Exp 01 - IP Address Basics
Exp 01 - IP Address Basics
Objective
Background / Preparation
This lab exercise helps develop an understanding of IP addresses and how TCP/IP networks
operate. It is primarily a written lab exercise. However, it would be worthwhile to review some real
network IP addresses using the command line utilities ipconfig for Windows NT/2000/XP or
winipcfg for Windows 9x/ME. IP addresses are used to uniquely identify individual TCP/IP
networks and hosts, such as computers and printers, on those networks in order for devices to
communicate. Workstations and servers on a TCP/IP network are called hosts and each has a
unique IP address. This address is referred to as its host address. TCP/IP is the most widely
used protocol in the world. The Internet or World Wide Web only uses IP addressing. In order for
a host to access the Internet, it must have an IP address.
In its basic form, the IP address has two parts:
A network address
A host address
The network portion of the IP address is assigned to a company or organization by the Internet
Network Information Center (InterNIC). Routers use the IP address to move data packets
between networks. IP addresses are 32 bits long according to the current version IPv4 and are
divided into 4 octets of 8 bits each. They operate at the network layer (Layer 3) of the Open
System Interconnection (OSI) model, which is the Internet layer of the TCP/IP model. IP
addresses are assigned in the following ways:
Statically – manually, by a network administrator
Dynamically – automatically, by a Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) server
The IP address of a workstation, or host is a logical address, meaning it can be changed. The
Media Access Control (MAC) address of the workstation is a 48-bit physical address. This
address is burned into the network interface card (NIC) and cannot change unless the NIC is
replaced. The combination of the logical IP address and the physical MAC address helps route
packets to their proper destination.
There are five different classes of IP addresses, and depending on the class, the network and
host part of the address will use a different number of bits. In this lab, different classes of IP
addresses will be worked with and to help become familiar with the characteristics of each. The
understanding of IP addresses is critical to the understanding of TCP/IP and internetworks in
general. The following
PC workstation with Windows 9x/NT/2000/XP installed
Access to the Windows Calculator
7. How many octets are there in an IP address? ________How many bits per octet?
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Step 5 Determine which IP host addresses are valid for commercial networks
For the following IP host addresses, determine which are valid for commercial networks and
indicate why or why not. Valid means it could be assigned to any of the following:
Workstation
Server
Printer
Router interface
Any other compatible device
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