TCP/IP Protocols

IP Address Classes

A single IP address identifies both the network address and the host address. The subnet mask is
used to separate the network and host addresses.

IP addresses have a default class. The address class identifies the range of IP addresses and a
default subnet mask used for the range. The following table shows the default address class for
each IP address range.

Class Address Range First Octet Range Default Subnet Mask

1-126
A 1.0.0.0 to 126.255.255.255 255.0.0.0
(00000001--01111111 binary)
128-191
B 128.0.0.0 to 191.255.255.255 255.255.0.0
(10000000--10111111 binary)
192-223
C 192.0.0.0 to 223.255.255.255 255.255.255.0
(11000000--11011111 binary)
224-239
D 224.0.0.0 to 239.255.255.255 n/a
(11100000--11101111 binary)
240-255
E 240.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255 n/a
(11110000--11111111 binary)

When using the default subnet mask for an IP address, you have the following number of
available host addresses:

 Class A addresses give you 16,777,214 hosts per network.

 Class B addresses give you 65,534 hosts per network.
 Class C addresses give you 254 hosts per network.

The following table lists several protocols in the TCP/IP protocol suite.
OSI Model
Protocol Description DOD Model Layer
Layer(s)
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) provides a generic
method of transferring files. It can include file Application,
FTP security through usernames and passwords, and it Presentation, Application/Process
allows file transfer between dissimilar computer Session
systems.
Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP) is similar to
FTP. It lets you transfer files between a host and an Application,
TFTP FTP server. However, it provides no user Presentation, Application/Process
authentication and uses UDP instead of TCP as the Session
transport protocol.
HTTP The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used Application, Application/Process
 by Web browsers and Web servers to exchange
files (such as Web pages) through the World Wide
Web and intranets. HTTP can be described as an
information requesting and responding protocol. It Presentation,
is typically used to request and send Web Session
documents, but is also used as the protocol for
communication between agents using different
TCP/IP protocols.
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) is used to
Application,
route electronic mail through the internetwork. E-
SMTP Presentation, Application/Process
mail applications provide the interface to
Session
communicate with SMTP or mail servers.
Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is
a protocol designed for managing complex
networks. SNMP lets network hosts exchange Application,
SNMP configuration and status information. This Presentation, Application/Process
information can be gathered by management Session
software and used to monitor and manage the
network.
Remote Terminal Emulation (Telnet) allows an
attached computer to act as a dumb terminal, with Application,
Telnet data processing taking place on the TCP/IP host Presentation, Application/Process
computer. It is still widely used to provide Session
connectivity between dissimilar systems.
Network File System (NFS) was initially
developed by Sun Microsystems. It consists of Application,
NFS several protocols that enable users on various Presentation, Application/Process
platforms to seamlessly access files from remote Session
file systems.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) operates at
the Transport layer. It provides connection-oriented
services and performs segment sequencing and
TCP Transport Host-to-Host (Transport)
service addressing. It also performs important
error-checking functions and is considered a host-
to-host protocol.
User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is considered a
host-to-host protocol like TCP. It also performs
functions at the Transport layer. However, it is not
UDP Transport Host-to-Host (Transport)
connection-oriented like TCP. Because of less
overhead, it transfers data faster, but is not as
reliable.
DNS Domain Name System (DNS) is a system that is Transport Host-to-Host (Transport)
distributed throughout the internetwork to provide
address/name resolution. For example, the name
"www.testout.com" would be identified with a
 specific IP address.
Internet Protocol (IP) is the main TCP/IP protocol.
It is a connectionless protocol that makes routing
IP path decisions, based on the information it receives Network Internet
from ARP. It also handles logical addressing issues
through the use of IP addresses.
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) works
closely with IP in providing error and control
ICMP Network Internet
information that helps move data packets through
the internetwork.
IGMP (Internet Group Membership Protocol) is a
protocol for defining host groups. All group
members can receive broadcast messages intended
IGMP for the group (called multicasts). Multicast groups Network Internet
can be composed of devices within the same
network or across networks (connected with a
router).
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) creates a
complete Internet address by combining the logical
ARP network address with the physical address. It works Network Internet
with other protocols to provide logical name
address resolution.
RARP Both BOOTP (Bootstrap Protocol) and RARP Network Internet
(Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) are used to
discover the IP address of a device with a known
MAC address. BOOTP is an enhancement to
RARP, and is more commonly implemented than
BOOTP RARP. As its name implies, BOOTP is used by Network Internet
computers as they boot to receive an IP address
from a BOOTP server. The BOOTP address
request packet sent by the host is answered by the
server.
The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
(DHCP) simplifies address administration. DHCP
servers maintain a list of available and assigned
addresses, and communicate configuration
information to requesting hosts. DHCP has the
following two components.
DHCP Network Internet
 A protocol for delivering IP configuration
parameters from a DHCP server to a host
 A protocol specifying how IP addresses are
assigned
 Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) is a route
discovery protocol that uses the link-state method.
OSPF Network Internet
It is more efficient than RIP in updating routing
tables, especially on large networks.

