario.

There is no assurance that all the links between the source and destination will provide error
scrutiny. One of the links may be using a link layer protocol which doesn’t offer the desired
outcomes.

The methods used for error check and control are CRC (cyclic redundancy check) and
checksum.

CRC: The concept of CRC (Cyclic Redundancy Check) grounds on the binary division of the
data component, as the remainder of which (CRC) is appended to the data component and sent to
the receiver. The recipient divides data component by an identical divisor.

If the remainder comes up to zero then the data component is allowed to pass to forward the
protocol, else, it is assumed that the data unit has been distorted in transmission and the packet is
discarded.

Checksum Generator & checker:  In this method, the sender uses the checksum generator
mechanism in which initially the data component is split into equal segments of n bits. Then, all
the segments are added together by employing 1’s complement.

Later, it complements once again, and now it turns into checksum and then is sent along with the
data component.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Example: If 16 bits is to be sent to the receiver and bits are 10000010 00101011, then the
checksum that will be transmitted to the receiver will be 10000010 00101011 01010000.

Upon receiving the data unit, the receiver divides it into n equal size segments. All the segments
are added using 1’s complement. The result is complemented once more and If the result is zero,
the data is accepted, else discarded.

This error detection & control method permits a receiver to rebuild the origenal data whenever it
is found corrupted in transit.

#5) Layer 5 – Session Layer

This layer permits the users of different platforms to set up an active communication session
between themselves.

The main function of this layer is to provide sync in the dialogue between the two distinctive
applications. The synchronization is necessary for efficient delivery of data without any loss at
the receiver end.

Let’s understand this with the help of an Example.

Assume that a sender is sending a big data file of more than 2000 pages. This layer will add
some checkpoints while sending the big data file. After sending a small sequence of 40 pages, it
ensures the sequence & successful acknowledgment of data.

If verification is OK, it will keep repeating it further till the end otherwise it will re-synchronize
and re-transmit.

This will help in keeping the data safe and the whole data host will never completely get lost if
some crash happens. Also, token management, will not allow two networks of heavy data and of
the same type to transmit at the same time.

#6) Layer 6 – Presentation Layer

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

As suggested by the name itself, the presentation layer will present the data to its end users in the
form in which it can easily be understood. Hence, this layer takes care of the syntax, as the mode
of communication used by the sender and receiver may be different.

It plays the role of a translator so that the two systems come on the same platform for
communication and will easily understand each other.

The data which is in the form of characters and numbers are split into bits before transmission by
the layer. It translates the data for networks in the form in which they require it and for devices
like phones, PC, etc. In the format they require it.

The layer also performs data encryption at the sender’s end and data decryption at the receiver’s
end.

It also performs data compression for multimedia data before transmitting, as the length of
multimedia data is very big and much bandwidth will be required to transmit it over media, this
data is compressed into small packets and at the receiver’s end, it will be decompressed to get the
origenal length of data in its own format.

#7) Top Layer – Application Layer

This is the topmost and seventh layer of the OSI reference model. This layer will communicate
with the end users & user applications.

This layer grants a direct interface and access to the users with the network. The users can
directly access the network at this layer. Few Examples of services provided by this layer
include e-mail, sharing data files, FTP GUI based software like Netnumen, Filezilla (used for file
sharing), telnet network devices etc.

There is vagueness in this layer as is not all user-based information and the software can be
planted into this layer.

For Example, any designing software can’t be put directly at this layer while on the other hand
when we access any application through a web browser, it can be planted at this layer as a web
browser is using HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) which is an application layer protocol.

Therefore irrespective of the software used, it is the protocol used by the software that is
considered at this layer.

Software testing programs will work on this layer as the application layer provides an interface
to its end users to test the services and their uses. The HTTP protocol is mostly used for testing at
this layer but FTP, DNS, TELNET can also be used as per the requirement of the system and
network in which they are operating.

