R&S

Module-2
 How to Establish a Single Switched Network
eNSP is a graphical network simulation platform. Wireshark works alongside eNSP, you can
run the data packets in the network and analyze in Wireshark
The introduction of switching devices as a part of the network demonstrates how networks
are able to expand beyond point-to-point connections and shared networks in which
connections may occur. Switched networks can overcome the performance obstacles of a
shared network.
The establishment of a switch brings the capacity for increased port density to enable the
connection of greater end devices per network.
We will do a basic configuration of a switch in a network.
1. Open eNSP on your computer.
2. Click to open new topology

3. Select any of the switches

4. Select an end device, a PC.

5. Connect the two using a copper wire.

6. Start the devices by clicking on the start.

7. Now click on the CLI.

Once done, you need to make a few changes to the configuration of the switch.
8. This is how the switch CLI will open.

9. Now type the commands. Write “Open Sys-view”. Then, “interface Gigabitethernet
1/1/0”. Then, “duplex full” and “speed 100”. This setting will enable the switch to work with
the speed 100 and a full-duplex connection will be established.

10. Now type “display interface” to see if the system is Up and running.
 Spanning tree protocol
The spanning tree protocol is a layer 2 protocol that tends to solve the problems when the
computers use the shared telecommunications paths on a local area network. When they
share the common path, if all the computers send the data simultaneously, it affects the
overall network performance and brings all the network traffic near a halt.
The spanning tree protocol (STP) overcomes this situation by using the concept of bridge
looping. Bridge looping is used when there are multiple connections between the two
endpoints, and messages are sent continuously, which leads to the flooding of the network.
To remove the looping, STP divides the LAN network into two or more segments with the
help of a device known as bridges. The bridge is used to connect the two segments so when
the message is sent, the message is passed through the bridge to reach the intended
destination. The bridge determines whether the message is for the same segment or a
different segment, and it works accordingly. This network segmentation greatly reduces the
chances of a network coming to a halt.
How spanning tree protocol works?
o This protocol selects one switch as a root bridge where the root bridge is a central
point as when the message is sent; then it always passes through the bridge.
o It selects the shortest path from a switch to the root bridge.
o It blocks the links that cause the looping on a network, and all the blocked links are
maintained as backups. It can also activate the blocked links whenever the active link
fails. Therefore, we can say that it also provides fault tolerance on a network.
Ports in STP
o Root port: The root port is a port that has the lowest cost path to the root bridge.
o Designated port: The designated port is a port that forwards the traffic away from
the root bridge.
o Blocking port: The blocking port is a port that receives the frames, but it neither
forwards nor sends the frames. It simply drops the received frames.
o Backup port: The backup port is a port that provides the backup path in a spanning
tree if a designated port fails. This port gets active immediately when the designated port
fails.
o Alternate port: The alternate port is a port that provides the alternate path to the
root bridge if the root bridge fails.
Let's understand through an example.

Suppose there are four switches A, B, C, and D on a local area network. There are redundant
links that exist among these interconnected devices. In the above figure, there are two
paths that exist, i.e., DBA and DCA. Link redundancy is good for network availability, but it
creates layer 2 loops. The question arises "how network blocks the unwanted links to avoid
the loops without destroying the link redundancy?". The answer to this question is STP.
First, STP chooses one switch as a root bridge. In the above case, A switch is chosen as a
root bridge. Next, other switches select the path to the root bridge, having the least path
cost. Now we look at the switch B. For switch B, there are two paths that exist to reach
switch A (root bridge), i.e., BDCA and BA.
The path BDCA costs 7 while the path BA costs 2. Therefore, path BA is chosen to
reach the root bridge. The port at switch B is selected as a root port, and the other end is a
designated port. Now we look at the switch C. From switch C, there are two paths that exist,
i.e., CDBA and CA. The least-cost path is CA, as it costs 1. Thus, it is selected as a root port,
and the other end is selected as a designated port. Now we look at the switch D. For switch
D, there are two paths that exist to reach switch A, i.e., DBA and DCA. The path DBA costs 4
while the DCA costs 5. Therefore, path DBA is chosen as it has the least cost path. The port
on D is selected as a root port, and on the other end, switch B is selected as a designated
port. In this example, we have observed that the root bridge can contain many designated
ports, but it does not contain a root port.

Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol

RSTP is the more improved and advanced version of STP which is a layer 2 protocol that
prevents bridge loops and broadcast storms in local networks with redundant connections.
Rapid spanning tree protocol has faster convergence and it is also backward-compatible
with STP. To make sure a loop-free topology, the Rapid Spanning Tree Protocol (RSTP)
precludes some of the connections which permit only a single active path between any two
devices. All these disabled connections can be used as backup paths in case an active
connection fails. The IEEE standard for Rapid spanning tree protocol is 802.1w.
Working of RSTP
RSTP follows a strict set of rules by which the switches decide the best way to forward the
traffic on the network free from any redundancy. When RSPT is enabled on a network, the
spanning tree algorithm decides the configuration of the spanning tree automatically.
The topmost bridge of the spanning tree is the Root bridge in RSTP and it is in charge of
sending all the network topology information to other switches present in the network. This
plays an important role when hardware failures occur, or some other topology changes
occur. So, the most efficient alternate paths are established without any delay.
Port Roles in RSTP
1. Root Port: The port with the best path cost is elected as the root port. A non-root
bridge can only have one root port. Root ports forward data to the bridge.
2. Designated Port: It is a non-root port that is used as a forwarding port for every LAN
segment.
3. Backup Port: It is a backup path to a segment where another bridge port is already
connected. These ports receive BPDUs from their switches but they remain in a
blocked state.
4. Alternate Port: It is a Backup port with a less desirable path cost. All such ports
remain in a blocked state.

Port States in RSTP

Rapid spanning tree protocol supports three port states.
1. Discarding: In the discarding state, no user data is sent over the port.
2. Learning: In the learning state the ports learn about the MAC address but it doesn’t
forward any frames.
3. Forwarding: In the forwarding state the ports can send data and are fully
operational.
Working of Port States:
At first, a switch port starts in a discarding state, a discarding port does not forward any
frames nor does it learn MAC addresses, and it also listens for BPDUs. Backup and alternate
ports remain discarding.
In RSTP if a port is elected as a Root port or Designated port, the transition will directly take
place from a discarding state to a learning state. Hence, RSTP doesn’t need a listening state.
A learning port adds MAC addresses into the Content addressable memory table; However,
it can not forward frames.
In the next phase, a learning port transitions into a forwarding state. A forwarding port is
completely functional i.e., it learns MAC addresses, sends and listens for BPDUs, and
forwards frames.
Benefits of RSTP:
• Prevents network loops.
• Prevents redundancy.
• Faster Convergence.
• Backward compatible with STP.
• Every switch generates BPDU and sends them out at the hello interval.
• Switches don’t need artificial forward delay timers.
In STP BPDUs are generated only by the root bridge. If a non-root bridge receives a BPDU
from the root bridge on its root port, it will pass on the BPDU downstream to its neighbors.
This Convergence process is slower and STP relies on forwarding delay timers to make sure a
loop-free environment, this takes a lot of time.
In RSTP, switches just handshake directly with their neighboring switches, this allows quick
synchronization in the topology. This lets ports promptly change from a discarding state to a
forwarding state without a delay timer.
Types of ports in RSTP
1. Edge: It is a port that connects to a host.
2. Root: It is a port that connects to another switch, and it has the best path cost to the
root bridge.
3. Point-to-point: It is a port that connects to another switch and it has the potential of
becoming the designated port for a segment.
 Segmenting the IP Network
Network segmentation is the process of dividing and directing email traffic that comes from
other IP addresses based on the different features that are associated with your email
application. Segmentation is used to help maximize performance and organization.
Network segmentation is an architecture that divides a network into smaller sections or
subnets. Each network segment acts as its own network, which provides security teams with
increased control over the traffic that flows into their systems.
With network segmentation, businesses can prevent unauthorized users from gaining access
to their most valuable assets, such as customer data, financial records, and intellectual
property (IP). These assets are often located across organizations’ hybrid and multi-cloud
environments, which means it is vital to secure all locations against cyberattacks.
Network segmentation is also commonly referred to as network segregation but differs from
other related concepts such as microsegmentation, internal segmentation, and intent-based
segmentation.

