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FUNDAMENTALS OF INFORMATION The Modernization of Digital Information

TECHNOLOGY: Textbook – English Technology

1-1-2023

Chapter 15 Computer Networks

Shambhavi Roy

Clinton Daniel
University of South Florida, cedanie2@[Link]

Manish Agrawal
University of South Florida, magrawal@[Link]

Follow this and additional works at: [Link]

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Roy, Shambhavi; Daniel, Clinton; and Agrawal, Manish, "Chapter 15 Computer Networks" (2023).
FUNDAMENTALS OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY: Textbook – English. 14.
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Computer Networks

CHAPTER CONTENTS
Overview 324
The Internet 325
TCP/IP Stack 326
Physical Layer 327
Data Link Layer 329
Network Layer 331
Transport Layer 332
Application Layer 332
Networking Support Services 333
Computer Network Security 335
Chapter Terms and Definitions 337
Chapter Case: WHOIS Arianna’s Domain 338

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 323

 There were 5 exabytes of information created between the dawn of civilization
through 2003, but that much information is now created every two days.

—Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman at Google

Overview
The interconnection of information systems is an extremely important function in today’s personal,
consumer, and business world. Many people stay connected with information available on the
Internet by using virtual assistant technologies such as Amazon’s Alexa to purchase items online with
their Amazon Prime account. Similarly, businesses are motivated to use interconnected devices to
conduct daily tasks such as virtual meetings and email communication. In all these cases, computer
networks are required to move information from one application operating on a computer to another.
Computer networks can be defined as the interconnection of information systems through the use of
components designed to communicate using standardized technologies.
Computers interact with networks by using specialized
hardware components designed to communicate
data in a very consistent way. In fact, today’s modern
computer networks are the result of over 100 years
of innovations engineered to communicate data.
One of the earliest examples of using a network to
communicate data from one device to another was
the telegraph. Patented in 1840, the telegraph was
a communications device used by Samuel Morse to
send information to locations across great distances.
To do this, the telegraph would connect and release
a switch from a sender device that was designed to
energize an electromagnet on a receiver device. Once
the receiver’s electromagnet was energized, it would
pull a marker to one side. The marker would then Samuel Morse’s electromagnet inker machine.
scratch a line on a paper at the receiver device. Morse
then developed an encoding of the marks in the form of dots and dashes that today is known as
Morse code. Morse code could be used to fully encode a message generated by energy that people
can understand. For instance, the letter a is coded as a dot and a dash.
Since the invention of the telegraph, communication technologies have evolved considerably and
eventually motivated the standardization of network architecture. In particular, when computers
from different manufacturers in different countries needed to be networked together, the
components had difficulty interoperating between the different networking equipment from the
various vendors. It, therefore, became necessary to standardize computer networking technology.
This problem motivated the standards organizations to develop models that could be adopted by
the entire computer networking industry. The computer network industry could now innovate while
complying with the standard model. For example, by developing components that offered standard
interoperable functionality while consuming less power. We will learn more about these models and
standards later in this chapter.

324 Chapter 15—Computer Networks

The Internet
Typically, when we talk about computer networks, we cannot escape a historical conversation about
the Internet. What is the Internet and how did we get it? How does it help us today?
Put simply, the Internet can be defined as an interconnection of individual computers across the world
through an interconnection of networks using a standardized set of communication protocols. The
Internet allows people and systems to communicate in a consistent way as data moves across the
multiple networks that are interconnected across the globe.
Consider a spiderweb, which has been spun by a
spider. Each time the spider constructs a new direction
in the web it is continuously connected to another
portion of the web. You can trace multiple directions
from any point within the spiderweb. The spiderweb
design is similar to the concept of the Internet where
computers are connected by specialized hardware,
and you can trace their communication in multiple
directions creating a web-like design.
When we think of the Internet, it’s easy to relate it to
what we know about the World Wide Web. The World
Wide Web is what people use every day to do things
like shop online, ask “Siri” (Apple’s digital assistant244)
a question, or post videos to social media platforms
such as Instagram.245 Historically, the World Wide The spiderweb design can represent the
Web grew in popularity through the use of web concept of the Internet, where computers are
browser applications designed to enable people to connected by specialized hardware and you
can trace their communication in multiple
navigate content in the form of webpages stored directions.
as documents on computers around the world. To
navigate content and display it in a consistent way
requires a standardized set of protocols. For instance, the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an
Internet protocol used by the World Wide Web that standardizes how documents such as webpages
are transferred across systems.246 You can observe a secure version of HTTP called HTTPS if you type
[Link] in your Internet browser (Figure 240).

