DNS Lookup  «Prev  Next»
Lesson 1

Introduction to Designing TCP/IP Solution

Organizations are facing a growing need for Internet connectivity, and connectivity between dissimilar operating systems and hardware platforms spread over large geographic distances. Because TCP/IP operates on a wide variety of physical networks and can be scaled to suit small to large networks, it is the only protocol that can meet the requirements of these organizations.
Unlike many of the LAN protocols formerly in widespread use, such as NetBEUI and IPX/SPX, TCP/IP is a relatively complex networking protocol to set up and configure. You must plan carefully how to set up client machines and how your TCP/IP network infrastructure will be implemented. If the network is not designed with the advantages and limitations of the TCP/IP protocol in mind, network performance will be dismal and unreliable.

By the end of this module, you will be able to:
  1. Define the components of TCP/IP protocol suite
  2. Define decisions that influence the design of a TCP/IP solution
  3. Define the features of TCP/IP and their functionality
  4. Define the elements utilized in TCP/IP design
  5. Define the IP addressing schemes available in private networks
  6. Determine the number of hosts per subnet and number of subnets
  7. Define configuration methodologies used by network hosts
The next lesson defines the importance of TCP/IP in a network, and introduces you to protocol suite.

(TCP/IP) Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is a protocol system, a collection of protocols that supports network communications. The answer to the question
What is a protocol?
must begin with the question
What is a network?
This module describes what a network is and shows why networks need protocols. You also learn what TCP/IP is, what it does, and where it began.

Network communication, or "internetworking”, defines a set of protocols that allow application programs to talk with each other without regard to the hardware and operating systems where they are run. Internetworking allows application programs to communicate independently of their physical network connections. TCP/IP is an internetworking technology and is named after its two main protocols: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), and Internet Protocol (IP). You should also be familiar with the following basic internetworking terms:
  1. client: A process that requests services on the network.
  2. server: A process that responds to a request for service from a client.
  3. datagram: A basic unit of information, consisting of one or more data packets, which are passed across an internet at the transport level.
  4. packet: The unit or block of a data transaction between a computer and its network. A packet usually contains a network header, at least one high-level protocol header, and data blocks. Generally, the format of data blocks does not affect how packets are handled. Packets are the exchange medium used at the Internetwork layer to send data through the network.