Basics of clustering
 

 Clustering is a service that available in Microsoft Windows Server 2000 and 2003 data center
and enterprises editions.Windows NT 4.0 enterprises with service pack 3 supports clustering
services.

 With clustering services servers are grouped together into a cluster and share a common
storage device.

 Fail over is the process of moving services from failed servers to another available server.

 Fail back is the process of moving those services to the original server when it comes back
online.

 Each server in the cluster has the following connections.

o .A connection to the regular network. This connection is used to communicate with the clients
and servers
o  A private network, this connection is used the clusters to communicate with each other.The
additional function of this connection is to detect new nodes and detect fail overs and take
proper action on it.
o  A fiber channel connection is used to share disk storage.
o  Shared disk storage must be communicated with SCSI Protocols.
o IDE, USB, or fire wire disks are not supported.
o Must be basic disks not the dynamic disks.
o Must be formatted with NTFS.
o All IP addresses should be statically assigned.

 Cluster is a group server and shares common storage resources.This cluster is assigned with a
name and IP address and function as a single administrative group.

 Resource:

 Resources are physical and logical components which are managed by clustering services and
can be take offline and online.
 Resource includes :The IP address, Physical Disks, Network Name.
  Dependencies are the resources that are dependent on the other resources and must be started
before the current resource.
 Possible owners are the resources that can manage and run the resources and by default all
servers in the cluster are possible owners of all resources.
 The quorum resource is a storage disk that contains configuration information of the entire
cluster.

Group:

A group is a collection of resources that are managed as a single unit.

Resources within a group are dependent upon each other.

 A group is owned by a server within the cluster. This server manages the resources associated
with the group. If one resource within the group must be moved to another server, all resources
are moved together by assigning a new owner for the entire group.

 When you configure a cluster, the Cluster Group is created automatically. This group identifies
the IP address, name, and quorum resources used by the entire cluster.

 A virtual server is a cluster group that identifies the set of resources needed to run applications
normally associated with a physical server. The virtual server includes resources such as:
o The IP address
o The network name
o Physical disks
o Applications running on the server.

  In the event of a failure, the resources managed by the physical server can be moved to another
server in the cluster.
  A node is a server that is a member of a cluster.

 Active nodes are owners of a group and run or manage the resources associated with that
group.

Passive nodes are nodes that are available for failover (transfer of a virtual server or group). If
the active node fails, the resources associated with that node can be moved to the passive node
(at which time the passive node becomes an active node). Active Directory Facts:

You should know the following facts about Active Directory:

 Active Directory is based on the LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol)

standard.
 Active Directory uses DNS for locating and naming objects.
  The tree root domain is the highest level domain in a tree (a tree root domain can also be
a forest root domain).
 The tree root domain is the highest Active Directory domain in the tree.
 A tree is a group of domains based on the same name space.
 Domains in a tree:
o Are connected with a two-way transitive trust.
o Share a common schema.
o Have common global catalogs.
 A schema makes up the attributes of an object in a tree.
 The forest root domain is the first domain created in the Active Directory forest.
 There are dedicated and regional forest root domains.
 Container objects are designed to contain other objects, either other containers or leaf
objects.
 Domain container objects can contain Organizational Unit (OU) container objects.
 First level OUs can be called parents.
 Second level OUs can be called children.
 OUs can contain other OUs or any type of leaf object (e.g., users, computers, printers).
 You cannot assign rights and permissions to OUs.
 You can assign GPOs (Group Policy Objects) to OUs.
 An Active Directory site is one or more well-connected, highly-reliable, fast TCP/IP
subnets.
 All Active Directory sites contain servers and site links (the connection between two sites
that allows replication to occur).
 A site link cost is a value assigned to a link that is used to regulate the traffic according to
the speed of the link. The higher the site link cost, the slower the link speed.
 Domain controllers are servers that contain copies of the Active Directory database that
can be written to. Domain controllers participate in replication.
 The Active Directory database is partitioned and replicated.
 There are four types of Active Directory database partitions:
o Domain
o Configuration
o Schema
o Application
 Users find objects in Active Directory by querying the database.
 The first domain controller installed in the forest automatically becomes the global
catalog server for that domain.