Static routing
It is a form of routing that occurs when a router uses a manually-configured routing entry,
rather than information from dynamic routing traffic. In many cases, static routes are
manually configured by a network administrator by adding in entries into a routing table,
though this may not always be the case.[2] Unlike dynamic routing, static routes are fixed and
do not change if the network is changed or reconfigured. Static routing and dynamic
routing are not mutually exclusive. Both dynamic routing and static routing are usually used
on a router to maximise routing efficiency and to provide backups in case dynamic routing
information fails to be exchanged. Static routing can also be used in stub networks, or to
provide a gateway of last resort.
Static routes are one way we can communicate to remote networks. In production networks,
static routes are mainly configured when routing from a particular network to a stub network.
stub networks are networks that can only be accessed through one point or one interface.

Routing Information Protocol (RIP)

Routing Information Protocol (RIP) is a dynamic routing protocol that uses hop count as a
routing metric to find the best path between the source and the destination network. It is a
distance-vector routing protocol that has an AD value of 120 and works on the Network layer
of the OSI model. RIP uses port number 520.
Hop Count
Hop count is the number of routers occurring in between the source and destination network.
The path with the lowest hop count is considered as the best route to reach a network and
therefore placed in the routing table. RIP prevents routing loops by limiting the number of
hops allowed in a path from source and destination. The maximum hop count allowed for RIP
is 15 and a hop count of 16 is considered as network unreachable.
Features of RIP
1. Updates of the network are exchanged periodically.
2. Updates (routing information) are always broadcast.
3. Full routing tables are sent in updates.
4. Routers always trust routing information received from neighbor routers. This is also
known as Routing on rumors.
RIP versions :
There are three versions of routing information protocol – RIP Version1, RIP Version2,
and RIPng.

RIP v1 RIP v2 RIPng

Sends update as broadcast Sends update as multicast Sends update as multicast

Multicast at FF02::9 (RIPng

can only run on IPv6
Broadcast at networks)
255.255.255.255 Multicast at 224.0.0.9

Doesn’t support
authentication of updated Supports authentication of
messages RIPv2 update messages –

Classless protocol updated

Classful routing protocol supports classful Classless updates are sent

RIP v1 is known as Classful Routing Protocol because it doesn’t send information of subnet
mask in its routing update.
RIP v2 is known as Classless Routing Protocol because it sends information of subnet mask
in its routing update.
>> Use debug command to get the details :
# debug ip rip
>> Use this command to show all routes configured in router, say for router R1 :
R1# show ip route
>> Use this command to show all protocols configured in router, say for router R1 :
R1# show ip protocols
Configuration :

