BIT 03204: Communications Systems & Technologies

L5-1: DNS Resolution & NAT

Stephen Magu Waweru
 Devices and Resource Identification on the WEB cont…

• Internet Protocol address: A string of numbers that acts as a binary identifier for devices
across the Internet. (four Octets of BITS )
• A domain name: the human-friendly format of an IP address (i.e. a string of text that
maps to an alphanumeric an IP address). It identifies services provided through the
Internet, such as websites, email services
• Document Object Identifier (DOI): Persistent and unique identifier for digital objects.
• A uniform resource locator (URL): An Address of a given unique resource on the Web.
IT contains the domain name, the protocol and the path of a site etc.
 Devices and Resource Identification on the WEB cont…

HTTP : A standard protocol for establishing a

connection between a browser and a web server . It
fetches and avails requested information from
web servers.
HTTPS has an additional layer to ensure
encrypting and securing data. Its essential for
sites that send sensitive information, such as
credit card information or billing addresses.

We usually enter a web address / URL and DOI using a domain name since its unlikely that we know the IP
address of the web-server hosting the required web page
Domain Name Servers (DNS), the Internet’s equivalent of a phone book, maintain a directory of domain
names and translate them to numerical IP addresses.
DNS converts the domain name part of the address www.gmail.com into an IP address (such as 192.168.1.1)
to identify and locate the web-servers and resources
 DNS Routing and Information Access cont…
1.Top Level Domain (TLD): This refers to the last part of a domain name e.g. the .com in
gmail.com. Country code TLDs represent specific geographic locations. Country code TLDs
represents specific geographic locations e.g .ke for kenya in .go.ke Other TLD examples:
com – Commercial businesses.
gov – U.S. government agencies.
edu – Educational institutions such as universities.
org – Organizations (mostly non-profit).
mil – Military.
net – Network organizations.
eu – European Union.
2. Second Level Domain
This is the part of a domain name which comes right before the e.g. TLD gmail.com.
3. Sub Domain: This can be created to identify unique content areas of a web site. For
example, the aws of aws.amazon.com.
 DNS Routing and Information Access cont…

DNS caching: This speeds up the resolving procedure. It allows DNS servers, routers or client
computers to locally store the DNS records and re-use them in the future – eliminating the need
for new DNS queries to DNS nameservers.
Step 1: Send a Request to Resolve a Domain Name
Type www.gmail.com into a browser, in order to load the webpage, your computer asks for the
IP address. Client computer searching through the DNS cache.
Step 2: Search for an IP Locally. Client loads the local DNS cache database to check for the
requested IP (i.e. A temporary cache in the computer holds most recent DNS requests and
attempts to connect to online sources.). If the IP data from the requested website is available,
the page loads immediately since the request will not be forwarded to the ISP
Step 3: Contact ISP and its Recursive DNS Server to Resolve a Domain Name
If A computer’s local DNS cache database does not contain the necessary data to resolve a
domain name, the request goes to your ISP and its DNS server(Resolver server).
 DNS Routing and Information Access
Step 4: ISP DNS resolvers are configured to ask other DNS servers for correct IP address
mapping until they can provide data back to the requester. These are iterative DNS queries.

i) Root domain nameservers. Root servers themselves do not map IP addresses to domain
names. Instead, they hold the information about all top-level domain (TLD) nameservers
and point to their location. Root servers are critical since they are the first stop for all
DNS lookup requests.
ii) TLD nameservers. These servers contain the data for second-level domains, such as
‘phoenixnap’ in phoenixnap.com. Then, the TLD server needs to direct the request toward
the server that contains the necessary data for the website we are trying to reach.
 DNS Routing and Information Access

