Introduction
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the most commonly used network protocol. It is a suite of protocols, which allows network devices to send and receive data to and from other network devices. TCP of the TCP/IP protocol suite controls the transmission of data from source to destination network devices. On the other hand, IP ensures that the data is transmitted to the intended network device. Protocols used in a network are implemented with the help of two network models, the TCP/IP protocol suite and the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model. However, the TCIP/IP model is widely used in networks; it is very much similar to the OSI model as it also contains layers.
When you setup a network, suppose for an enterprise, it may contain thousands of computers. It becomes difficult to manage communication among these computers in such a vast network. Therefore, you need to divide the network into smaller networks. The small networks to be formed are called subnets means sub-networks. The process of splitting a large network into smaller networks is known as subnetting. Therefore, it becomes easy to manage a large network through subnetting.
In this chapter, primarily you understand the layer of TCP/IP protocol suite. After this, you learn about the IP address. You also learn about the Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) addresses wherein you learn about the structure, classes, and address ranges of IPv4 addresses. You also familiarized with subnetting, supernettting, and routing and default gateways in this section. After this, you understand the need for developing IPv6 addresses. Further, you understand IPv6 addresses wherein you learn about the structure of IPv6 addresses and types of IPv6 addresses. Next, you learn about Network Address Translation (NAT). Towards the end of this chapter, you learn about Domain Name System (DNS).