244 Siri, Apple’s digital assistant, [Link] (accessed June 2023).

245 Instagram home page, [Link] (accessed June 2023).
246 Hypertext Transfer Protocol—HTTP/1.1, [Link] (accessed June
2023).

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 325

 FIGURE 240 — Your browser will use the HTTPS protocol when you type www.
[Link].

As seen in Figure 240, the browser navigation bar has applied the secure HTTPS protocol to
communicate the Google home page document content to the screen. Internet browser applications,
such as Google Chrome or Firefox, help keep us compliant with the HTTP protocol requirements of
the Internet. This allows us to access content and documents across the World Wide Web without
worrying about the complexities of the standardized communication.

TCP/IP Stack
As Internet technologies were standardized, they were eventually constructed as a stacked layer of
technologies, specified as the Open Standards Interconnection (OSI) Model. Today, the OSI Model
has been simplified using a core set of standardized technologies, which are described as the TCP/IP
stack.

Layer Layer Name Networking task

Number
5 Application Specify the needs of users
4 Transport Organize data for network transmission
3 Network Identify and locate the destination network
2 Data Link Remove errors during transmission and
label devices
1 Physical Signals transmitted across a wire
The TCP/IP stack is a five-layered network architecture. The TCP/IP stack layers and their described
functional networking tasks are described above, but includes some unfamiliar terms and technologies.
Therefore, it makes sense to describe each layer in detail so that you can fully understand how the
stack is used to support computer networks.

326 Chapter 15—Computer Networks

Physical Layer
The first thing needed for communication is the transmission of information over a distance. The
physical layer of the TCP/IP stack does this and requires technology that can transmit signals across
a physical medium. Different types of media include copper wire, optical fiber, or various forms of
wireless communication (e.g., cellular and Wi-Fi). The signals are generated by capturing energy from
an energy source and encoding the data using this energy for transmission over the physical medium.
Depending on the physical medium, signals are commonly transmitted as digital or analog. A digital
signal is typically generated when an energy source transmitting the signal turns on and off. If the
energy is present, we can measure the data as a 1. If the energy is absent, we can measure the data as
a 0. Analog signals are generated by an energy source that applies continuous energy to the medium.
This continuous signal changes in amplitude and frequency forming a sine wave as energy varies in
intensity and time. Since an analog signal can be measured by amplitude and frequency, data can
be encoded by varying the amplitude or frequency of the signal or both. Figure 241 illustrates the
difference in how an analog versus a digital signal can be visualized.

FIGURE 241 — A digital signal consists of 1s and 0s representing the presence

or absence of energy.

The 1s and 0s data generated by signals traveling through a physical medium is commonly referred
to as binary data. Binary data captured from signals can be encoded to represent characters that
humans can understand. For instance, the American Standard Code for Information Interexchange
(ASCII) includes numerical representations (decimals) that can be used to convert letters in the English
language to binary data.247

Hello
The word “hello” can be represented as a binary number using the ASCII code.