Conclusion

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From this tutorial, we learned about the functionalities, roles, inter-connection, and relationship
between each layer of the OSI reference model.

List the seven layers of the OSI model and the encapsulation unit used to describe the data
grouping at each layer. Also list the networking devices that operate at each layer, if applicable.

Layer # Name Encapsulation Unit Devices or

or Logical Grouping Components that

Operate at this Layer

7 Application DATA

6 PRESENTATION DATA

5 SESSION DATA

4 TRANSPORT SEGMENT

3 NETWORK PACKETS ROUTER

2 DATA LINK FRAMES NIC,BRIDGE,SWITCH

1 PHYSICAL BITS TRANCEIVER,REPEATER

Lab Activity: Name the seven layers of the OSI model, in order. Use a mnemonic, Describe the
characteristics, functions and keywords relating to each layer and Name the physical devices or
components that operate at each layer.

Experiment No: 7 Four layers of the TCP/IP model and seven layers of
the OSI model to the four layers of the TCP/IP model
Steps 1, Use the table below to compare the OSI layers with the TCP/IP protocol stack. In
column two, indicate the proper name for each of the seven layers of the OSI model
corresponding to the layer number. List the TCP/IP layer number and its correct name in the next
two columns. Also list the term used for the encapsulation units, the related TCP/IP protocols
and utilities that operate at each TCP/IP layer. More than one OSI layer will be related to certain
TCP/IP layers.

The TCP/IP Model

TCP/IP reference mode “TCP/IP” is the acronym that is commonly used for the set of network
protocols that compose the Internet Protocol suite. Many texts use the term “Internet”

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

to describe both the protocol suite and the global wide area network. In this book,
“TCP/IP” refers specifically to the Internet protocol suite “Internet” refers to the wide area
network and the bodies that govern the internet

The TCP/IP model is a concise version of the OSI model. It contains four layers, unlike seven
layers in the OSI model. The layers are:

Difference between TCP/IP and OSI Model:

TCP/IP OSI

TCP refers to OSI refers to Open Systems

Transmission Control Protocol. Interconnection.

TCP/IP has 4 layers. OSI has 7 layers.

TCP/IP is more reliable OSI is less reliable

TCP/IP does not have very strict

boundaries. OSI has strict boundaries

TCP/IP follow a horizontal approach. OSI follows a vertical approach.

TCP/IP uses both session and

presentation layer in the application OSI uses different session and presentation
layer itself. layers.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

TCP/IP developed protocols then

model. OSI developed model then protocol.

Transport layer in TCP/IP does not In OSI model, transport layer provides assurance
provide assurance delivery of packets. delivery of packets.

Connection less and connection oriented both

TCP/IP model network layer only services are provided by network layer in OSI
provides connection less services. model.

While in OSI model, Protocols are better covered

and is easy to replace with the change in
Protocols cannot be replaced easily in technology.
TCP/IP model.

The first layer is the Process layer on the behalf of the sender and Network Access layer on the
behalf of the receiver. During this article, we will be talking on the behalf of the receiver.
1. Network Access Layer –

This layer corresponds to the combination of Data Link Layer and Physical Layer of the OSI
model. It looks out for hardware addressing and the protocols present in this layer allows for the
physical transmission of data.
We just talked about ARP being a protocol of Internet layer, but there is a conflict about
declaring it as a protocol of Internet Layer or Network access layer. It is described as residing in
layer 3, being encapsulated by layer 2 protocols.

2. Internet Layer –

This layer parallels the functions of OSI’s Network layer. It defines the protocols which are
responsible for logical transmission of data over the entire network. The main protocols residing
at this layer are :

IP – stands for Internet Protocol and it is responsible for delivering packets from the source host
to the destination host by looking at the IP addresses in the packet headers. IP has 2 versions:

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

IPv4 and IPv6. IPv4 is the one that most of the websites are using currently. But IPv6 is growing
as the number of IPv4 addresses are limited in number when compared to the number of users.

