Chapter 6: Networking Protocols
Chapter Outline
1. On the Test
2.3: Differentiate between the following network protocols in terms of
routing, addressing schemes, interoperability, and naming conventions:
TCP/IP; IPX/SPX; NetBEUI; AppleTalk.
2. TCP/IP
a. TCP/IP is a suite of protocols that allows nodes to communicate with each
other in a network environment without regard to the type of machine or
operating system on that machine.
b. The TCP/IP suite contains two core protocols, IP and TCP.
c. IP is a connectionless protocol used for transport at the Network layer of
the OSI Model. IP manages logical addressing and routing functions for
packet delivery.
d. TCP is a connection-oriented Transport layer protocol that manages
reliable delivery of packets. Error checking, sequencing, and
retransmission of lost or corrupt packets are functions of TCP.
e. The original developers of TCP/IP were the military and academic
institutions.
f. Logical addressing in TCP/IP is necessary to route packets between
networks or internetworks.
g. IP provides fragmentation services, packet timeout services, and many
options for transporting packets.
h. The two most important fields in the IP header are the source and
destination address fields.
i. An IP packet header and the data cannot exceed 65,535 bytes.
j. When a node sends an IP packet, it compares the destination address to its
own address, determines the network identifier, and either forwards the
packet to the router interface or attempts to deliver it on its own segment.
k. Two protocols are used to support routing services: RIP and OSPF.
l. RIP is a distance vector routing protocol, meaning that routing decisions
are based only on the number of hops in the path.
m. OSPF is a link state protocol, meaning that routing decisions are made on
a number of criteria, including hop count, congestion, and speed of
network.
n. Friendly names are supported for nodes running TCP/IP. DNS supports
friendly names to IP address resolution services on the network.
3. IPX/SPX
a. IPX/SPX is a Novell proprietary protocol used with all versions of
Novell’s NetWare products.
b. IPX/SPX was designed to support a client-server architecture, using
remote procedure calls to request service and respond with service. It can
also be used as a peer-to-peer network protocol.
4.
c. Like TCP/IP, IPX/SPX supports two core protocols: IPX and SPX.
d. IPX is a connectionless protocol responsible for the routing of packets,
efficient delivery of datagrams, and logical addressing.
e. SPX is a connection-oriented protocol that manages a session between
nodes, including error control and retransmission of missing or corrupt
packets, providing reliable delivery of data.
f. SAP notifies the network when a service is available. This is actually a
broadcast, and when the network is busy, SAP broadcasts can congest
bandwidth. It may be necessary to filter SAP announcements at routers.
g. NCP handles requests for services between the client (workstation) and the
server. It is a very reliable service protocol, but can create large amounts
of traffic.
h. To form a logical address when using IPX/SPX, the administrator must
add a network identifier in hexadecimal format. The network identifier is 8
bits long.
i. Once the network identifier is available, the node will combine the
network identifier and its own MAC address to form a unique node
address.
j. IPX/SPX uses socket numbers to uniquely identify APIs and client
requests to those APIs. Often sockets are assigned on the fly, but some
socket numbers are reserved by the NetWare operating system.
k. Like TCP/IP, the two most important fields in the IPX header are the
source and destination node addresses. IPX also includes individual fields
for source and destination network, and source and destination socket.
l. An IPX header will contain approximately 28 bytes of information plus
the payload.
m. IPX routing employs two protocols: RIP for IPX and NLSP.
n. RIP is a distance vector protocol, making routing decisions solely on the
number of hops to the destination network.
o. NLSP is a link state protocol, more efficient, and capable of making
routing decisions on hop count combined with bandwidth utilization,
speed of network, and other criteria.
p. IPX/SPX does not require any specific naming conventions for
workstations (clients), but does require that the servers have names that
can use alphanumeric characters, but cannot exceed 64 characters in
length (old NetWare versions are limited to 47 characters).
AppleTalk
a. AppleTalk is the protocol of Macintosh computers, originally designed for
peer-to-peer networks.
b. Although a later version of AppleTalk supports the internetwork and
routing, it remains best suited for smaller networks.
c. Logical addresses in AppleTalk are formed when the node attaches to the
network. It is an 8-bit or 16-bit number, and will be stored and used again.
d. AppleTalk also uses network numbers to identify segments.
e. AppleTalk zones divide the network into logical groupings for file
sharing, printing, and other services.
f. RTMP supports routing services.
g. Nodes using AppleTalk will broadcast their friendly name when attaching
to the network. NBP will cache the name, and supply this name to any
node requesting a service.
5. NetBEUI
a. NetBEUI is an efficient, nonroutable protocol useful for small networks
where Internet connectivity is not needed.
b. No configuration is needed for NetBEUI.
c. All nodes using NetBEUI must have a name.
d. NetBIOS supports friendly names for NetBEUI.
e. No Network layer services are a part of the NetBEUI/NetBIOS
environment, so most often they are paired with other routable protocols
such as TCP/IP or IPX/SPX.
6. Interoperability
a. TCP/IP is a versatile protocol that supports global connectivity without
regard to operating system.
b. All major operating systems contain a TCP/IP protocol stack, including
Microsoft operating systems, NetWare server versions 5.X and 6.X,
Linux, and UNIX.
c. If an organization allows Internet connectivity for users, the TCP/IP
protocol must be implemented.
d. IPX/SPX does not support access to Internet resources, but is a robust
network protocol.
e. Many operating systems include support for IPX/SPX.
f. AppleTalk is native to only the Macintosh computer; Microsoft includes
AppleTalk-compatible services with many of its operating systems.
g. NetBEUI is native to the IBM LAN Manager and Microsoft Windows
products.
h. Because NetBEUI is nonroutable, it is only suitable to very small peer
networks.
i. Macintosh has no provision for NetBEUI.