Character ASCII Decimal Binary

h 104 01101000
e 101 01100101
l 108 01101100
l 108 01101100
o 111 01101111

247 ASCII Table, [Link] (accessed June 2023).

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 327

Early physical media used in networks were made
of copper wiring. In fact, today, copper wire exists in
many office buildings and schools. You may have seen
network plug outlets in your school walls with a cable
plugged into it and attached on the other end to a
teacher’s PC, laptop, or printer. Copper is an excellent
conductor of electricity and can be used to carry
signals across great distances. The most common type
of network copper cable used today is called Cat5e,
and it has a connector on its end called RJ45 (Figure
242).
As seen in Figure 242, Cat5e cable has four pairs of
wires that are color coded. From left to right the pairs
include White-Orange + Orange, White-Blue + Blue,
White-Green + Green, and White-Brown + Brown. FIGURE 242 — Cat5e network cables are crucial
to accessing the internet.
Each wire within the cable is carrying a different
type of signal. Therefore, the color code sequence is
important because it must match the signal sequence
of receiving devices such as PCs, laptops, or printers.
Additionally, each of these colored wires is tightly
twisted. The tight twisting of the copper wire improves
the rate at which a signal can be transmitted through
the cable. This also improves the speed of the data
transfer on the network that the cable is connected
to. Data transfer rate is measured in bits per second.
For example, a Cat5e cable is capable of supporting
network speeds up to 1000 Mbps (megabits per
second). A bit is a small unit of data. A megabit
represents a million bits. Therefore, Cat5e cable has FIGURE 243 — Fiber optic cables allow digital
tightly twisted copper wires capable of moving up to signals to travel. These cables play a key role in
network configurations.
1 million bits of data per second!
Another common physical medium used in networks is optical fiber. Optical fiber is typically bundled
inside of fiber optic cable. Fiber optic cable is made up of a set of protected layers to prevent any
damage to the inner glass fibers (Figure 243).
The inner glass fibers are typically the width of a human hair and designed to allow laser light to travel
through the medium. Once an energy source generates a laser light it travels through the glass tube
to its destination.
As the energized light signal is pulsed, or turned on and off, by a sending device (described in the
“Data Link Layer” section below) it can be measured as data. Therefore, a light-sensitive receiver (also
described in the “Data Link Layer” section) on the other end of the fiber optic cable can convert the
pulses of light into a 1 or a 0. If light is present, the receiver can measure a 1 as data. If the light is
absent, the receiver can measure a 0 as data.

328 Chapter 15—Computer Networks

Data Link Layer
Signals can get damaged while traveling through a medium. It is also necessary for devices to know
if a signal is directed at them. Therefore, it is necessary to include a layer of technology that supports
getting the signal to the desired destination without errors. The Data Link layer functions to provide
both addressing and error detection.
Think about your home networks for a moment. You probably have devices such as PCs, smartphones,
laptops, tablets, smart televisions, and network storage connected to the Internet on your home
network. To make this network connection work, you will need a Router (described in the “Network
Layer” section) between the devices, which is designed to connect to the Internet. We will talk more
about what makes this possible later in this chapter.
We can use Figure 244 to imagine a scenario where
you are using your laptop at home to complete a
homework assignment that must be submitted online.
I’m sure you would want your homework to find its way
through the Internet to its final destination and arrive
there in the exact state as you completed it, with no
errors. This is where the Data Link layer is necessary.
Whether it is wireless or wired, you will have a
connection between your home device and your
home router. This connection is considered an
instance of the Data Link layer. For example, your
home laptop contains hardware that has a wireless
network interface card (WNIC) built inside. The word FIGURE 244 — Home networks allow multiple
devices to connect to the internet.
interface is referenced in the WNIC hardware name
because it describes the technology used to make
the connection between the laptop and the home router or other networking device. Interface is a
commonly used term in networking to describe the connection between devices.
Each WNIC, or any other type of network interface card (NIC), has what is called a Media Access Control
(MAC) address, also called a physical address. The MAC address is a unique identifier assigned by the
manufacturer of the hardware. If you were to open your laptop or other device, you may see the MAC
address labeled on the hardware. But when you are connected to the Internet there are easier ways
of discovering the MAC address you are currently using on a device. For instance, if you own a laptop
with Microsoft Windows installed you can run a command within a command prompt that will output
the MAC address actively being used by your WNIC. Here is an example of what some of the output
would look like if you typed the command “ipconfig/ all” from a Microsoft Windows command prompt
from a laptop that is actively connected to a wireless network:
C:\Users\clinton> ipconfig /all
Example of partial output from the above command (Note: your output will have different information
than this one):