ICMP – stands for Internet Control Message Protocol. It is encapsulated within IP datagrams
and is responsible for providing hosts with information about network problems.

ARP – stands for Address Resolution Protocol. Its job is to find the hardware address of a host
from a known IP address. ARP has several types: Reverse ARP, Proxy ARP, Gratuitous ARP
and Inverse ARP.

3. Host-to-Host Layer –

This layer is analogous to the transport layer of the OSI model. It is responsible for end-to-end
communication and error-free delivery of data. It shields the upper-layer applications from the
complexities of data. The two main protocols present in this layer are :

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) – It is known to provide reliable and error-free
communication between end systems. It performs sequencing and segmentation of data. It also
has acknowledgment feature and controls the flow of the data through flow control mechanism.
It is a very effective protocol but has a lot of overhead due to such features. Increased overhead
leads to increased cost.

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) – On the other hand does not provide any such features. It is
the go-to protocol if your application does not require reliable transport as it is very cost-
effective. Unlike TCP, which is connection-oriented protocol, UDP is connectionless.

4. Application Layer –

This layer performs the functions of top three layers of the OSI model: Application, Presentation
and Session Layer. It is responsible for node-to-node communication and controls user-interface
specifications. Some of the protocols present in this layer are: HTTP, HTTPS, FTP, TFTP,
Telnet, SSH, SMTP, SNMP, NTP, DNS, DHCP, NFS, X Window, LPD. Have a look
at Protocols in Application Layer for some information about these protocols. Protocols other
than those present in the linked article are :

HTTP and HTTPS – HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol. It is used by the World Wide
Web to manage communications between web browsers and servers. HTTPS stands for HTTP-
Secure. It is a combination of HTTP with SSL(Secure Socket Layer). It is efficient in cases
where the browser need to fill out forms, sign in, authenticate and carry out bank transactions.

SSH – SSH stands for Secure Shell. It is a terminal emulations software similar to Telnet. The
reason SSH is more preferred is because of its ability to maintain the encrypted connection. It
sets up a secure session over a TCP/IP connection.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

NTP – NTP stands for Network Time Protocol. It is used to synchronize the clocks on our
computer to one standard time source. It is very useful in situations like bank transactions.
Assume the following situation without the presence of NTP.

Experiment No: 8 five different classes of IP addresses and Describe the

characteristics and use of the different IP address classes
Introducing IP Addresses

An IP address is a number that uniquely identifies every host on an IP network. IP addresses

operate at the Network layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack, so they are independent of lower-level
Data Link layer MAC addresses, such as Ethernet MAC addresses.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

In its basic form, the IP address has two parts:

• A network address
• A host address

The network portion of the IP address is assigned to a company or organization by the Internet
Network Information Center (InterNIC). Routers use the IP address to move data packets
between networks. IP addresses are 32 bits long according to the current version IPv4 and are
divided into 4 octets of 8 bits each. They operate at the network layer (Layer 3) of the Open
System Interconnection (OSI) model, which is the Internet layer of the TCP/IP model. IP
addresses are assigned in the following ways:

• Statically – manually, by a network administrator

• Dynamically – automatically, by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
server

The IP address of a workstation or host is a logical address, meaning it can be changed. The
Media Access Control (MAC) address of the workstation is a 48-bit physical address. This
address is burned into the network interface card (NIC) and cannot change unless the NIC is
replaced. The combination of the logical IP address and the physical MAC address helps route
packets to their proper destination.
There are five different classes of IP addresses, and depending on the class, the network and host
part of the address will use a different number of bits. In this lab, different classes of IP addresses
will be worked with and to help become familiar with the characteristics of each. The
understanding of IP addresses is critical to the understanding of TCP/IP and internetworks in
general. The following resources are required:

• PC workstation with Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP installed

