1. Introduction.

1.1 Networking

A computer network, often simply referred to as a network, is a collection of computers and devices interconnected by communications channels that facilitate communications and allows sharing of resources and information among interconnected devices. Put more simply, a computer network is a collection of two or more computers linked together for the purposes of sharing information, resources, among other things. Computer networking or Data Communications is the engineering discipline concerned with computer networks. Computer networking is sometimes considered a sub-discipline of electrical engineering, telecommunications, computer science, information technology and/or computer engineering since it relies heavily upon the theoretical and practical application of these scientific and engineering disciplines.

1.2 Hardware
Hardware is a general term for the physical artifacts of a technology. It may also mean the physical components of a computer system, in the form of computer hardware. A personal computer is made up of multiple physical components of computer hardware, upon which can be installed a system software called an operating system, and a multitude of software applications to perform the operator's desired functions. Though a PC comes in many different forms, a typical personal computer consists of a case or chassis in a tower shape (desktop), containing components such as a motherboard.

Hardware of a modern personal computer 1. Monitor 2. Motherboard 3. CPU 4. RAM 5. Expansion cards 6. Power supply 7. Optical disc drive 8. Hard disk drive 9. Keyboard 10. Mouse

2. Networking

2.1 IP address assignment

Internet Protocol addresses are assigned to a host either anew at the time of booting, or permanently by fixed configuration of its hardware or software. Persistent configuration is also known as using a static IP address. In contrast, in situations when the computer's IP address is assigned newly each time, this is known as using a dynamic IP address. 2.1.1 Methods Static IP addresses are manually assigned to a computer by an administrator. The exact procedure varies according to platform. This contrasts with dynamic IP addresses, which are assigned either by the compute interface or host software itself, as in Zeroconf, or assigned by a server using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP). Even though IP addresses assigned using DHCP may stay the same for long periods of

time, they can generally change. In some cases, a network administrator may implement dynamically assigned static IP addresses. In this case, a DHCP server is used, but it is specifically configured to always assign the same IP address to a particular computer. This allows static IP addresses to be configured centrally, without having to specifically configure each computer on the network in a manual procedure. 2.1.2 Uses of dynamic addressing Dynamic IP addresses are most frequently assigned on LANs and broadband networks by Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers. They are used because it avoids the administrative burden of assigning specific static addresses to each device on a network. It also allows many devices to share limited address space on a network if only some of them will be online at a particular time. In most current desktop operating systems, dynamic IP configuration is enabled by default so that a user does not need to manually enter any settings to connect to a network with a DHCP server. DHCP is not the only technology used to assign dynamic IP addresses. Dialup and some broadband networks use dynamic address features of the Point-to-Point Protocol.

2.1.3 Uses of static addressing Some infrastructure situations have to use static addressing, such as when finding the Domain Name System (DNS) host that will translate domain names to IP addresses. Static addresses are also convenient, but not absolutely necessary, to locate servers inside an enterprise. An address obtained from a DNS server comes with a time to live, or caching time, after which it should be looked up to confirm that it has not changed. Even static IP addresses do change as a result of network administration.

2.2 Dynamic Addressing

The Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) is an automatic configuration protocol used on IP networks. Computers that are connected to non-DHCP equipped IP networks must be configured before they can communicate with other computers on the network. DHCP allows a computer to be configured

automatically, eliminating the need for intervention by a network administrator. It also provides a central database for keeping track of computers that have been connected to the network. This prevents two computers from accidentally being configured with the same IP address. In the absence of DHCP, hosts may be manually configured with an IP address. Alternatively IPv6 hosts may use stateless address autoconfiguration to generate an IP address. IPv4 hosts may use link-local addressing to achieve limited local connectivity. In addition to IP addresses, DHCP also provides other configuration information, particularly the IP addresses of local caching DNS resolvers. Hosts that do not use DHCP for address configuration may still use it to obtain other configuration information.

There are two versions of DHCP, one for IPv4 and one for IPv6. While both versions bear the same name and perform much the same purpose, the details of the protocol for IPv4 and IPv6 are sufficiently different that they can be considered separate protocols.