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 329

 Wireless LAN adapter Wi-Fi:
Description. . . . . . . . . . . . : Intel® Wi-Fi AX200 160Hz
Physical Address. . . . . . . . . : 6D-B1-00-5U-03-9R
DHCP Enabled. . . . . . . . . . . : Yes
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : [Link]
In the above example of output from the “ipconfig /all” command, you can see that the Microsoft
Windows operating system has identified that the active interface connection is using a WNIC
described as “Intel Wi-Fi AX200 160Hz” with the physical address, or MAC address, of 6D-B1-00-5U-
03-9R. In this case, the Data Link layer is implemented within the WNIC where the physical address
can be used to uniquely identify a device connected to a network. Circling back to the homework
example we mentioned earlier, the physical address plays an important role in making sure that your
homework finds its way toward its final destination. Other technologies that support the Data Link
layer and your homework finding its way also work similarly, as we will describe in detail later.
The Data Link layer not only functions to provide addressing, it also serves the function of error
detection. There must be a technology within a layer of the TCP/IP stack that can detect if any errors
were introduced during the transmission of a signal. Errors can occur when a signal is disrupted by
events such as power outages or power spikes. When events like this occur, there must be a technology
capable of detecting errors to improve the reliability of the network.
Errors are typically detected on a network using specialized algorithms. This is where mathematicians
really get to use their skills. The algorithm used by networks to detect errors is known as a cyclic
redundancy check (CRC). CRC uses Modulo 2 arithmetic to reliably calculate bit-level errors on binary
(1s and 0s) data that may occur during network communication. These algorithms are always getting
better and will keep mathematicians in business for many years to come.
Let’s look at a simple error-detection algorithm example that’s easy to understand, though not robust
enough for industrial use. Recall that an algorithm is a set of steps used to accomplish a desired
output. In this case we are constructing an algorithm designed to detect an error in the transmitted
data.
Let’s say we want to send HELLO in a text message. We could code the letters in integer format as 8 5
12 12 15 based on their integer position in the English alphabet. In other words, the letter H is in the
8th position of the English alphabet while E is in the 5th position and so on. A simple algorithm first
step would be to add all integers together to get the single integer value of 52.
8 + 5 + 12 + 12 + 15 = 52
Now add 5 and 2.
5+2=7
Now, the technology would send a text with the integer values of the letters HELLO as:
8 5 12 12 15 7
Where 7 is appended to the integer encoded version of HELLO.
Now, let’s try to detect an error when our technology receives the text message.

330 Chapter 15—Computer Networks

The receiver technology will get 8 5 12 12 15 7
The receiver knows that the 7 is extra data, so it calculates:
8 + 5 + 12 + 12 + 15 = 52
Then it calculates: 5 + 2 = 7
Now the receiver technology can interpret the HELLO text message, represented by integers in the
data received, as having no errors because the calculated result 7 matches the extra data labeled as 7
on the end of the text message.
This simple algorithm is easy to understand but it certainly has flaws. For instance, what if the receiver
technology received 8 5 11 13 15 7 or 10 5 11 11 15 7. Both integer combinations will sum to 52. But
they are messages with errors. The first one would translate to HEKMO while the second one would
translate to JEKKO. These text messages are certainly not HELLO, but our simple algorithm would
not detect the error. If you can imagine the power of this simple algorithm example, you can then
understand how mathematicians can improve the accuracy of the algorithm so that it can detect all
possible errors. This is just one example of why math plays a critical role in technology.

Network Layer
While the Data Link layer is responsible for the
connections between devices on a single network,
the Network layer’s function is to transfer packets of
data from a source computer, such as a laptop on your
home network, to a destination computer through
one or more networks. This task is also called routing
and is performed by networking devices called
routers. You may have a router in your home, that
was supplied by your Internet service provider, which FIGURE 245 — A home router. A Cat5e cable
allows you to connect your home devices to resources with an RJ45 connector allows access between
across the global Internet (Figure 245). your home devices and the Internet.