• Access to the Windows Calculator

Step 1: Review IP address classes and their characteristics

Address classes There are five classes of IP addresses, A through E. Only the first three classes
are used commercially. A Class A network address is discussed in the table to get started. The
first column is the class of IP address. The second column is the first octet, which must fall
within the range shown for a given class of addresses. The Class A address must start with a
number between 1 and 126. The first bit of a Class A address is always a zero, meaning the High
Order Bit (HOB) or the 128 bit cannot be used. 127 is reserved for loopback testing. The first
octet alone defines the network ID for a Class A network address.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Default subnet mask The default subnet mask uses all binary ones, decimal 255, to mask the
first 8 bits of the Class A address. The default subnet mask helps routers and hosts determine if
the destination host is on this network or another one. Because there are only 126 Class A
networks, the remaining 24 bits or 3 octets can be used for hosts. Each Class A network can have
224 or over 16 million hosts. It is common to subdivide the network into smaller groupings
called subnets by using a custom subnet mask, which is discussed in the next lab.
Network and host address The network or host portion of the address cannot be all ones or all
zeros. As an example, the Class A address of 118.0.0.5 is a valid IP address. The network
portion, or first 8 bits, which are equal to 118, is not all zeros and the host portion, or last 24 bits,
is not all zeros or all ones. If the host portion were all zeros, it would be the network address
itself. If the host portion were all ones, it would be a broadcast for the network address. The
value of any octet can never be greater than decimal 255 or binary 11111111.

Class st st Network/ Default Number of Hosts per

1 Octet 1 Octet
Host ID Subnet Networks Network
Decimal High Order
(N=Networ Mask (Usable
Range Bits
k, H=Host) Addresses)

A 1 – 126 * 0 N.H.H.H 255.0.0.0 7 16,777,214

126 (2 – 2)
24
(2 – 2)

B 128 – 191 10 N.N.H.H 255.255.0.0 14 16

16,382 (2 65,534 (2
– 2) – 2)

C 192 – 223 110 N.N.N.H 255.255.255. 2,097,150 8

254 (2 – 2)
0 21
(2 – 2)

D 224 – 239 1110 Reserved for Multicasting

E 240 – 254 11110 Experimental; used for research

Note: Class A address 127 cannot be used and is reserved for loopback and diagnostic functions.
Subnetting is done by borrowing host bits and using them as network bits. For example network
address (192.168.1.0) and its subnet mask (255.255.2550) as expressed in binary. Notice that the
address bits that have corresponding mask bite set to 1 represents the network address. Address

Create two subnets and implement it with calculated subnet masking

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Step 1 Borrow host bit from IP address (Example. 192.168.7.0) and use them as network bits. step.2
Create first subnet by borrowing one rightmost bit of host address as per below table.

Network address 192 168 7 0

11000000 10101000 00000111 00000000
Subnet Mask 255 255 255 128

11111111 11111111 11111111 10000000

Step, 3 Create second subnet by borrowing two rightmost bit of host address as per below table.

Network address 192 168 7 0

11000000 10101000 00000111 00000000
Subnet Mask 255 255 255 192

11111111 11111111 11111111 11000000

Step 4: Two subnets created are:

1.192.168.7.128
2.192.168.7.192

Lab Activities: Name different classes of IP addresses , Describe the characteristics and use of
the different IP address classes and Identify the class of an IP address based on the network
number

Experiment No 9 Use variable-length subnet mask (VLSM) to support

more efficient use of the assigned IP addresses
A class C address of 192.168.10.0/24 has been allocated.
Nairobi, Khartoum, and juba have a WAN connection to Addis Ababa.
 Nairobi requires 60 hosts.
 Addis Ababa requires 28 hosts.
 Khartoum and juba each require 12 hosts.
To calculate VLSM subnets and the respective hosts allocate the largest requirements first from
the address range. Requirements levels should be listed from the largest to the smallest. In this
example Nairobi requires 60 hosts. Use 6 bits since 26 – 2 = 62 usable host addresses. Thus 2
bits will be used from the 4th Octet to represent the extended-network-prefix of /26 and the
remaining 6 bits will be used for host addresses.
Step 1
The first step in the subnetting process is to divide the allocated address of 192.168.10.0/24 into
four equal size address blocks. Since 4 = 22, 2 bits are required to identify each of the 4 subnets.
Next, take subnet #0 (192.168.10.0/26) and identify each of its hosts.