Consider the above-given topology which has 3-routers R1, R2, R3. R1 has IP address
172.16.10.6/30 on s0/0/1, 192.168.20.1/24 on fa0/0. R2 has IP address 172.16.10.2/30 on
s0/0/0, 192.168.10.1/24 on fa0/0. R3 has IP address 172.16.10.5/30 on s0/1, 172.16.10.1/30
on s0/0, 10.10.10.1/24 on fa0/0.
Configure RIP for R1 :
R1(config)# router rip
R1(config-router)# network 192.168.20.0
R1(config-router)# network 172.16.10.4
R1(config-router)# version 2
R1(config-router)# no auto-summary
Note: no auto-summary command disables the auto-summarisation. If we don’t select any
auto-summary, then the subnet mask will be considered as classful in Version 1.
Configuring RIP for R2:
R2(config)# router rip
R2(config-router)# network 192.168.10.0
R2(config-router)# network 172.16.10.0
R2(config-router)# version 2
R2(config-router)# no auto-summary
Similarly, Configure RIP for R3 :
R3(config)# router rip
R3(config-router)# network 10.10.10.0
R3(config-router)# network 172.16.10.4
R3(config-router)# network 172.16.10.0
R3(config-router)# version 2
R3(config-router)# no auto-summary
RIP timers:
• Update timer: The default timing for routing information being exchanged by the
routers operating RIP is 30 seconds. Using an Update timer, the routers exchange their
routing table periodically.
• Invalid timer: If no update comes until 180 seconds, then the destination router
considers it invalid. In this scenario, the destination router mark hop counts as 16 for
that router.
• Hold down timer: This is the time for which the router waits for a neighbor router to
respond. If the router isn’t able to respond within a given time then it is declared dead.
It is 180 seconds by default.
• Flush time: It is the time after which the entry of the route will be flushed if it doesn’t
respond within the flush time. It is 60 seconds by default. This timer starts after the
route has been declared invalid and after 60 seconds i.e time will be 180 + 60 = 240
seconds.
Note that all these times are adjustable. Use this command to change the timers :
R1(config-router)# timers basic
R1(config-router)# timers basic 20 80 80 90
 Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)
It is a link-state routing protocol that is used to find the best path between the source and the
destination router using its own Shortest Path First). OSPF is developed by Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF) as one of the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP), i.e, the protocol
which aims at moving the packet within a large autonomous system or routing domain. It is a
network layer protocol which works on protocol number 89 and uses AD value 110. OSPF uses
multicast address 224.0.0.5 for normal communication and 224.0.0.6 for update to
designated router(DR)/Backup Designated Router (BDR).
OSPF terms –
1. Router I’d – It is the highest active IP address present on the router. First, the highest
loopback address is considered. If no loopback is configured then the highest active IP
address on the interface of the router is considered.
2. Router priority – It is an 8-bit value assigned to a router operating OSPF, used to elect
DR and BDR in a broadcast network.
3. Designated Router (DR) – It is elected to minimize the number of adjacencies formed.
DR distributes the LSAs to all the other routers. DR is elected in a broadcast network
to which all the other routers share their DBD. In a broadcast network, the router
requests for an update to DR, and DR will respond to that request with an update.
4. Backup Designated Router (BDR) – BDR is a backup to DR in a broadcast network.
When DR goes down, BDR becomes DR and performs its functions.
DR and BDR election – DR and BDR election takes place in the broadcast network or multi-
access network. Here are the criteria for the election:
1. Router having the highest router priority will be declared as DR.
2. If there is a tie in router priority then the highest router I’d be considered. First, the
highest loopback address is considered. If no loopback is configured then the highest
active IP address on the interface of the router is considered.
OSPF states – The device operating OSPF goes through certain states. These states are:
1. Down – In this state, no hello packets have been received on the interface.
Note – The Downstate doesn’t mean that the interface is physically down. Here, it
means that the OSPF adjacency process has not started yet.
2. INIT – In this state, the hello packets have been received from the other router.
3. 2WAY – In the 2WAY state, both the routers have received the hello packets from
other routers. Bidirectional connectivity has been established.
Note – In between the 2WAY state and Exstart state, the DR and BDR election takes
place.
 4. Exstart – In this state, NULL DBD are exchanged. In this state, the master and slave
elections take place. The router having the higher router I’d become the master while
the other becomes the slave. This election decides Which router will send its DBD first
(routers who have formed neighbourship will take part in this election).
5. Exchange – In this state, the actual DBDs are exchanged.
6. Loading – In this state, LSR, LSU, and LSA (Link State Acknowledgement) are
exchanged.
Important – When a router receives DBD from other router, it compares its own DBD
with the other router DBD. If the received DBD is more updated than its own DBD then
the router will send LSR to the other router stating what links are needed. The other
router replies with the LSU containing the updates that are needed. In return to this,
the router replies with the Link State Acknowledgement.
7. Full – In this state, synchronization of all the information takes place. OSPF routing can
begin only after the Full state.