Installation Facts
You should know the following facts about Active Directory installation:

 Active Directory requires the following:

o TCP/IP running on the servers and clients.
o A DNS server with SRV support.
o Windows 2000 or 2003 operating systems.
 After installing Windows 2003, you can install Active Directory using the Dcpromo
command.
 Members of the Domain Admins group can add domain controllers to a domain.
 Members of the Enterprise Admins group can perform administrative tasks across the
entire network, including:
o Change the Active Directory forest configuration by adding/removing domains.
(New domains are created when the first domain controller is installed. Domains
are removed when the last domain controller is uninstalled.)
o Add/remove sites.
o Change the distribution of subnets or servers in a site.
o Change site link configuration

Advanced Installation Facts

If you are installing a Windows Server 2003 server into an existing Windows 2000 Active
Directory structure, you must first prepare Active Directory for the installation by taking the
following steps:

1. Apply Service Pack 2 or later on all domain controllers.

2. Back up your data.
3. On the schema master for the forest, disconnect the server from the network and run
Adprep /forestprep.
4. Reconnect the server and wait at least 15 minutes (or as long as a half a day or more) for
synchronization to occur.
5. If Active Directory has multiple domains, or if the infrastructure master for the domain is
on a different server than the schema master, run Adprep /domainprep on the
infrastructure master for the domain.

Keep in mind the following facts about using Adprep:

 To run /forestprep, you must be a member of the Schema Admins or Enterprise Admins
group.
 To run /domainprep, you must be a member of the Domain Admins or Enterprise Admins
group.
 If you have a single domain, and the infrastructure master is on the same server as the
schema master, you do not need to run /domainprep (/forestprep performs all necessary
functions to prepare Active Directory).

You should know the following facts about Active Directory advanced installations:
Installing from a replica media set will create the initial Active Directory database using a
backup copy and then replicate in any changes since the backup. This prevents a lot of the
replication traffic that is normally created on a network when a server is promoted to a domain
controller.

Active directory uses Kerberos Security for server to sevrer auhentication and for trust
establishment.

One way trust in which one domain is the trusted domain and other is the trusting domain. Two
way transitive trusts are by default between all domains in a forest.

As a result,users in parent domain can access resourses in child domain and vise versa.The same
senario is a with tree structure.When a user tries to access a resource in another domain
controller,the trust establishment takes place accross domain boundries.

Shortcut Trusts can be established between two domains and it is a different from the standard
trusts within the trust tree. In this situation users in one domain can rapidly authenticated to other
domains and vise versa.

The following table lists various protocols and their associated ports that might be used in an
Exchange implementation.

 
Protocol Description Ports
 
Used to communicate with mail servers and by POP3 and  
TCP 25
SMTP IMAP4 clients to send mail. Note: SMTP with SSL is rarely
Using SSL, TCP 26  
used.
Used to retrieve mail from an Exchange Server. Disabled on TCP 110
POP3  
the Exchange server by default. Using SSL, TCP 995
Used to retrieve mail and other directories from an
TCP 143
IMAP4 Exchange Server. Disabled on the Exchange server by  
Using SSL, TCP 993
default.
TCP 80
HTTP Used by Outlook Web Access for mail access.  
Using SSL, TCP 443
TCP and UDP 389 for
Active Directory access
LDAP Used to access information from Active Directory.  
TCP 3268 for Global
Catalog access
Used to retrieve information from Usenet servers on and TCP 119
NNTP  
enables sharing news group public folders. Using SSL, TCP 563
TCP 135
Used to establish an RPC connection (end point mapper) TCP 1024 and above
RPC  
and also acts as an RPC client establishing sessions. (multiple ports are
typically enabled)
DNS When contacting Active Directory, a DNS server must be TCP and UDP 53  
 contacted for name resolution. The Exchange server uses
DNS to find mail servers on the Internet
Used for X.400 connections or connections to Exchange 5.5
MTA TCP 102  
servers. 
Used for communication and authentication with Windows
Kerberos TCP and UDP 88  
2003 servers.
IP protocol 51 for AH
IP protocol 50 for ESP
UDP 500 for key
IPSec Used to secure server-to-server communications.  
exchange
TCP and UDP 88 for
Kerberos

The global catalog is a distributed data repository that contains a searchable, partial
representation of every object in every domain in a multidomain Active Directory forest. The
global catalog is stored on domain controllers that have been designated as global catalog servers
and is distributed through multimaster replication. Searches that are directed to the global catalog
are faster because they do not involve referrals to different domain controllers.