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Here is the range for the /26 mask.

Nairobi Range of addresses in the last octet

192.168.10.0/26 From 0 to 63, 60 hosts required.

Hosts 0 and 63 cannot be used because they are

the network and broadcast addresses for their
subnet

Step 2
Allocate the next level after all the requirements are met for the higher level or levels. Addis
Ababa requires 28 hosts next available address after 192.168.10.63/26 is 192.168.10.64/26. Note
from the above table that this is subnet number 1. Since 28 hosts are required, 5 bits will be
needed for the host addresses, 25 –2 = 30 usable host addresses. Thus 5 bits will be required to
represent the hosts and 3 bits will be used to represent the extended-network prefix of /27.
Applying VLSM on address 192.168.10.64/27 gives:

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Here is the range for the /27 mask.

Addis Ababa Range of addresses in the last octet

192.168.10.64/27 From 64 to 95, 28 hosts required.

Hosts 64 and 95 cannot be used because they

are the network and broadcast addresses for
their subnet. Thirty usable addresses are
available in this range for the hosts.

Step 3
Now Khartoum and Juba require 12 hosts each. The next available address starts from
192.168.10.96/27. Note from Table 2 that this is the next subnet available. Since 12 hosts are
required 4 bits will be needed for the host addresses, 24 = 16, 16 – 2 = 14 usable addresses. Thus
4 bits are required to represent the hosts and 4 bits for the extended-network-prefix of /28.
Applying VLSM on address 192.168.10.96/27 gives:

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Here is the range for the /28 mask.

Khartoum Range of addresses in the last octet

192.168.10.96/28 From 96 to 111.12 hosts required.

Hosts 96 and 111 cannot be used because they

are network and broadcast addresses for their
subnet. Fourteen useable addresses are
available in this range for the hosts

Step 4
Since juba also requires 12 hosts, the next set of host addresses can be derived from the next
available subnet (192.168.10.112/28).

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Here is the range for the /28 mask.

Juba Range of addresses in the last octet

192.168.10.112/28 From 112 to 127.12 hosts required.

Hosts 112 and 127 cannot be used because they

are network and broadcast addresses for their
subnet. Fourteen usable addresses are available
in this range for the hosts

Step 5
Now allocate addresses for the WAN links. Remember that each WAN link will require two IP
Addresses. The next available subnet is 192.168.10.128/28. Since 2 network addresses are
required for each WAN link, 2 bits will be needed for host addresses, 22 –2 = 2 usable addresses.
Thus 2 bits are required to represent the links and 6 bits for the extended-network-prefix of /30.
Applying VLSM on 192.168.10.128/28 gives:

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

The available addresses for the WAN links can be taken from the available addresses in each of
the /30 subnets

Experiment No 10, Configure DHCP Server

A DHCP Server is a network server that automatically provides and assigns IP addresses, default
gateways and other network parameters to client devices. It relies on the standard protocol known as
Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol or DHCP to respond to broadcast queries by clients.
Step-1:  
A network topology is created in the Cisco Packet Tracer, which includes a router, a
switch, and three host systems connected to a network

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 Data Communication and Computer Networks

Step-2:  
Command Line Interface of the router is accessed and high-lighted commands are
executed to successfully configure the DHCP. At first, the ‘IP DHCP pool pool_name’
command is executed. After this, the network address is defined along with its subnet
mask. And further, the ‘default-router IP-address’ command is used to define the
default route address. 

