- What is an IP address?
The term “IP” means Internet Protocol which is a network and transport protocol used for the transfer of data over the internet. A Network is basically a connection between two or a number of computers, providing them with the opportunity to share information or data. Most networks include a great number of computers, however they all use the same “rules” for sharing information and we take for granted the technology behind their ability to connect and communicate with eachother. This protocol, TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) encompasses the acknowledged methods or standards used by the computers (and other appliances such as routers) to manage, send, direct and deliver information over the internet. To achieve this, each devise is given its own IP address which is a series of numbers that act in a similar way to a postcode.
- What are LAN's and WAN's?
A network basically consists of two fundamental elements, nodes and links. A “Node” is a global term for a communication device, a computer for instance. These nodes communicate with eachother though “Links” which are simply the cables. The two most commonly known types of networks are LAN & WAN. Local Area Networks are used to connect a group of computers within a single company office, building or site whereas a Wide Area Network operates over a communication system such as telephone lines and links up a number of LAN’s or remote computers.
Within the network, there are two methods of communication between computers, the circuit-switched network and the packet-switched network. The circuit-switched method is used for telephone calls where it establishes a dedicated connection between the “nodes” and provides a constant communication using all the capacity of the “link” for the time of the call. If the connection fails, then transmission is lost and a new connection needs to be made.
The packet-switched network is used for IP based communication and provides a far more efficient use of the “link”. The data or information to be sent is first divided into “packets” which each contain some of the data along with the destination and source addresses. These packets are then individually forwarded through the network via the intermediate nodes and routers to the final destination. The packets do not have to follow the same route through the network as they are all individually addressed and therefore can be re-routed around malfunctioning or broken links or nodes, making the system both efficient and flexible.
- What is DNS?
The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system for computers, services, or any resource participating in the Internet. It associates various information with domain names assigned to such participants. Most importantly, it translates human meaningful domain names to the numerical (binary) identifiers associated with networking equipment for the purpose of locating and addressing these devices world-wide. An often used analogy to explain the Domain Name System is that it serves as the "phone book" for the Internet by translating human-friendly computer hostnames into IP addresses. For example, www.example.com translates to 208.77.188.166.
- What is FTP?
FTP (File Transfer Protocol) is a simple way to exchange files over the Internet. Whether you know it or not, you most likely use FTP all the time. The most common use for FTP is to download files from the Internet. Because of this, FTP is the backbone of the MP3 music craze, and vital to most online auction and game enthusiasts. In addition, the ability to transfer files back-and-forth makes FTP essential for anyone creating a Web page, amateurs and professionals alike.
When downloading a file from the Internet you're actually transferring the file to your computer from another computer over the Internet. This is why the T (transfer) is in FTP. You may not know where the computer is that the file is coming from but you most likely know it's URL or Internet address.
An FTP address looks a lot like an HTTP, or Website, address except it uses the prefix ftp:// instead of http://.
Example Website address: http://www.FTPplanet.com
Example FTP site address: ftp://ftp.FTPplanet.com
Most often, a computer with an FTP address is dedicated to receive an FTP connection. Just as a computer that is setup to host Web pages is referred to as a Web server or Website, a computer dedicated to receiving an FTP connection is referred to as an FTP server or FTP site
- How do I find out what my IP address is?
To locate the IP Address of your PC:
Click on Start > Run
Type "cmd" (without the quotes) into the window and press Enter
Type "ipconfig" (without the quotes)
The results will show the IP Address as will as other Network parameters.
If you type "ipconfig /all" (without the quotes) you will be presented with a more detailed list of Network parameters.
You can view more usage details of the ipconfig utility by visiting the Microsoft Knowledge Base. Please use the Related External Links below to view these articles based on your operating system.
- What is a ping and how do I perform one?
Ping is a computer network tool used to test whether a particular host is reachable across an IP network; it is also used to self test the network interface card of the computer, or as a speed test. It works by sending ICMP “echo request” packets to the target host and listening for ICMP “echo response” replies. Ping does not estimate the round-trip time, as it does not factor in the user's connection speed, but instead is used to record any packet loss, and print a statistical summary when finished.
The following is a sample output of pinging en.wikipedia.org under Windows (Vista used in the following example) from within the Command Prompt:
c:\ ping en.wikipedia.org
Pinging rr.pmtpa.wikimedia.org [66.230.200.100] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 66.230.200.100: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=44
Reply from 66.230.200.100: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=44
Reply from 66.230.200.100: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=44
Reply from 66.230.200.100: bytes=32 time=54ms TTL=44
Ping statistics for 66.230.200.100:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 54ms, Maximum = 59ms, Average = 57ms
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