As previously mentioned, the Network layer functions to transfer packets across multiple networks. A
packet of data is a small segment of a larger piece of data sent over a network. For example, consider
a scenario where you are using the Internet to research a topic on the World Wide Web for your
homework assignment. As you open a webpage (described later in the “Application Layer” section of
this chapter) with your browser, packets of data are being sent across the Internet from a webserver
somewhere in the world to your laptop. All the content included on the website is not being sent as
one large file. Instead, the website data would be broken into small packets of data prior to being
transmitted over the Internet. Once the packets reach their destination, they will be reassembled into
their original form so that the complete webpage can be viewed in your browser. This reassembly
process is handled by the “Transport Layer,” which we will cover later in this chapter.
Communicating signals and data over networks involves the use of standard protocols. The most
common protocol used at the Network layer is the Internet Protocol (IP). You may have noticed that
this protocol is part of the name included in TCP/IP stack. This is because IP plays an essential role in the
Network layer and is the standard responsible for routing packets across interconnected networks. IP
is managed on networks by professionals who configure routers and facilitate routing by assigning IP

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 331

addresses to devices. An IP address is a unique identifier that has been assigned to devices accessing a
network. Unlike a MAC address, which is uniquely assigned by a hardware manufacturer, an IP address
is automatically or manually assigned by technology designed to manage devices connecting to a
local network or the Internet.
For example, in the “Data Link Layer” section of this chapter we reviewed the output of a Microsoft
Windows command “ipconfig /all.” In the output of this command, you may have noticed:
IPv4 Address. . . . . . . . . . . : [Link].
The [Link] is the unique IP address assigned to the device connected to the Internet.
Additionally, you will notice in the output of the command “IPv4.” This indicates IP version 4. This
version contains 4 sections of integer values ranging from 0 to 255 and separated by periods. So, IP
addresses range from [Link] to [Link]. This version of the IP address was created in an early
period where most experts thought that at most, the world would have one computer-connected
device per person on the planet. IPv4 could support 232 or about 4.29 billion devices. This was enough
to assign one IP address per person at the time IPv4 was created. But today, many users have multiple
devices, and we began running out of IPv4 addresses. So IPv6 was created that allows up to 2128
or approximately 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 devices! The IPv6 address is
significantly longer and consists of integers and letters. Here is a sample of what an IPv6 address looks
like:
2603:9000:f700:6347:1492:8241:c756:3812
Each of the four characters are separated by a colon. As you can see, it contains more information that
can be used to support a lot more IP address combinations than IPv4.

Transport Layer
The Transport layer functions to ensure that data is reliably delivered to its destination over a network.
To do this the Transport layer includes technology designed to track data as it is broken down into
small segments. Segmentation is the process of breaking data down into smaller units to allow for a
more compact transmission over a network using IP. This is useful because IP has a limitation on the
size of packets it can transfer over a network. Once a receiving technology receives all the segmented
data, the Transport layer is then responsible for reassembling these segmented packets of data back
into their original form so that they can be used by an application such as a web browser.
The most common Transport layer protocol is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP). Notice that
TCP, just like IP, is part of the TCP/IP stack name. Applications like email can transfer data, such as an
email message, to TCP so that the data can be broken into small segments before being transmitted to
a destination on the Internet. These segments are assigned sequence numbers so that the receiving
technology at the Internet destination knows how to logically reorder and reassemble to email
message data back into its original format before handing it off to the receiving email application.

Application Layer
Since the Transport layer handles all details of transmitting data over a network, this opens tremendous
potential for the development of applications. The Application layer functions to support the needs
of technology users. If you want to send an email from your laptop or text a message to your friends

332 Chapter 15—Computer Networks

from your smartphone, you will need to use an application specialized for the task. TCP will make sure
that the data is reliably sent across the Internet to your friends. This functional relationship between
layers that support the Internet is why we call the technology stack TCP/IP.
With the support of the Application layer, the technology industry has invented many functional uses
for the Internet to fit our daily lives. This table summarizes five common application protocols that
have been developed to support a variety of applications.
Common Application Layer Protocols

Application Protocol Functional Description

HTTP (Hyper Text Transfer Protocol) Used in the World Wide Web to
communication data from webpages
SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) Used to send and receive email

FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Used to communicate and transfer files

between computers
SSH (Secure Shell) Used to send commands between
computers
IM (Instant Messaging) Used to exchange text-based messages
using computers or mobile devices
As you can see, the Application layer is the most practical layer that Internet users can relate to. These
application protocols support many of our daily personal, professional, and academic uses for the
Internet. So, whether you are using an app on your smartphone or working on an assignment using
your school device, you are being supported by the Application layer of the TCP/IP stack.