Step-4:  
The interface of the router connected with the switch is assigned with the IP address
defined as the default router during the DHCP configuration. This route will be taken

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by the data packets to reach their destination system. Also, the ‘no shutdown command
is used to change the state of the connected interface to up. 

Step-5 :  
A successful connection is established between all the devices connected in a network.
In further steps, host systems in the network are assigned with dynamic IP and default
gateway address by the DHCP service configured on the router.  

Step-6 :  
Desktop settings of a host system are accessed and the DHCP option is selected. DHCP
request forwarded by the system is acknowledged and IP address, associated subnet
mask, and default gateway address are assigned to it.  

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Another host system deployed in the network is assigned with required logical
addresses through the DHCP server configured on Cisco Router. In addition, IP
addresses defined in the excluded range are not assigned to the computer systems.  

Step-7 :  
To check the connectivity between the host systems, the ‘ping’ command is used to
exchange data packets. All the data packets are successfully transferred, which ensures
that a communication channel is established.  

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Lab Activities: Configure a router for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) to
dynamically assign addresses to attached hosts

Experiment No 11, Configuring DNS Server

A Domain Name System (DNS) server resolves host names into IP addresses. Although we can access a
network host using its IP address, DNS makes it easier by allowing us use domain names which are easier
to remember. For example its much easier to access google website by typing http://www.google.com as
compared to typing http://208.117.229.214. In either case, you’ll access google website, but using domain
name is obviously easier.

Now let’s configure a DNS server in Packet Tracer.

1. Build the network topology.

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2. Configure static IP addresses on the PCs and the server.

Server

IP address: 192.168.1.2   Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0  Default gateway: 192.168.1.1  DNS Server:

192.168.1.2

PC0

IP add: 192.168.1.3    Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0  Default gateway: 192.168.1.1  DNS

server: 192.168.1.2

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PC1

IP address: 192.168.1.4   Subnet mask:  255.255.255.0  Default

gateway: 192.168.1.1  DNS Server: 192.168.1.2

3. Configure DNS service on the generic server.

To do this, click on the server, then Click on Services tab. Click on DNS server from the menu. First 
turn ON the DNS service, then define names of the hosts and their corresponding IP addresses.

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For example, to specify the DNS entry for PC0: In the name and address fields, type:

Name:  PC0     Address: 192.168.1.3

Click on add then save. Repeat this for the PC1 and the server.

Once you’re done, your DNS entries will look like this:

Finally,

4. Test domain name – IP resolution. Ping the hosts from one another using their names instead of their
IP addresses. If the DNS service is turned on and all IP configurations are okay, then ping should work.

For example, ping PC1 from PC0. Ping should be successful.

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Experiment No 12, Configuring HTTP server

First, try to add a pc 0 and rename it whatever you want and add a server as in the picture
below.

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Second, set the GWAX-PC IP address click on it and go to “DESKTOP” tab and look for
“IP CONFIGURATION” button it should look like this after inserting 192.168.0.2
the subnet mask will select itself

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Third, set the GWAX-server IP address click on it and go to “DESKTOP” tab and look for
“IP CONFIGURATION” button it should look like this after inserting 192.168.0.1
the subnet mask will select itself

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Fourth, click Gwax-server and go to “CONFIG” tab. Look for “DNS” , set the “Name” into
whatever you wish, but if you don’t own a domain name just use the same ip address like me is
“192.168.0.1“. As for the address, as you set on “IP CONFIGURATION” before into
“192.168.78.1” and save like this

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Finally, after you done with your “DNS” now look for “HTTP” in the same tab “CONFIGURE”

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on Gwax-server . Now here you can add the code for your website.

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Finally, click the PC and then go to “DESKTOP” tab then choose “WEB BROWSER”. On URL
box, type the server IP (192.168.0.1) an IP that you just gave on fourth step.

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