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol

Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is a network management protocol used to
dynamically assign an IP address to nay device, or node, on a network so they can
communicate using IP (Internet Protocol). DHCP automates and centrally manages these
configurations. There is no need to manually assign IP addresses to new devices. Therefore,
there is no requirement for any user configuration to connect to a DHCP based network.
DHCP can be implemented on local networks as well as large enterprise networks. DHCP is
the default protocol used by the most routers and networking equipment. DHCP is also called
RFC (Request for comments) 2131.
DHCP does the following:
o DHCP manages the provision of all the nodes or devices added or dropped from the
network.
o DHCP maintains the unique IP address of the host using a DHCP server.
o It sends a request to the DHCP server whenever a client/node/device, which is
configured to work with DHCP, connects to a network. The server acknowledges by
providing an IP address to the client/node/device.
DHCP is also used to configure the proper subnet mask, default gateway and DNS server
information on the node or device.
There are many versions of DCHP are available for use in IPV4 (Internet Protocol Version 4)
and IPV6 (Internet Protocol Version 6).
How DHCP works
DHCP runs at the application layer of the TCP/IP protocol stack to dynamically assign IP
addresses to DHCP clients/nodes and to allocate TCP/IP configuration information to the
DHCP clients. Information includes subnet mask information, default gateway, IP addresses
and domain name system addresses.
DHCP is based on client-server protocol in which servers manage a pool of unique IP
addresses, as well as information about client configuration parameters, and assign addresses
out of those address pools.
The DHCP lease process works as follows:
o First of all, a client (network device) must be connected to the internet.
o DHCP clients request an IP address. Typically, client broadcasts a query for this
information.
o DHCP server responds to the client request by providing IP server address and other
configuration information. This configuration information also includes time period,
called a lease, for which the allocation is valid.
o When refreshing an assignment, a DHCP clients request the same parameters, but the
DHCP server may assign a new IP address. This is based on the policies set by the
administrator.
Components of DHCP
o DHCP Server: DHCP server is a networked device running the DCHP service that holds
IP addresses and related configuration information. This is typically a server or a router
but could be anything that acts as a host, such as an SD-WAN appliance.
o DHCP client: DHCP client is the endpoint that receives configuration information from
a DHCP server. This can be any device like computer, laptop, IoT endpoint or anything
else that requires connectivity to the network. Most of the devices are configured to
receive DHCP information by default.
o IP address pool: IP address pool is the range of addresses that are available to DHCP
clients. IP addresses are typically handed out sequentially from lowest to the highest.
o Subnet: Subnet is the partitioned segments of the IP networks. Subnet is used to keep
networks manageable.
o Lease: Lease is the length of time for which a DHCP client holds the IP address
information. When a lease expires, the client has to renew it.
o DHCP relay: A host or router that listens for client messages being broadcast on that
network and then forwards them to a configured server. The server then sends
responses back to the relay agent that passes them along to the client. DHCP relay can
be used to centralize DHCP servers instead of having a server on each subnet.
 FTP
o FTP stands for File transfer protocol.
o FTP is a standard internet protocol provided by TCP/IP used for transmitting the files
from one host to another.
o It is mainly used for transferring the web page files from their creator to the computer
that acts as a server for other computers on the internet.
o It is also used for downloading the files to computer from other servers.
Why FTP?
Although transferring files from one system to another is very simple and straightforward,
but sometimes it can cause problems. For example, two systems may have different file
conventions. Two systems may have different ways to represent text and data. Two systems
may have different directory structures. FTP protocol overcomes these problems by
establishing two connections between hosts. One connection is used for data transfer, and
another connection is used for the control connection.
Mechanism of FTP

