Internet Flashcards
structure of the internet
- main part of the internet is known as the backbone
- these connect several large networks around the globe
- each are then controlled by ISP’s for the end user
what is an ip address
*set of rules for communcation on the internet
*ip address indentifies a network or device on the internet
what parts does the IP address consist of?
network ID comprising of the first three numbers of the address and a host id, the fourth number in the address.
what is IPv4
made up of four octet values sperated by a fullstop. this doesnt allow us to represent enough addresses
what is IPv6
uses 128 bits to represent as eight group of four hex numbers
differences between IPv4 and IPv6
- ipv4 is 32 bit but ipv6 is 128 bit
- ipv4 is numeric addressing but ipv6 is alphanumeric
- ipv4 bits are seperated by a dot ipv6 are seperated by a colon
what is a url
uniform resource locator is used to specify the means of accessing a resource and its location across a network. protocol and domain name of the resource together.
what is a dns
- servers with an index of domain names with their corresponding ip.
- need to be unique so organization cant have the same names
- registered with a central agency called icann
what do dns servers do when they are unable to find a website
- several severs catalogue every web domain name
- they are segmented into geographical groupings
- when it cannot locate the ip it sends queries to relating servers
what is a fqdn
- fully qualified domain names
- can be broken into constituent parts including host name and domain name itself
resolving an IP address
what is circuit switching
creating a communication connection between two endpoints for the duration of a phone call or transfer of data
what is packet switching
packets are often sent across networks that have multiple links with multiple routes through to a destination
how does routing data packets work?
- each router stores data about the available routes to the desintation node
- looks up the destination IP in its routing table to find the best router to forward the packet
- each forwarding is known as a hop
what does a packet consist of?
why are packet sizes small?
- they are kept small to ensure that individual packets do not take excessive time to transfer.
- they shouldnt be too small as the additional data added makes data transfers inefficient as unnecessary headers would be added each time
what does the paket header contain
- recipient address so it can be directe properly
- address of the sender is included so replies can be sent properly
- packet number and overall number of packets is attached to aid in reassembling data
- time to live or hop limit is also included
what does the packet trailer contain
- error checking components that verify the data received in the payload isnt corrupted
- checksums or cyclical redundancy checks are used to check the data by the receiving host
- if checksums dont match the data has become corrupted
what is a gateway
- required where data is travelling from one network to another that use different protocols
- networks using different transmission media require this
- header data are removed and reapplied using the correct format
- router and gateway can be combined to one device
what is a firewall
- software or hardware that controls access to and from a network
- numbered ports are opened so that only certain traffic is allowed to pass through
how does packet filtering work?
- packets are inspected by the firewall
- different network protocols use different ports
- if this traffic is allowed the port must be open for the duration otherwise it will automatically reject it
what is stateful inspection
examines the payload of a packet before allowing access and remembers actions fof future decisions.
what is a proxy server
- makes web requests on behalf of your own computer hiding the true request ip address from the recipient
functions of a proxy server
- enables anonymous surfing
- can be used to filter undesirable content online
- logs user data with their requessts
- provides a cache of previously visited sites to speed access
what is encryption
- the act of encoding plaintext so that it cannot be undeciphered unless you have a key.
what is symmetric encryption
- uses the same key to encrypt and then decrypt the data being transferred.
- key has to be transferred between the communicating devices so that they both understand how to pass messages
what is a mitm attack
once they have the key all that is required for an attacker is to sit in the middle of a conversation and behave as the other party
benefits of symmetric encrpytion
- fast form of encryption
- communicating devices have to transfer the key between them so that hey both understand how to pass messages
asymmetric encryption
- uses two seperate but related keys
- public key used to encrypt data before sending
- private key decrypts the data