2.2.1 Technical overview Depending on implementation, the DHCP server may have two methods of allocating IP-addresses: dynamic allocation: A network administrator assigns a range of IP addresses to DHCP, and each client computer on the LAN is configured to request an IP address from the DHCP server during network initialization. The request-and-grant process uses a lease concept with a controllable time period, allowing the DHCP server to reclaim (and then reallocate) IP addresses that are not renewed. automatic allocation: The DHCP server permanently assigns a free IP address to a requesting client from the range defined by the administrator. This is like dynamic allocation, but the DHCP server keeps a table of past IP address assignments, so that it can preferentially assign to a client the same IP address that the client previously had.

2.2.2 Security The base DHCP protocol does not include any mechanism for authentication. Because of this, it is vulnerable to a variety of attacks. These attacks fall into three main categories: y y Unauthorized DHCP servers providing false information to clients. Unauthorized clients gaining access to resources.

Resource exhaustion attacks from malicious DHCP clients. Because the client has no way to validate the identity of a DHCP server, unauthorized DHCP servers can be operated on networks, providing incorrect information to DHCP clients. This can serve either as a denial-of-service attack, preventing the client from gaining access to network connectivity, or as a man-inthe-middle attack. Because the DHCP server provides the DHCP client with server IP addresses, such as the IP address of one or more DNS servers, an attacker can convince a DHCP client to do its DNS lookups

through its own DNS server, and can therefore provide its own answers to DNS queries from the client. This in turn allows the attacker to redirect network traffic through itself, allowing it to eavesdrop on connections between the client and network servers it contacts, or to simply replace those network servers with its own. Because the DHCP server has no secure mechanism for authenticating the client, clients can gain unauthorized access to IP addresses by presenting credentials, such as client identifiers, that belong to other DHCP clients. This also allows DHCP clients to exhaust the DHCP server's store of IP addressesby presenting new credentials each time it asks for an address, the client can consume all the available IP addresses on a particular network link, preventing other DHCP clients from getting service. DHCP does provide some mechanisms for mitigating these problems. The Relay Agent Information Option protocol extension (RFC 3046) allows network operators to attach tags to DHCP messages as these messages arrive on the network operator's trusted network. This tag is then used as an authorization token to control the client's access to network resources. Because the client has no access to the network upstream of the relay agent, the lack of authentication does not prevent the DHCP server operator from relying on the authorization token. Another extension, Authentication for DHCP Messages (RFC 3118), provides a mechanism for authenticating DHCP messages. Unfortunately RFC 3118 has not seen widespread adoption because of the problems of managing keys for large numbers of DHCP clients. 2.2.3 Automatic Private IP Addressing (APIPA) A feature of Microsoft Windows, APIPA is a DHCP failover mechanism. With APIPA, DHCP clients can obtain IP addresses when DHCP servers are nonfunctional. APIPA exists in all popular versions of Windows except Windows NT. When a DHCP server fails, APIPA allocates addresses in the private range 169.254.0.1 to 169.254.255.254. Clients verify their address is unique on the LAN using ARP. When the DHCP server is again able to service requests, clients update their addresses automatically. In APIPA, all devices use the default network mask 255.255.0.0 and all reside on the same subnet.

2.3 Remote Networking

Remote access is the ability to get access to a computer or a network from a remote distance. In corporations, people at branch offices, telecommuters, and people who are travelling may need access to the corporation's network. Home users get access to the Internet through remote access to an Internet service provider (ISP). Dial-up connection through desktop, notebook, or handheld computer modem over regular telephone lines is a common method of remote access. Remote access is also possible using a dedicated line between a computer or a remote local area network and the "central" or main corporate local area network. A dedicated line is more expensive and less flexible but offers faster data rates. Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a common method of remote access from branch offices since it combines dial-up with faster data rates. Wireless, cable modem, and Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) technologies offer other possibilities for remote access.

A remote access server is the computer and associated software that is set up to handle users seeking acces to network remotely. Sometimes called a communication server, a remote access server usually includes or is associated with a firewall server to ensure security and a router that can forward the remote access request to another part of the corporate network. A remote access server may include or work with a modem pool manager so that a small group of modems can be shared among a large number of intermittently present remote access users.

The biggest limit to remote networking is the connection bandwidth. Dial-up connections are common, but support exist for ISDN, and other high-speed connections, if the service is available to remote user.