Networking Support Services

Services have been developed over time to support the use of Internet applications communicating
on the TCP/IP stack. For instance, in order for an application to communicate on a network it needs to
operate on a device that has been assigned an IP address. The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) service was developed to manage the assignment of IP addresses on a network. This service is
commonly used in places such as schools or businesses where people need to connect to the Internet.
Consider a scenario where you are at school, and you turn on your device to join the network so you
can use the Internet. As soon as your device is turned on, the operating system is seeking an available
network to connect to. If the network allows you to connect to it, a DHCP service assigns your device
an IP address on the network. This assigned IP address is then used by your device so that you can
operate applications capable of communicating on the Internet.
Another common service used on computer networks is the Domain Name Service (DNS). This service
is used by the Domain Name System, which includes a set of databases responsible for translating IP
addresses into domain names. To see DNS in action, you can execute a WHOIS query. A WHOIS query
is used to check publicly available databases to identify who owns a domain. Additionally, you can
check the DNS records to determine what IP addresses are owned and associated with the domain
name.

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 333

To conduct a WHOIS query, open your browser and
navigate to [Link] Note, you can Google
WHOIS and the search results will recommend many
WHOIS query tools. Any of these will work just as well.
Once you are on the [Link] site, type [Link] in the
search bar and click the search button (Figure 246).
Your WHOIS query will result in lots of contact and
other information about [Link]. For instance, [Link] FIGURE 246 — A WHOIS query can be very
was activated on September 29, 1986, and is registered useful in finding contact information regarding
by the University of South Florida Information a domain.
Technology at 4202 E. Fowler Avenue, SVC 4010
Tampa, Florida 33620 USA. This information may be useful for anyone who is trying to investigate the
owner and support for any specific domain.
Next, click on the “DNS Records” button to view a report on the records documented over time with
the [Link] domain. Make a special note of the entry next to [Link] under the “Hostname”
column (Figure 247).

FIGURE 247 — A WHOIS query will return a lot of information regarding the searched domain.

As seen in Figure 247, [Link] is used to respond to any Internet requests on the World Wide
Web and it is assigned the IP address [Link]. If you were to navigate to [Link] with your
Internet browser, you would actually be navigating to the IP address [Link]. However, DNS
translates this IP address into a domain name that humans can easily remember and understand.
Overall, many networking support services exist to promote the use of networks and their technologies.
Information technology professionals make a career out of supporting, managing, and implementing
these services in an enterprise business environment that supports people and business processes.

334 Chapter 15—Computer Networks

College degree programs and industry certifications have developed entire curriculums to support
the knowledge and expertise needed to support the technologies of today and tomorrow. Therefore,
it is a worthy investment to learn more about these services, if you are interested in a future career in
technology.

