AP Computer Science Principles
IP Questions
- What is a protocol?
A protocol is a well known set of rules and standards used to communicate between machines. All parties have to agree to these rules. For example, bit size must be agreed upon before sending information.
- What is an Internet Protocol (IP) address? How is it organized hierarchically?
An IP address is the protocol computers use to send information to each other in a network. Each computer is assigned a number that it can use to communicate. It is a string of numbers separated by periods. It is a 32 bit number containing the country/network, the region/network, subnetwork, and device.
- How many bits are in an IPv4 address? How many IPv4 addresses does that mean there are?
An IPv4 address has 32 bits. This means that there are over 4 billion addresses.
- What is the difference between IPv6 and IPv4. Why do we need IPv6?
An IPv6 address uses 128 bits of information instead of 32 bits in IPv4. We need IPv6 because 4 billion devices are not enough to connect everyone to the internet. IPv6 provides over 340 undecillion unique addresses.
- What is an IP packet?
An IP packet are small chunks of data sent when a computer sends a request to access a link. They are stamped with the IP address so the DNS server knows where to send the information. Small bits of data work better because the bandwidth can be shared more easily. In a cyber attack, a hacker may send a fake domain in response to the request. They are reassembled by the transmission control protocol when they reach the correct destination.
- What is the difference between an IP address and an IP Packet?
An IP address is the address where the answer to the request made by the IP packet is to be sent. IP packets are only chunks of data that make up a request.
- What is the purpose of the Domain Name System (DNS)?
The domain name system is the system that associates a domain name(eg: www.code.org) to an IP address. The computer sends a request DNS to search domain names and get the ip address so it can connect to the webpage. DNS servers are divided by zones so they can handle all the requests of computer traffic. Companies like google and your isp have dns servers.
- What is the IP address of the computer you’re sitting at right now?
The internet works by using the IP protocol and the domain name system. To connect to a webpage or send an email, your computer sends a request to a domain name server to retrieve the IP address of a certain url. The computer then sends a request to the HTTP server to retrieve the webpage you are trying to access. All these requests are sent in the form of IP packets that are marked/ordered and reassembled by the transmission control protocol to ensure reliable transmission. All these protocols need to work perfectly for the Internet to function properly and not break down. It is able to accomplish this so reliably because IP packets are routed through a system of decentralized routers.
Further Resources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6bDA5FK6gs
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_LPdttKXPc
I *love* the fact that someone has taken the time and effort to put together an introduction to the dark web. However, not ONE instance of the word “too” was spelled correctly, amongst one or two other minor grammatical errors. If the original poster happens to read this comment, then this is for you: “too” is only used when meaning “also.” Otherwise, you’re dealing with a preposition “to” or a number “two.” Thanks again for the primer, however, it was very helpful! 🙂
ReplyDeleteJayme Silvestri