Chapter 5 Advanced Configuration
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thro ug h a ne two rk; and p ro viding fra g me nta tio n a nd
re a sse mb ly of da tag ra ms to suppo rt da ta links with
differe nt ma ximum-tra nsmissio n unit (MTU) size s. The IP
a d d re ssing sc he me is inte g ra l to the pro c e ss o f ro uting IP
da tag ra ms thro ugh a n inte rne two rk. Ea c h IP add re ss ha s
spe c ific c o mpo ne nts a nd fo llo ws a b a sic fo rma t. The se IP
a d d re sse s c a n b e subd ivide d a nd use d to c re a te
a d d re sse s for sub ne two rks. Ea c h c o mp uter (kno wn a s
ho st) o n a TC P/ IP netwo rk is assig ne d a uniq ue lo g ic a l
a d d re ss (32-bit in IPv4) that is divid e d into two ma in pa rts:
the ne two rk numb e r a nd the ho st numb e r. The ne two rk
numb e r id e ntifie s a ne two rk a nd must b e a ssig ne d b y the
Inte rne t Ne two rk Informa tio n C e nte r (InterNIC) if the
network is to be part of the Internet. An Internet Service
Pro vid e r (ISP) c an o b tain b lo c ks of ne two rk a dd re sses fro m
the Inte rNIC a nd c an itse lf a ssig n a d d re ss spa c e a s
ne c essa ry. The ho st numb e r id e ntifie s a ho st o n a ne two rk
a nd is assig ne d by the lo c al ne two rk administra to r.
Whe n yo u se nd o r re c eive d a ta (fo r e xamp le , a n e -ma il
no te o r a We b p a g e ), the me ssa g e ge ts divide d into little
c hunks c alle d pa c ke ts. Ea c h o f the se pa c ke ts c o nta ins
b o th the send e r’ s Interne t a d dre ss a nd the re c e ive r’ s
a d d re ss. Be c ause a me ssa g e is divide d into a numbe r o f
pa c ke ts, a d iffe re nt ro ute c an if ne c e ssa ry, send e a c h
pa c ke t ac ro ss the Interne t. Pa c ke ts c a n a rrive in a
diffe re nt orde r than the o rde r they we re sent in. The
Inte rne t Pro to c o l just de live rs the m. It’ s up to a no the r
pro to c o l, the Tra nsmissio n Co ntro l Pro to c o l (TC P) to put
them b a c k in the rig ht ord e r.
All o ther p ro toc o ls within the TCP/IP suite , e xc e p t ARP and
RARP, use IP to ro ute fra me s fro m ho st to ho st.