Introduction to Computer and Network

Individual Project 1

Ryan Simmons

AIU Online

ITCO103-1103B-03: Introduction to Computer and Network

Prof. Austin Umezurike

PART I

1. At the prompt, enter the arp command. Take a screenshot. In your own words, what does the response tell you about the arp command?

The result I received from the arp command shows that the command can be used to show both IP and Physical or MAC addresses for devices on the network. These addresses are used as a point of reference for every device on the computer network and are important for communication between devices.

2. Type "ping www.aiuonline.com" and then "ping www.mazda.co.jp." Take a screenshot of each ping command and its resulting output. Note how long it takes for your packets to come back (in ms). Wait a couple of minutes, and try it again. Is the length of time different between the two addresses or between the two times you chose? If so, why?

NOTE: If either of the above 2 hosts is busy, you will get the message "Request timed out." If you get this response, then replace the busy host with another Web site of your own choice (e.g., www.yahoo.com, www.cisco.com, and so on).

The time length between the two sets of screenshots is definitely different. This is caused because time to send packets to the device on the network and receive packets back varies due to the amount of traffic that the other address is receiving. The more users that are attempting access to the same address the more time it is going to take for that device to process the requests. Site traffic can be affected by time of day, popularity, and capacity. Some networks are going to have more capacity than others due to the type of hardware being used and the infrastructure.

3. The following host (www.tourism.sa.gov.au) is known to be busy most of the time. Try the ping command on this host. Take a screenshot. What was the response?

The response was "destination net unreachable" this would tell me that there is a problem with that network, the site may be down, or that the capacity of the network's infrastructure was overloaded.

4. Type "tracert www.google.com." Take a screenshot of the command you entered and its output. Describe the path your packet took to get to its destination.

Since computer networks are interconnected there is no direct path between my computer and google.com. Therefore in order to reach the other network my computer goes through my ISP, Comcast.net to the closest position to Google and then uses other networks from that point to reach the site.

5. What is the difference between DHCP and DNS?

DHCP is responsible for assigning unique IP addresses for every device on the network. The DNS system is responsible for the conversion of IP addresses into domain names. I believe this conversion was necessary because it is easier for people to remember a bunch of domain names than it is to memorize a list of IP addresses.