OBJECTIVES: I will write a proposal for work on my networking/packet project during today's class.

CALENDAR:

LINKS: Project Specs    Project Form (pdf)  Project Form (ms word)

WORDS FOR TODAY:

I STRONGLY URGE YOU TO START A DECK OF FLASH CARDS HERE

• bandwidth: Transmission capacity measure by bit rate
• binary: "A way of representing information using only two options"
• bit: A contraction of "Binary Digit"; the single unit of information in a computer, typically represented as a 0 or 1
• bit rate: (sometimes written bitrate) the number of bits that are conveyed or processed per unit of time. e.g. 8 bits/sec.
• DNS - Domain Name Server - THE internet phonebook. Allows our browsers to look up an IP address based on a name or find a name based on an IP Address
• HTTP: Hyper Text Transfer Protocol
• IP - Internet Protocol - Provides Name/Address information to a specific server on the interweb
• latency: Time it takes for a bit to travel from its sender to its receiver.
• packets: Discreet blocks of internet traffic sent between computers & servers as directed by routers.
• Port - one of 64,000 'doors' available to access your computer from the outside world
• protocol: A set of rules governing the exchange or transmission of data between devices
• router: "Traffic Cop"
• Server - A computer designed to process specific data requests from users
• TCP - Transfer Control Protocol - Provides connection information to a specific port on a specific server on the interweb

WORK O' THE DAY: 

Packets, Ports & Protocols Project specs are HERE

A quick review:

At a minimum, your project should show:

• how such a packet is created

• Where the information comes from to create the packet

• Show how the packet is sent to a remote web server from your computer

• Show how the packet is sent from the remote web server to your computer

• Show an example application.

 

If you do all that very clearly and concisely, you're looking at a B.

Lack of clarity or splashing a lot of text will lower that grade

 

Additional explorations of different protocols will increase your grade

Exploring added complexities of packets will also increase your grade

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For Today: Please do some very basic research so that you can construct a basic 'proposal' for you protocol/packet project:

• Constructing your presentation - Describe how you will construct your graphic in a nuts-and-bolts kind of way, pen and paper, water color, interpretative dance, flow chart software etc...
• The Final Product -- describe the "look and feel" of your final product
• Technical details how will you determine/find/obtain the following IP Addresses and/or Mac ID/Physical addresses for:
  • Your personal computer/laptop/chromie -- but NOT your phone
  • Your home modem/router
  • Your ISP (internet service provider)
  • More than one router between your ISP and your final destination server
  • Your destination server
• Application/Data Layer - How is the data specific to your application sent to and received from the online server
• Please include a click-able link to sources. If you are doing a pen/paper or other by hand sorta thing please submit a list of sources (URLs are fine)
• I'll remind you, doing this at the last minute typically results in a flaming pile of
• Try THIS

Part B) The Project

Design a graphical presentation of some sort that shows the process where packets are created, sent to a server on the interweb and then new packets are created by an internet server and returned back to your computer.

Each layer of a sample packet should be clearly represented. You do not need to show the guts of each and every packet sent from your computer to your home modem/router to your ISP, through a bunch of routers and received by the internet server and then sent by that server through routers to your ISP to your home modem/router and then received by your computer should suffice <gulp>.

To the extent possible, each step should show the actual IP Addresses, Port Numbers and Mac ID/Physical addresses for as many routers/computers as possible (it will take some research to determine which information you can easily obtain, which information will take some work and which information is so difficult to obtain that you probably wont' be able to get it)

If you start this project at the last minute, you'll be

I hope that is obvious.

Plan ahead, take pride in your work, come visit me with any questions

Please, Please, Please do us BOTH a favor and don't turn in a flaming pile of

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TOOLS

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PORTS

Ports 0 - 1023 are used for well-known apps/processes.

Ports 1024- 49151 are reserved for user server applications (I don't know if all of those are taken though)

Ports above 49151 are NOT reserved and available (I assume?) to whoever wants to use them. Why is this typically NOT a problem?

 

Take a gander at the Wikipedia page for common ports. Just for giggles go and see what port is assigned to the video game DOOM.

 

TRACERT

traceRT (or just plain lowercase: tracert) is a tracert program that should allow you to trace a good portion of your path. See if you can try it now (you'll need to get into the cmd window first though - try Ctrl + Alt + T)

 

WHOIS

WHOIS lets you type in an IP address and it will tell you who is assigned that address. Try typing that into your browser with an IP Address.

WIRESHARK

There is a tool called WIRESHARK that verges on being a hacking tool but it is widely available and very helpful. I checked with our district tech admin and he is fine with us using WIRESHARK since virtually all communication is encrypted these days.

That is by way of saying it will show the addresses and such but all the personal info and application layer stuff will be encrypted.

Once again, this is a very, very deep dive technically speaking. Having said that I've had a number of students who dove in whole hog and did an AWESOME job.

Please keep in mind that t is also VERY VERY technical (You can't load it onto your chromie). It will tell you most if not all of what you want to know of every connection that you make between your computer and the server on the web that is the final destination for your communications for that application.

Please Please Please do NOT load wireshark on another computer at home without checking with your folks FIRST