Storage Design Facts

The design of your storage system allows you to optimize the system and protect your data. An
effective design strategy considers file location, protection level for the files, and the necessary
hardware to support it. The table below identifies one way to structure the Exchange system to
ensure optimization and fault tolerance.

Drive Contents Recommended Configuration

C:\ Operating System RAID 1 or RAID 5
The page file should be on a different physical disk from the operating
D:\ Page file
system. No special protection for the page file is required.
E:\ Transaction Logs RAID 1 or if using a SAN system RAID 0+1
Exchange Store
F:\ RAID 5
Databases

Featured Articles:
Authentication and Trust in windows,

Exchange firewall ports,

FSMO Roles,

interview Questions for Desktop Engineers,

The Basics of HTML

Active Directory Facts

The basics of clustering

TCP/IP Protocols

Windows 2000/2003 Active Directory domains utilize a Single Operation Master method called
FSMO (Flexible Single Master Operation).

The five FSMO roles are:

·         Schema master - Forest-wide and one per forest.

·         Domain naming master - Forest-wide and one per forest.

·         RID master - Domain-specific and one for each domain.

·         PDC - PDC Emulator is domain-specific and one for each domain.

·         Infrastructure master - Domain-specific and one for each domain.

By default in active directory installation, FSMO Roles are on the same DC.However,
administrator would want to transfer these roles to default DC to Different DC.

In most cases an administrator can keep the FSMO role holders in on the same DC as has been
configured by the Active Directory installation process. However, there are scenarios where an
administrator would want to move one or more of the FSMO roles from the default holder DC to
a different DC.

In order to transfer roles from one DC to another DC, administrator should aware which DC is
holding the exact role and what role it holds. Expert technical knowledge and better
understanding of technical terms are prerequisite for Administrator and he or she prepare himself
herself before implementing this terms to live servers.  
 

How to find which server holds the exact role. This article illustrates the few methods which are
below.

MO Role Number of DC holding this Original Dc holding the

role FSMO role
Schema One per forest The first DC in the first
domain in the forest ( The
Forest Root Domain)
Domain Naming Master One per forest The first DC in the first
domain in the forest ( The
Forest Root Domain)
RID Master One per Domain The first DC in a domain (any
domain, including the Forest
Root Domain, any Tree Root
Domain, or any Child
Domain)
PDC Emulator One per Domain The first DC in a domain (any
domain, including the Forest
Root Domain, any Tree Root
Domain, or any Child
Domain)
Infrastructure Master One per Domain The first DC in a domain (any
domain, including the Forest
Root Domain, any Tree Root
Domain, or any Child
Domain)

Finding the RID Master, PDC Emulator, and Infrastructure Masters via GUI

To find out who currently holds the Domain-Specific RID Master, PDC Emulator, and
Infrastructure Master FSMO Roles:

1.       Open the Active Directory Users and Computers snap-in from the Administrative Tools
folder.

2.       Right-click the Active Directory Users and Computers icon again and press Operation
Masters.

3.       Select the appropriate tab for the role you wish to view.
4.       When you're done click close.

Finding the Domain Naming Master via GUI

To find out who currently holds the Domain Naming Master Role:

1.       Open the Active Directory Domains and Trusts snap-in from the Administrative Tools
folder.

2.       Right-click the Active Directory Domains and Trusts icon again and press Operation
Masters.

3.       When you're done click close.

Finding the Schema Master via GUI

To find out who currently holds the Schema Master Role:

1.       Register the Schmmgmt.dll library by pressing Start > RUN and typing:

regsvr32 schmmgmt.dll

2.       Press OK. You should receive a success confirmation.

3.       From the Run command open an MMC Console by typing MMC.

4.       On the Console menu, press Add/Remove Snap-in.

5.       Press Add. Select Active Directory Schema.

6.       Press Add and press Close. Press OK.

7.       Click the Active Directory Schema icon. After it loads right-click it and press Operation
Masters.

8.       Press the Close button.

What is active directory?

A central component of windows, used to manage, and administrator users, computers and
printers in the network from active directory.