ii) Authoritative name server. Authoritative servers are the final destination for DNS lookup
requests. They provide the website’s IP address back to the recursive DNS servers. If the site has
subdomains, the local DNS server will keep sending requests to the authoritative server until it
finally resolves the IP address
Step 5: Receive the IP Address: Once the ISP’s recursive DNS server obtains the IP address by
sending multiple iterative DNS queries, it finally returns it to your computer. The record for this
request now stays cached on the hard drive. The browser can then fetch this IP from the cache
and connect it to the website’s server
Note: when the authoritative name server receives query from resolver, name server will
respond with IP address for google.com. And finally, resolver will tell your computer IP
address for google.com and then your computer can now retrieve google web page.
• once resolver receives IP address, it will store it in its cache memory in case it receives
another query for google.com. So it does not have to go through all those steps again
 IP addressing
• In order to communicate data or send message across
computers in a network, addresses of their locations are used.

• Internet Protocol (IP)address is a logical address (a string of

numbers) that uniquely identifies any device on a network. Its
assigned by software residing in the router or server
IP addressing cont…
Address Space: The total number of addresses used
by the protocol. If the protocol has n bits to define an
address then its address space is 2n because each bit
can have two different values 0 and 1.
• IPv4 address that uses 32 bits to define an address
of a device connected to the Internet.
• The protocol the address space is 232 =
3.4×104,294,967,296
38

An IP address, expressed in four numbers known as

octets. Each octet is 8 bits(one byte).

IP Address Notations
• Binary notation
• Dotted-Decimal notation
• Hexadecimal notation
 IP addressing cont…
• Addresses belonging to any network with a host number of 0 is called the network address of the
network (it does not denote any host);
• 255.255.255.255 OR binary( 11111111.11111111. 11111111. 11111111) refers to (limited broadcast
address) means all hosts on current physical network; i.e. it is never forwarded across a router, unlike a
directed (net-directed) broadcast.
• Broadcast Address: Its used by A router to send data to a host device connected to the network.
• The process of sending data to every device or node connected to a network is known as broadcasting
• Any number beginning with 127 (loopback address) should go straight from a host's output to its input
(without being transmitted onto the network).
• loopback address 127.0.0.1.(or Localhost). Packets sent to this address never reach the network but are
looped through the network interface card only.
• It used for diagnostic purposes to verify that the internal path through the TCP/IP protocols stack is
correctly installed or working
•
 IP addressing cont…
• Ethernet connection Configuration

• IPv4 addresses: The first numbers specify the network, the latter numbers specify the specific host.
• A subnet mask specifies which part of an address is the network part, and which part addresses the specific host.
 IP addressing cont…

• An IP addresses is expressed in BITs. In order to make the binary bits expression easier
to understand, the 32 bits are split into four groups of eight, and then each group is turned
into a decimal number. These four groups are separated by a dot.
• Network - the IP address is analogous to the street name.
• Host - the identifier of the device for the network analogous the house number.
• The network address is assigned to an organization by the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority ( IANA ) organization. The host address is the part that can be assigned by the
organization (e.g. kca university). This is the variable part, and can assigned any
combination of 0s and 1s by the organization.
IP addressing cont…
 IP addressing cont…
An IPv4 has a bit long address and has octets.
IP address can range from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. :

• IP addresses in IPv4 format, are based on 4 dot decimal numbers between 0 and 255.
• IP version 6 (IPv6) internet protocol generates more IP addresses to allow more devices
(webservers, desktops, laptops, smartphones, smartwatches and other connected objects) to
have a unique IP address on the network.
• An IPv6 address is based on 128 bits (instead of 32 bits for an IPv4 address).
 Network Address Translation cont…