The above figure shows the basic model of the FTP. The FTP client has three components: the
user interface, control process, and data transfer process. The server has two components:
the server control process and the server data transfer process.
There are two types of connections in FTP:
o Control Connection: The control connection uses very simple rules for
communication. Through control connection, we can transfer a line of command or
line of response at a time. The control connection is made between the control
processes. The control connection remains connected during the entire interactive
FTP session.
 o Data Connection: The Data Connection uses very complex rules as data types may
vary. The data connection is made between data transfer processes. The data
connection opens when a command comes for transferring the files and closes when
the file is transferred.
FTP Clients
o FTP client is a program that implements a file transfer protocol which allows you to
transfer files between two hosts on the internet.
o It allows a user to connect to a remote host and upload or download the files.
o It has a set of commands that we can use to connect to a host, transfer the files
between you and your host and close the connection.
o The FTP program is also available as a built-in component in a Web browser. This GUI
based FTP client makes the file transfer very easy and also does not require to
remember the FTP commands.
Advantages of FTP:
o Speed: One of the biggest advantages of FTP is speed. The FTP is one of the fastest
way to transfer the files from one computer to another computer.
o Efficient: It is more efficient as we do not need to complete all the operations to get
the entire file.
o Security: To access the FTP server, we need to login with the username and password.
Therefore, we can say that FTP is more secure.
o Back & forth movement: FTP allows us to transfer the files back and forth. Suppose
you are a manager of the company, you send some information to all the employees,
and they all send information back on the same server.
Disadvantages of FTP:
o The standard requirement of the industry is that all the FTP transmissions should be
encrypted. However, not all the FTP providers are equal and not all the providers offer
encryption. So, we will have to look out for the FTP providers that provides encryption.
o FTP serves two operations, i.e., to send and receive large files on a network. However,
the size limit of the file is 2GB that can be sent. It also doesn't allow you to run
simultaneous transfers to multiple receivers.
o Passwords and file contents are sent in clear text that allows unwanted
eavesdropping. So, it is quite possible that attackers can carry out the brute force
attack by trying to guess the FTP password.
o It is not compatible with every system.
 Telnet
o The main task of the internet is to provide services to users. For example, users want
to run different application programs at the remote site and transfers a result to the
local site. This requires a client-server program such as FTP, SMTP. But this would not
allow us to create a specific program for each demand.
o The better solution is to provide a general client-server program that lets the user
access any application program on a remote computer. Therefore, a program that
allows a user to log on to a remote computer. A popular client-server program Telnet
is used to meet such demands. Telnet is an abbreviation for Terminal Network.
o Telnet provides a connection to the remote computer in such a way that a local
terminal appears to be at the remote side.
There are two types of login:
Local Login

o When a user logs into a local computer, then it is known as local login.
o When the workstation running terminal emulator, the keystrokes entered by
the user are accepted by the terminal driver. The terminal driver then passes
these characters to the operating system which in turn, invokes the desired
application program.
o However, the operating system has special meaning to special characters. For
example, in UNIX some combination of characters have special meanings such
as control character with "z" means suspend. Such situations do not create any
problem as the terminal driver knows the meaning of such characters. But, it
can cause the problems in remote login.
Remote login

o When the user wants to access an application program on a remote computer,

then the user must perform remote login.
How remote login occurs
At the local site
The user sends the keystrokes to the terminal driver, the characters are then sent to the
TELNET client. The TELNET client which in turn, transforms the characters to a universal
character set known as network virtual terminal characters and delivers them to the local
TCP/IP stack
At the remote site
The commands in NVT forms are transmitted to the TCP/IP at the remote machine. Here, the
characters are delivered to the operating system and then pass to the TELNET server. The
TELNET server transforms the characters which can be understandable by a remote
computer. However, the characters cannot be directly passed to the operating system as a
remote operating system does not receive the characters from the TELNET server. Therefore
it requires some piece of software that can accept the characters from the TELNET server. The
operating system then passes these characters to the appropriate application program.
Network Virtual Terminal (NVT)

o The network virtual terminal is an interface that defines how data and
commands are sent across the network.
o In today's world, systems are heterogeneous. For example, the operating
system accepts a special combination of characters such as end-of-file token
running a DOS operating system ctrl+z while the token running a UNIX
operating system is ctrl+d.
o TELNET solves this issue by defining a universal interface known as network
virtual interface.
o The TELNET client translates the characters that come from the local terminal
into NVT form and then delivers them to the network. The Telnet server then
translates the data from NVT form into a form which can be understandable
by a remote computer.
 SNMP
o SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol.
o SNMP is a framework used for managing devices on the internet.
o It provides a set of operations for monitoring and managing the internet.