Computer Network Security

Networks were originally motivated and designed around the concept of communication through
technology. As you may have noticed throughout this chapter, these technologies were not designed
to consider the risks of intentional harm to the systems or data as a result of a cyber-attack. You will
learn more about cybersecurity in the “Cybersecurity” chapter of this textbook. For now, let’s consider
a cyber-attack as an attempt by a malicious person or program to damage or destroy a computer
network and the systems that support it. There are daily attacks on computer networks in our homes,
schools, and business. Protecting networks using security technology is a necessity in today’s world.
One specific and important security technology that is designed to protect networks is a firewall. A
firewall is a computer that is positioned on the network between the devices used inside a network
and the outside world. The firewall computer keeps a careful eye on all the incoming network traffic
and applies filters that can block any unwanted or malicious packets. The filters are configured by
IT professionals who can assign a set of rules that are designed to identify known harmful network
traffic.
Firewalls keep us all safe when we use our devices to communicate on the Internet. However, malicious
people are always trying to get past these protective firewalls to cause harm to our systems. This is
why for years to come cybersecurity professionals will continue to be in high demand.
There are some simple things that we can do to protect the security of our networks. Two such
easy security practices include patching our systems and making sure that we communicate on
our networks using secure methods. Patching systems basically involves keeping our software and
operating systems up to date with the latest security updates. It is common among software and
hardware vendors to discover weaknesses in their products that may expose vulnerabilities to a
cyber-attack. To prevent these attacks from occurring, the vendors recommend that we update our
systems by downloading and installing these patches.
Communicating on a network securely typically involves the use of encryption technologies. Put
simply, encryption is the process where you use an algorithm to scramble data into a secret encoded
message that can only be unlocked with a unique and guarded key. One such type of encryption
uses a digital certificate. Digital certificates are issued by certificate authorities. You can use these
digital certificates to encrypt data being transmitted over a network such as an email, text, or instant
message.
To understand how encryption technologies work, consider the following simple example. You have
a text message consisting of the word “hello” that you are about to send to your friend using your
smartphone app.
Swap each letter with the one that holds its opposite position in the alphabet. For example, “a” would
be swapped with “z” and “b” would be swapped with “y” and so on.
So, the encrypted version of “hello” would be “svool.”

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 335

The receiving technology would then need to have a key to unlock the algorithm. In other words,
the receiver knows the algorithm used to scramble the letters and can execute the swap in reverse to
translate “svool” back into “hello.”
This simple encryption example is useful to understand the concept. However, in practice the method
to this algorithm could be leaked somewhere on the Internet and malicious people could write a
simple program to decrypt all your network communication. This is why it is important to use strong
algorithms that are so complex that it would be impractical for anyone to decrypt. You will learn more
about the complexities of cybersecurity in the “Cybersecurity” chapter of the textbook.

336 Chapter 15—Computer Networks

 Chapter Terms and Definitions

Encryption: The use of an algorithm to scramble Media Access Control (MAC) Address:
data into a secret encoded message that can only Commonly known as a physical address; a unique
be unlocked with a unique and guarded key identifier consisting of numbers and letters
assigned to network interface hardware and
Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP): An used as the identity of a network address
Internet protocol used by the World Wide Web
that standardizes how documents such as Open Standards Interconnection (OSI) Model:
webpages are transferred across systems A conceptual stack of technologies that could
be used to describe the various functions of a
Interface: A networking term that describes the networked system
interconnection between a computing device,
such as a laptop or smartphone, to a network Packet: A small segment of a larger piece of data
sent over a network
Internet: An interconnection of individual
computers across the world through an Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): A reliable
interconnection of networks using a standardized transport layer protocol that enables applications
set of communication protocols to exchange data over a network

Internet Protocol (IP): A network layer World Wide Web: An information system
protocol responsible for routing packets across designed to display content in the form of
interconnected networks documents, such as webpages, which are stored
on computers across the world

Chapter 15—Computer Networks 337

 Chapter Case

WHOIS Arianna’s Domain

Arianna has just learned about the World Wide Web and how it works. She was
given an assignment by her teacher to come up with an online business idea. The
online business should include a website that is available for her customers to use
from any network across the world. Arianna knew this meant she had to purchase
a domain and have it registered so that it is available to Domain Name Systems
throughout the globe. To do this, Arianna needs to think of a unique domain name
and complete a WHOIS query to see if its available. Basically, she must pick a domain
name that nobody in the world has actively registered.

Question 1: Think of an online business idea. Now describe your online business
in one or two sentences. Think of a unique domain name to use with
your business and conduct a WHOIS query on the Internet to see if it’s
available. If the domain name is already registered by someone else,
think of another name. Continue to conduct WHOIS queries until
you have identified a domain name that has not been registered by
someone else. Write your domain name here.
Question 2: Now that you have explained your online business idea, use the
Internet to conduct multiple WHOIS queries to identify at least one
other company who has registered a domain name with a similar
online business model idea. In other words, another company who
may be a potential competitor. List all the information reported in
that companies WHOIS query.

338 Chapter 15—Computer Networks