What is DNS? What is “forward lookup zone” and “reverse lookup zone”?
DNS is domain naming service and used to resolve host names to IP addresses and IP addresses
to host names. The computer understands only numbers to communicate with each other. Its also
easier way to make access websites by assigning names to websites.

When we use web address e.g. http://ittechjobs.net in browser, computer uses DNS for IP
address to redirect the website.

Forward lookup: Converting names to IP address is called forward lookup.

Reverse lookup: Resolving IP address to names is called reverse lookup.

'A' record: It is called host record and it is used to map name to IP address. This is the record in
DNS with the help of which DNS finds the host name.

'MX' Record: it is called mail exchanger record. It is the record needed to locate the mail servers
in the network. This record is also found in DNS.

What is DHCP?  What are scopes and super scopes?

DHCP: Dynamic host configuration protocol. It is used to allocate IP addresses to large number
of PCs in a network environment.

Scope: Scope contains IP address like subnet mask, gateway IP, DNS server IP and exclusion
range which a client can use to communicate with the other PCs in the network.

Super scope: When we combine two or more scopes together it is called super scope.

What are the types of LAN cables?

LAN cables are classified into CAT 5 and CAT 6.CAT 5 Supports 100 MBPS of speed while
CAT 6 supports 1 GBPS of speed.

What is the difference between LAN cable and Cross cable?

RJ45 connector connections are different in LAN cable as compared to cross cable.

E.g.:

Straight Cable                                                                                                      

Pin 1 White\Orange                                               Pin 1 White\Orange

Pin 2 Orange                                                        Pin 2 Orange

Pin3 White\Green                                                  Pin3 White\Green

Pin4 Blue                                                              Pin4 Blue

Pin5 White\Blue                                                     Pin5 White\Blue

Pin 6 Green                                                          Pin 6 Green

Pin 7 Brown                                                          Pin 7 Brown

Pin 8 White\Brown                                                 Pin 8 White\Brown

Cross Cable:

Wire Becomes

1----------------------3

2----------------------6

3----------------------1

6----------------------2

By default the LAN Cable is 100 Meters but you may observe drop of signals after 80 Meters.

Cross cable is used to connect two computers without using switch.

Describe in brief about IPCONFIG Command?

This command displays the information about IP assigned to a computer. From the output we can
know the information of IP address, DNS IP address and Gateway address assigned to that
computer.

What is APIPA Range?

When DHCP server is unavailable, windows client computer assigns an IP address itself to
communicate with other computers in the network.

APIPA stands for automatic private IP addressing. It is in the range of 169.254.X.X.

What are manageable and non manageable switches?

Manageable switches are those switches which can be administered so we can create VLAN etc
while non manageable switches can not be managed.
HTML stands for Hyper Text Markup Language. It´s a markup language that can be interpreted
by different software like a web browser that reads and translates the HTML code and displays a
web page to the user according to the commands given in the HTML code.

HTML is a very easy and comprehensive markup language as you will see in a moment. The
"World Wide Web Consortium" (W3C.org) is the international organization who develops web
standards, web technologies and also defines the HTML specifications.

An HTML document is structured with elements, which represent different parts of the
document. Most elements consist of three parts: an opening tag, some content and a closing tag.
To illustrate the different parts of an element, let´s take a look at the element used for text
paragraphs - P.

<p>This is a paragraph<p>

The opening tag contains the element name "P" within angle brackets "<" and ">". Hence, in the
example above, "<p>" is the opening tag. Next comes the content (any text you like) and finally
the closing tag which is similar to the opening tag but includes one forward slash "/" right before
the element name.

So the function of tags is to tell a browser where a given element starts and where it ends and
how it should handle the content within this element.

Important to know is that the element names are case-insensitive, which means that it makes no
difference whether you use "<p>" or "<P>" inside your HTML code.

Empty Tags (also called "stand-alone tags") are elements which only consist of an opening tag.
They don´t have neither content, nor a closing tag.

 Attributes are parameters used to further define and format the content of an element. They are
included only inside the opening tags, behind the element name, in the following syntax:
Attribute-Name="Attribute-Value".

While the attribute names are case-insensitive (just like the element names), some of their values
might be case-sensitive, so in order to avoid confusion and to stay on the safe side I
recommended you use always lower case letters.

Here´s an example for an attribute.

<P align= “Center”>this is a centered paragraph</p>

 You see, the name of the attribute is "align" and its value in the above example is "center". And
you guess what its function is ...
... you´re right - displaying all content within this paragraph in the center of the web page.