ITECH1102: Network Layer Functionality & Address Resolution

This report provides an overview of the network layer, with a focus on the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). It explains how ARP resolves IP addresses to MAC addresses through broadcast messages and ARP cache updates. The report also discusses IP addressing, covering IPv4 and IPv6, and the distinction between network and host portions of an IP address using subnet masks and CIDR notation. Furthermore, it outlines the function of routers in packet forwarding and the role of routing protocols like OSPF, RIP, and BGP. The Domain Name System (DNS) is mentioned for its role in internet name resolution. Desklib offers a variety of study tools and solved assignments to aid students in understanding these complex networking concepts.

Running head: Week 5
The Network Layer
Name of the Student
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Author Note

Running head: Week 5
Week 5:
In this week the topic of the discussion is the network layer. The Address resolution
protocol is also discussed in this week. The address resolution protocol or the ARP
determines the machine address code that are on the particular IP address. The ARP ask
questions by sending the broadcast messages. If the asked machine responds according to the
question that is asked by the ARP then the new entries will be added in the ARP cache (Brown
& Willink 2018). The new entries will be added as the pair of local IP address and mac address.
The entries that are new will be added as of the network. When the command of the ARP is
successful then the new entries will be added. Each of the device that access the network
needs an IP address. There are two types of IP address are there one is the IPv6 another one is
the IPv4. The devices can be uniquely identified by the IP address. The total length of the
IPv4 is 32 bit and the whole IP is divided into four octets. Each of the octets consists of
decimal number between 0-255. There are two process by which the IP address can be
assigned to a device one is the manual process another is the automatic process. The whole IP
address is divided into two parts one part contains the higher order bits that determines the IP
address in the network. The other one consists of the lower order bits that determines the
unique part of the IP address. On the host network of the IP address the subnet mask is
applied to the all machine. In the frame of the subnet mask first there is a 1bits series that
indicated the portion of the network and the second part consists of the series of the 0 bits that
indicates the node portion. Two methods are there to determine the IP address the first
process id to replace all the node bits by the zero and by that we can determine the IP address.
The second method is to do the bitwise AND of the IP address along with the subnet mask
then also we can determine the IP address. The network bits can be expressed in another way
too using the Classless Inter Domain Routing or the CIDR. The CIDR is mostly same as the
subnet mask (Pan, Jain & Paul 2015). The main objective of the router is to move the network

Running head: Week 5
packets step by step in order to reach the destination. Only one packet can me moved by the
routers at one time. After the arrival of the packet the router determines the source address
and the destination address. The routers has the ability to communicate with each other. One
router has the information of another router. If one router is failed or removed from the
networks then the other routers will have the information. Some of the common routing
protocols are OSPF (Open shortest path), RIP (Routing Information Protocol), BGP (Border
Gateway Protocol). The DNS or the domain name system handles the name resolution of the
internet names.
Video link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x51RYJ5KsU4

Running head: Week 5

Running head: Week 5
References:
Brown, J. D., & Willink, T. J. (2018). ARP Cache Poisoning and Routing Loops in ad Hoc
Networks. Mobile Networks and Applications, 1-12.
Pan, J., Jain, R., & Paul, S. (2015). Enhanced Evaluation of the Interdomain Routing System
for Balanced Routing Scalability and New Internet Architecture Deployments. IEEE
Systems Journal, 9(3), 892-903.