o SNMP has two components Manager and agent.

o The manager is a host that controls and monitors a set of agents such as routers.
o It is an application layer protocol in which a few manager stations can handle a set of
agents.
o The protocol designed at the application level can monitor the devices made by
different manufacturers and installed on different physical networks.
o It is used in a heterogeneous network made of different LANs and WANs connected
by routers or gateways.
Managers & Agents
o A manager is a host that runs the SNMP client program while the agent is a router that
runs the SNMP server program.
o Management of the internet is achieved through simple interaction between a
manager and agent.
o The agent is used to keep the information in a database while the manager is used to
access the values in the database. For example, a router can store the appropriate
variables such as a number of packets received and forwarded while the manager can
compare these variables to determine whether the router is congested or not.
o Agents can also contribute to the management process. A server program on the
agent checks the environment, if something goes wrong, the agent sends a warning
message to the manager.
Management with SNMP has three basic ideas:
o A manager checks the agent by requesting the information that reflects the behavior
of the agent.
 o A manager also forces the agent to perform a certain function by resetting values in
the agent database.
o An agent also contributes to the management process by warning the manager
regarding an unusual condition.
Management Components
o Management is not achieved only through the SNMP protocol but also the use of other
protocols that can cooperate with the SNMP protocol. Management is achieved
through the use of the other two protocols: SMI (Structure of management
information) and MIB(management information base).
o Management is a combination of SMI, MIB, and SNMP. All these three protocols such
as abstract syntax notation 1 (ASN.1) and basic encoding rules (BER).
SMI
The SMI (Structure of management information) is a component used in network
management. Its main function is to define the type of data that can be stored in an object
and to show how to encode the data for the transmission over a network.
MIB
o The MIB (Management information base) is a second component for the network
management.
o Each agent has its own MIB, which is a collection of all the objects that the manager
can manage. MIB is categorized into eight groups: system, interface, address
translation, ip, icmp, tcp, udp, and egp. These groups are under the mib object.

SNMP
SNMP defines five types of messages: GetRequest, GetNextRequest, SetRequest,
GetResponse, and Trap.
GetRequest: The GetRequest message is sent from a manager (client) to the agent (server) to
retrieve the value of a variable.
GetNextRequest: The GetNextRequest message is sent from the manager to agent to retrieve
the value of a variable. This type of message is used to retrieve the values of the entries in a
table. If the manager does not know the indexes of the entries, then it will not be able to
retrieve the values. In such situations, GetNextRequest message is used to define an object.
GetResponse: The GetResponse message is sent from an agent to the manager in response
to the GetRequest and GetNextRequest message. This message contains the value of a
variable requested by the manager.
SetRequest: The SetRequest message is sent from a manager to the agent to set a value in a
variable.
Trap: The Trap message is sent from an agent to the manager to report an event. For example,
if the agent is rebooted, then it informs the manager as well as sends the time of rebooting.
 Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6)
IP v6 was developed by Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) to deal with the problem of IP
v4 exhaustion. IP v6 is a 128-bits address having an address space of 2^128, which is way
bigger than IPv4. In IPv6 we use Colon-Hexa representation. There are 8 groups and each
group represents 2 Bytes.

