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IGCSE Computer Science CIE Your notes

3.4 Network Hardware

Contents
NIC
MAC address
IP Address
Router

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NIC
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Network Interface Card
A Network Interface Card (NIC) or Network Interface Controller is an internal physical
component which enables computers and other devices to connect to a network
They are also known as network adapters
NICs have a built in ethernet port and can be connected to a network via an Ethernet cable
You can have Wireless Network Interface Cards (WNIC) which allow a device to wirelessly
connect to a network
The primary function of a NIC is to send and receive data packets between the computer or
device and the network
The NIC converts data to be sent into signals that can be sent across the transmission medium
If this is through a wired network, the signals will be voltages through an ethernet wire or
pulses of light through a fibre
If this is through a wireless network, the signals will be radio waves
NICs are likely to be integrated into the motherboard but can be added as an expansion card

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MAC address
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MAC Addresses
A Media Access Control/MAC address is used to identify a device on a network
It is a unique code which consists of six pairs of hexadecimal codes separated by a colon
Each pair of hex digits is a Byte of data. So in total a MAC address is 6 bytes or 48 bits long
An example MAC address is b4:71:ac:f3:21:a2
The MAC address is assigned to the NIC by its manufacturer
The first three pairs are the manufacturer ID number and the last three pairs is the serial number
of the NIC and identifies the device on the network

An example MAC address - the first part identifying the manufacturer and the second part identify the
device
A MAC address cannot be changed. It is static
A table listing the differences between an IP address and a MAC address

MAC Address IP Address

Can be used to identify devices on a

Permanently assigned to a
network but are dynamic and can be
NIC and cannot be changed
changed

MAC addresses are written in

IP addresses are written in denary
hexadecimal

MAC addresses are 6 bytes

IP addresses are 4 bytes long
long

MAC addresses are used to MAC addresses are used to identify a

identify a device on a LAN device on a WAN

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Worked example Your notes

Describe what is meant by a MAC address
[4]
Any 4 of:
Used to identify a device [1]
It is a unique address [1]
It is a static address/it does not change [1]
It is set by the manufacturer [1]
The first part is the manufacturer ID [1]
The second part is the serial number of the device [1]

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IP Address
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IP Address
An IP (Internet Protocol) address is a unique numerical identifier assigned to devices
connected to the internet
IP addresses are used to identify and locate devices on the internet
This allows data to be sent and received between devices
An IPv4 address is four numbers separated by a full stop
Each number is a byte and range between 0-255
There are over 4 billion unique addresses using the IPv4 system
For example, an IPv4 address might look like this: 192.164.3.1
Routers and gateways have a unique public address
Public addresses are assigned by your internet service provider and is the IP address for the
network
Public addresses are often static addresses meaning they do not change

A diagram showing how Private and Public IP addresses are used to identify devices on the Internet and
within a LAN
A router can assign private IP addresses to devices connected within its network
These are often dynamic IP addresses meaning they can change
Dynamic addresses are assigned from a list of available addresses at the time they are required

The IP4 system is running out of possible addresses due to the enormous increase in networked
devices
A new system called IPv6 has been developed. It provides enough unique addresses for every
networked device on the planet

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IPv6 uses a 128 bit address

Digits are organised into eight groups
Each group is made up of four hexadecimal digits Your notes
For example bb43:ff3f:0000:549b:e43e:db84:1f1f:0b9e

Worked example
Give two characteristics of an IP address
[2]
Any 2 of:
A unique address [1]
Can be public or private [1]
Can be static or dynamic [1]
IPv4 has four groups of digits [1]
Each number is between 0-255 [1]
and separated by a full stop [1]
IPv6 has eight groups of digits [1]

A comparison of IPv4 and IPv6 IP addresses

IPv4 IPv6

32-bit address 128 bit address

Four groups of denary digits Eight groups of four hexadecimal

separated by a full stop digits separated by a colon

Over 4.3 billion unique Almost infinite amount of unique

addresses addresses

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Worked example
Your notes
Explain the difference between a private and a public IP address
[4]
Any 4 of:
A private IP address is not accessible from the internet [1]
and is used to identify a device within a local area network [1]
A public IP address is used to identify a device on the internet [1]
Public IP addresses are assigned by an internet service provider (ISP) [1]
Public IP addresses are unique [1]
Public IP addresses can be accessed from anywhere on the internet [1]
Public IP addresses allow devices to communicate with each other across different
networks [1]

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Router
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Router
A router is an important piece of network hardware. It connects one network to another
network
This means it can be used to connect a local area network (LAN ) to the internet, which is a
wide area network(WAN )
An important role of the router is to analyse data packet and direct them on to their destination

A diagram showing multiple networks connected by routers, represented by the blue circular objects

A router being used to connect a LAN to a WAN will have a public IP address , which has been
assigned to it by an Internet Service Provider
It is this public IP address which other routers use to identify and direct packets to the network
An important role of the router is to analyse data packets and direct them on to their destination
The IP address of both the sender and intended recipient is stored in the header of the
data packet
The header contains information about the packet
The payload is the actual data being sent

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If the data packet is coming into the LAN, the router will send the data packet to the specific
device, within its LAN, that the packet is meant for
If the packet is being sent from a device within the LAN, it will read the header of the packet to Your notes
determine the intended destination IP address
It will then forward the packet on to the destination
It might have to travel through several routers before it gets to its destination
Each pass from router to router is called a hop
The network access device or ‘home hub’ used in your home network will have a router built into it

A summary of the steps a router takes when it receives a data packet

Step Description

1 a router receives incoming data packets from

one network and analyses the packet header
to determine the destination IP address

2 It then looks up the IP address in a routing

table (routing table of known networks) to
determine the next network where the packet
should be sent

3 The router then forwards the packet to the

appropriate network or device

This process is repeated by every router the data packet passes through, until it reaches its
destination
In addition to routing data between networks, routers can also perform other functions such as…
assigning IP addresses to devices within the LAN
filtering incoming traffic based on certain criteria, such as IP address, port number, or
protocol type

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