Practical TCP/IP

None

This 4 day course involves a mixture of expository based (utilising protocol analyser traces where appropriate) and practical experiments to test and verify the operation of TCP/IP networks. The major aspects of the TCP/IP protocol stack are covered, including subnetting, supernetting and running dynamic routing protocols. TCP and UDP will be compared and contrasted, covering the end-to-end reliability and congestion avoidance capabilities of the TCP/IP stack. Some application layer protocols (HTTP, TLS, DNS, DHCP etc) will be investigated during the course. Network security in the form of TLS will be covered both from a theoretical and practical standpoint. The practical exercises are designed to augment the theory and enhance both the understanding of the underlying protocols and also the problem solving abilities of the delegates.

Audience:

Suitable for anyone looking for an understanding of TCP/IP.

Course is approximately 50% practical.

Objectives:

• Describe encapsulation, de-encapsulation and modularity within the TCP/IP protocol stack.
• Describe, identify and explain the fields and flags within the IP header.
• Describe, identify and explain IP address classes A, B and C.
• Use subnet mask to identify network portion of IP address.
• Describe differences between classful and classless IP addressing.
• Describe the operation of an IP router and the use of static and dynamic routing.
• Describe and compare distance vector (RIP) and link-state (OSPF) routing protocols.
• Describe and explain IP subnetworking.
• Describe and explain supernetting, VLSM and CIDR.
• Describe ICMP and use ping and traceroute as a network connectivity tool.
• Describe use of DHCP in dynamic IP addressing.
• Describe and use ARP to relate IP address to MAC address.
• Describe and explain the use of DNS in TCP/IP networks.
• Describe, identify and explain the fields and flags in the TCP and UDP headers.
• Describe and explain how TCP gives end to end reliability in an unreliable IP network.
• Describe and explain the operation of congestion avoidance in TCP/IP networks.
• Describe and explain Transport Layer Security (TLS).

Practical Exercises:

Lab Exercise 1: Connectivity and Testing.

Lab Exercise 2: DHCP and DNS.

Lab Exercise 3: Checking ARP cache.

Lab Exercise 4: Fragmentation.

Lab Exercise 5: Traceroute.

Lab Exercise 6: Routing.

Lab Exercise 7: Subnetting.

Lab Exercise 8: TCP Options.

Lab Exercise 9: TLS.