In IPv6 representation, we have three addressing methods :

1. Unicast Address –
Unicast Address identifies a single network interface. A packet sent to a unicast address is
delivered to the interface identified by that address.
2. Multicast Address –
Multicast Address is used by multiple hosts, called as Group, acquires a multicast destination
address. These hosts need not be geographically together. If any packet is sent to this
multicast address, it will be distributed to all interfaces corresponding to that multicast
address.
3. Anycast Address –
Anycast Address is assigned to a group of interfaces. Any packet sent to an anycast address
will be delivered to only one member interface (mostly nearest host possible).
Note: Broadcast is not defined in IPv6.

IPv6 Routing Technologies

Routing concepts remain same in case of IPv6 but almost all routing protocols have been
redefined accordingly. We discussed earlier, how a host speaks to its gateway. Routing is a
process to forward routable data choosing the best route among several available routes or
path to the destination. A router is a device that forwards data that is not explicitly destined
to it. There exists two forms of routing protocols:
• Distance Vector Routing Protocol: A router running distance vector protocol
advertises its connected routes and learns new routes from its neighbors. The routing
cost to reach a destination is calculated by means of hops between the source and
destination. A router generally relies on its neighbor for best path selection, also
known as “routing-by-rumors”. RIP and BGP are Distance Vector Protocols.
 • Link-State Routing Protocol: This protocol acknowledges the state of a Link and
advertises to its neighbors. Information about new links is learnt from peer routers.
After all the routing information has been converged, the Link-State Routing Protocol
uses its own algorithm to calculate the best path to all available links. OSPF and IS-IS
are link state routing protocols and both of them use Dijkstra’s Shortest Path First
algorithm.
Routing protocols can be divided in two categories:
• Interior Routing Protocol: Protocols in this categories are used within an autonomous
system or organization to distribute routes among all routers inside its boundary.
Examples: RIP, OSPF.
• Exterior Routing Protocol: An Exterior Routing Protocol distributes routing
information between two different autonomous systems or organization. Examples:
BGP.
Routing protocols
• RIPng
RIPng stands for Routing Information Protocol Next Generation. This is an Interior Routing
Protocol and is a Distance Vector Protocol. RIPng has been upgraded to support IPv6.
• OSPFv3
Open Shortest Path First version 3 is an Interior Routing Protocol which is modified to support
IPv6. This is a Link-State Protocol and uses Djikrasta’s Shortest Path First algorithm to calculate
best path to all destinations.
• BGPv4
BGP stands for Border Gateway Protocol. It is the only open standard Exterior Gateway
Protocol available. BGP is a Distance Vector protocol which takes Autonomous System as
calculation metric, instead of the number of routers as Hop. BGPv4 is an upgrade of BGP to
support IPv6 routing.
Protocols Changed to Support IPv6
• ICMPv6: Internet Control Message Protocol version 6 is an upgraded implementation
of ICMP to accommodate IPv6 requirements. This protocol is used for diagnostic
functions, error and information message, statistical purposes. ICMPv6’s Neighbor
Discovery Protocol replaces ARP and helps discover neighbor and routers on the link.
• DHCPv6: Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol version 6 is an implementation of
DHCP. IPv6 enabled hosts do not require any DHCPv6 Server to acquire IP address as
they can be auto-configured. Neither do they need DHCPv6 to locate DNS server
because DNS can be discovered and configured via ICMPv6 Neighbor Discovery
Protocol. Yet DHCPv6 Server can be used to provide these information.
• DNS: There has been no new version of DNS but it is now equipped with extensions to
provide support for querying IPv6 addresses. A new AAAA (quad-A) record has been
added to reply IPv6 query messages. Now the DNS can reply with both IP versions (4
& 6) without any change in the query format.

IPv6 Application Services

• Reliability
• Faster Speeds: IPv6 supports multicast rather than broadcast in IPv4.This feature
allows bandwidth-intensive packet flows (like multimedia streams) to be sent to
multiple destinations all at once.
• Stronger Security: IPSecurity, which provides confidentiality, and data integrity, is
embedded into IPv6.
• Routing efficiency
• Most importantly it’s the final solution for growing nodes in Global-network
• Auto-configuration
• No more private address collisions
• Better multicast routing
• Simpler header format
• Simplified, more efficient routing