IP addresses Exhaustion & Solutions

• IPv4 addresses are 32-bit numbers (i.e. availing 4 billion addresses). Hosts were initially
configured with only public (i.e reachable) addresses for Internet connection
• This brought two big problems:
i. Security vulnerability: Since IP addresses are public, anyone can easily gain access to an
Organization or home network.
ii. IP address exhaustion: With the growth of number of Mobile & (IOT)devices and
connectivity over the internet, the IPv4 Addresses were quickly being depleted, and
hence no way to assign a unique address to each device.
 Network Address Translation cont…
IP addresses Exhaustion & Solutions :
• Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) defines standard operating internet protocols. In the
late 1980s, the IETF realized that they were going to run out of addresses.
• IETF created a standard known as Request for Comment 1918 (RFC 1918) on methods of
assigning private IP addresses & outlining the ranges of unrouteable private IP addresses.
• This Organizations to use private addresses internally without asking permission to the
IANA which governs the IP addresses assignment. However computers configured with
private addresses cannot be reached from the Internet (but required the Public Addresess)
• NAT (network address tunneling) & RFC 1918 facilitates expansion of the usable number of
IP addresses available under IPV4, as a stopgap solution to prevent the exhaustion of public
IPs available before the adoption of IPV6.
• NAT translates or maps the reserved addresses to limited public addresses for internet
communication thereby forestalling quick depletion of IPv4 addresses
 Network Address Translation cont…

• 1990 solution: Lengthen the IP address from 32 bits to 128 bits, IPv6 address scheme to address the IPv4 exhaustion
crisis and enhances efficiency, performance, and security.
• Reserved Public IPV4 addresses were exhausted in 2011.
• IPV6: Launched 1998 & its implementation is ongoing. Adoption is slow, but India and China already
migrated to IPV6.
• IPv6 uses 128-bit (2128) addresses, allowing 3.4 x 1038 unique IP addresses.
• With IPv4, two IP addresses are lost per subnet to account for a null route (or network address) and broadcast
IP address.
• Improvements include integrated packet encryption, larger potential packet sizes and no IP addresses are lost
to subnetting
• No NAT in routing of packets with IPv6, each IP address is directly accessible by another unless stopped by a
firewall.
 Network Address Translation cont…
NAT (Network Address Translation) .This is a process of changing the source and destination IP
addresses and ports. Address translation reduces the need for IPv4 public addresses and hides private
network address ranges. This process is usually done by routers or firewalls.
There are three types of address translation:
• Static NAT – translates one unregistered/private IP address to a public one (specific). one-to-one
mapping between local and global addresses. (usually for Web hosting)
• Dynamic NAT – private IP addresses are mapped to the pool of public IP addresses.
• Port Address Translation (PAT) or NAT overload– is a special case of NAT in which the source
IP addresses for all packets going in one direction are translated to a common public address.
• In this case A router or NAT firewall uses port numbers to distinguish the traffic. This involves
creating and configuring a NAT table containing the private/public IP address mappings.
• The router swaps the private IP addresses and port numbers of the client devices with its own public
IP address and available port number.
Network Address Translation cont…
Reserved Addresses Re-use

• Network address translation (NAT)

refers to mapping of private IP
addresses for a LAN to Public IP
addresses for access to internet.
• A router is one of the devices used for
this translation. Private IP or Reserved
Addresses can be reused on Different
LANs but this will require Translation
for Internetworking
 Network Address Translation cont…
• Benefits to NAT usage in network systems:
• IP conservation. Network address translation allows the privatization of intranets to preserve
IP address space. With NAT, devices on a network need only one IP, ultimately preventing the
Internet from running out of available IPs.
• Security and privacy. Network address translation serves as the first means of defense on a
network by transferring packets of data from public IPs to private IPs. The NAT router makes
sure the data gets to the right place in a safe, secured manner. Within the router, NAT guards
local area networks (LANs) against any suspicious or unusual traffic.
• Peer-to-peer file sharing abilities. network address translation techniques may be used to set
up peer-to-peer connections, hiding internal IP addresses from external networks, which also
improves privacy. Network address translation allows multiple computers to communicate
responsibilities for sharing files on a network.
• Reuse of private IP addresses. These addresses aren't used over the Internet, so they can be
used without fear of address duplication.