Lab Manual
Data Communication and
Networks
UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT, FACULTY OF CS&IT
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
What we will learn in our lab includes:
Basic networking commands
Basic network devices and their structure
Network Cabling (straight and cross cabling)
IP Classes
Sub netting and super netting
Routing protocols
Router programming
Setting up a small network
Tools we will use in our Lab are:
Packet tracer
Grading Criteria
Lab Attendance 5
Lab performance 5
Lab Quizes 5
Lab Assignments 5
Data Communication and Networks Engr. Mirza Ahsan Ullah
UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT, FACULTY OF CS&IT
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Lab # 01
In this lab we will do some very basic commands on our own PCs , to have a understanding of
a few important things about networking
You just need to follow the under write instructions.
1. Verify the connectivity of your workstation to the internet.
2. Open the Command Prompt of the operating system using either of the following methods:
Click on Start > All Programs > Accessories > Command Prompt
OR
Click on Start > Run, enter cmd (short for command) and click on ok.
A Command Prompt screen should open.
3. Type ipconfig (short for IP configuration) and press Enter the screen will show the IP address, subnet
mask, and default gateway foryour computer’s connection.
Notice the values in the Command Prompt. The IP address and the defaultgateway should be in the same
network or subnet, otherwise this host would not be able to communicate outside the network. In Fig. 3,
the subnet mask tells us that the first three octets of the IP address and the default gateway must be the
same in order to be in the same network.
Fig.1A successful result of a ipconfig
4. Check more detailed TCP/IP configuration information:
Type ipconfig /all and press Enter. What are the DNS and DHCP server addresses? What are their
Data Communication and Networks Engr. Mirza Ahsan Ullah
UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT, FACULTY OF CS&IT
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
functions? What is the MAC of the network interface card?
5. Ping the IP address of another computer. Note that for the ping and tracert commands to work the
PC firewalls have to be disabled. Why do you think this is so?
Ask the IP address of the workstation that is being used by another group ofstudents. Then type ping,
space, and the IP address that you received, thenpress Enter. Notice the outputs.
Fig.2 shows a successful result of a ping to a given IP address.
Fig.2 A successful result of a ping to a certain IP address
6. Ping the IP address of the gateway router from the details that have been observed in the output of
step 4 above. If the ping is successful, it means that there is a physical connectivity to the router on
the local network and probably the rest of the world.
7. Ping the Loopback IP address of your computer. Type the following command:
ping [Link].
The IP address [Link] is reserved for loopback testing. If the ping is successful, then TCP/IP is properly
installed and functioning on this computer.
8. You can also ping using names like websites. Ping the IP address of the AJK website. Typeping space
and [Link] press Enter. Notice the outputs. A DNS server will resolve the name to an
IP address and the ping will be successful only in the existence of the DNS server.
9. Ping [Link] and observe the results. Is there a difference in time between the results
Data Communication and Networks Engr. Mirza Ahsan Ullah
UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT, FACULTY OF CS&IT
SOFTWARE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
shown by pinging [Link] [Link] so why and if not why?
10. Trace the route to the Cisco website. Type [Link] press enter. In a
successful output, you will see listings of all routers the tracert requests had to pass through to
get to the destination.
Figure 3. A traceroute output
11. Trace the route to the website of the Department of Software Engineering. Type tracert
[Link] and press enter. The output should take less time than that of step 9.
12. Type arp –ain cmd ,this command handles the resolution of a IP to a physical address. The command
gives a list of IPs and physical addresses on your local network.
13. Type Nslookup in cmd and then the address of a website. With this tool you can check your DNS
servers. For example, imagine you are experiencing a problem with your current DNS and it cannot
resolve the address [Link]. You can test it with nslookup and use other DNS servers
to try to resolve the [Link] nslookup ,space [Link] press enter.
14. ipconfig /displaydnsshows the content of the dns cache . to clear it typeipconfig /flushdns.
Data Communication and Networks Engr. Mirza Ahsan Ullah