Computer Science
Teacher: Maruf Ahmed
Chapter 3 (Hardware)
Network Hardware
Network interface card (NIC):
- This is a component in a device that enables it to connect to a network.
- A network interface card (NIC) is needed to allow a device to connect to / access a network (such
as the LAN or the internet).
- It is usually part of the device hardware and contains the Media Access Control (MAC) address
generated at the manufacturing stage.
Wireless network interface cards/controllers (WNICs) are the same as NICs in that they are used to
connect devices to the internet or other networks. However, they use wireless connectivity utilising an
antenna to communicate with networks via microwaves. They would normally plug into the USB port or
be part of an internal integrated circuit.
IP address and MAC address:
IP address:
• Internet Protocol address
• Identifies location/address of a device on the Internet / network
• address is unique for given internet session
• address is supplied when a device connects to the Internet
• address is allocated by the network / ISP (Internet Service Provider)
• can be used in place of URL (Uniform Resource Locator)
• usually, 32 bits in IPv4 and 128 bits in IPv6
• can be static or dynamic
• can be public or private
Purpose of an IP address.
- IP address used to locate a device on a network
- Each address is unique within the network
- Allows a device/node to send data to the correct destination
MAC address:
• Media Access Control address
• unique number that uniquely identifies a device connected to the Internet / network
• hardware/physical address
• this address is assigned by the manufacturer
• address is made up of manufacturer id + serial number of device
• usually 48/64 bits (12/16 hex digits)
• first 6/8 hex digits = manufacturer code
• last 6/8 hex digits = serial number of device (NIC)
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Explain what the hexadecimal code in a MAC address represents.
• hardware/physical address
• unique address/number associated (with network card in) a device/computer
• usually 48/64 bits (12/16 hex digits)
• first 6/8 digits = manufacturer code
• last 6/8 digits = serial number of device (NIC)
Similarities between a MAC address and an IP address.
• They are both unique addresses
• They can both be used to identify a device (on a network)
• They are both assigned to hardware
• They can both be represented as hexadecimal
• Both addresses do not change if IP address is static
Differences between a MAC address and an IP address.
• A MAC address is assigned by the manufacturer, whereas an IP address is assigned by the
network/router/ISP
• A MAC address is represented as hexadecimal, whereas an IP address can sometimes be
represented as numeric
• A MAC address is normally static, whereas an IP address can be dynamic
• A MAC address has 6 groups of digits, whereas an IP address has 4/8 groups
• IP address does not contain serial number/manufacturer number, MAC address does
• A MAC address is 6 bytes (48 bit), whereas an IP address is 4/16 bytes (32/128 bit)
Static and Dynamic IP address:
Static IP address:
- Static IP addresses are permanently assigned to a device by the internet service provider (ISP)
- they don’t change each time a device logs onto the internet
- provides lesser privacy since they remain same as a result allows each device to be fully traceable
Dynamic IP address:
- It can change each time the device is connected to the network and are assigned by the ISP
- This is done using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)
- It can be used to uniquely identify a device on a network
- provides greater privacy since they change each time a user logs on
Explain the reasons for a web server using a static instead of a dynamic IP address.
- Static IP does not change whereas a dynamic IP address does change. The DNS does not need
updating which might be delayed causing ‘address not found’ errors
- The webserver may be accessed directly using just the IP address // the IP address is still held in
cache memory
Public and Private IP address:
- Public address can be reached across the Internet. Private address can only be reached
internally/through the LAN/Intranet // private address cannot be reached across the Internet.
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- NAT (Network Address Translation) is necessary for a private IP address to access the Internet
directly.
- A private address is more secure than a public address
- Public addresses are provided by ISP, Private addresses are assigned by the router
- Public addresses are unique (to the Internet) // Private addresses (are unique within their network,
but) can be duplicated within other (discrete) networks.
IP versions:
IPv4 addressing:
• It is denary based with numbers between 0 and 255
• It is 32 bits
• 4 sets/groups of numbers separated by dots
• It is a unique address
• It can be static or dynamic
• It can be public or private
• It contains the network prefix and the host number
IPv6 addressing:
- 128 bits addressing scheme
- An IPv6 address is represented as eight groups of four hexadecimal digits
- each group representing 16 bits
- The groups are separated by colons (:)
- It is a unique address
- It can be static or dynamic
- It can be public or private
The main advantages of IPv6 compared to IPv4 are:
• removes the risk of IP address collisions
• has built-in authentication checks
• allows for more efficient packet routes
Similarities between IPv4 and IPv6
• They can both be used to identify a device (on a network)
• They can both be static / dynamic
• They are both unique (to a device on a network)
• They can both be assigned by a router
• They can both be public/private
Differences between IPv4 and IPv6
• IPv4 is usually written as denary, IPv6 usually written as hexadecimal
• IPv4 is separated using dots, IPv6 is separated using colons
• IPv4 is 32-bit, IPv6 is 128-bit
• IPv4 is 4 groups of digits, IPv6 is 8 groups of digits
• IPv4 digits are between 0 and 255, IPv6 digits are between 0000 and FFFF
• IPv4 all 0s are displayed, IPv6 can use double colons to replace repeated groups of 0000
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• IPv4 has fewer available unique addresses, IPv6 has more available unique addresses
The following are examples of valid IPv6 addresses:
- 2001:db8:3333:4444:5555:6666:7777:8888
- 2000:dc8:3133:4444:cccc:dfab:abcd:bb12
- :: (implies all 8 segments are zero)
- 2001:db82:: (implies that the last six segments are zero)
- ::1234:5678 (implies that the first six segments are zero)
- 2001:db8::1234:5678 (implies that the middle four segments are zero)
- 2001:0db8:0001:0000:0000:0ab9:C0A8:0102 (This can be compressed to eliminate leading zeros,
as follows: 2001:db8:1::ab9:C0A8:102)
Rules for compressing IPv6 addressing:
- Leading 0s are omitted
- Any single, contiguous string of one or more 16-bit segments consisting of all zeros can be
represented with a double colon (::) but that can be applied only once
Some examples of valid IPv4 addresses (Given in denary):
- 192.0. 2.146
- 192.168. 1.1
- [Link]
- [Link]
Router:
- A device that transfers data from one network to another in an intelligent way
- It has the task of forwarding data packets to their destination by the most efficient route
- Connects two (or more) networks
- Can connect a LAN to a WAN
- Receives packets and forwards towards the destination using the IP address of the destination
- Assigns private IP addresses
- Assigns dynamic internet protocol (IP) address to the computer when it is connected to the
network
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