An introduction to TCP/IP utilities

 

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol is the basic communication language or protocol of the Internet. It can also be used as a communications protocol in a private network (either an intranet or an extranet). When you are set up with direct access to the Internet, your computer is provided with a copy of the TCP/IP program just as every other computer that you may send messages to or get information from also has a copy of TCP/IP.

TCP/IP is a two-layer program. The higher layer, Transmission Control Protocol, manages the assembling of a message or file into smaller packets that are transmitted over the Internet and received by a TCP layer that reassembles the packets into the original message. The lower layer, Internet Protocol, handles the address part of each packet so that it gets to the right destination. Each gateway computer on the network checks this address to see where to forward the message. Even though some packets from the same message are routed differently than others, they'll be reassembled at the destination.

TCP/IP uses the client/server model of communication in which a computer user (a client) requests and is provided a service (such as sending a Web page) by another computer (a server) in the network. TCP/IP communication is primarily point-to-point, meaning each communication is from one point (or host computer) in the network to another point or host computer. TCP/IP and the higher-level applications that use it are collectively said to be "stateless" because each client request is considered a new request unrelated to any previous one (unlike ordinary phone conversations that require a dedicated connection for the call duration). Being stateless frees network paths so that everyone can use them continuously. (Note that the TCP layer itself is not stateless as far as any one message is concerned. Its connection remains in place until all packets in a message have been received.)

Many Internet users are familiar with the even higher layer application protocols that use TCP/IP to get to the Internet. These include the World Wide Web's Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Telnet (Telnet) which lets you logon to remote computers, and the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). These and other protocols are often packaged together with TCP/IP as a "suite."

Personal computer users with an analog phone modem connection to the Internet usually get to the Internet through the Serial Line Internet Protocol (SLIP) or the Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP). These protocols encapsulate the IP packets so that they can be sent over the dial-up phone connection to an access provider's modem.

Protocols related to TCP/IP include the User Datagram Protocol (UDP), which is used instead of TCP for special purposes. Other protocols are used by network host computers for exchanging router information. These include the Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP), the Interior Gateway Protocol (IGP), the Exterior Gateway Protocol (EGP), and the Border Gateway Protocol (BGP).

 

The common TCP/IP utilities are as follows:

 

• ARP

ARP stand for Address Resolution Protocol. This provides IP to Ethernet addresses. Each hardware card has an address coded in. This allows deletion and addition to the ARP cache.

 

• Nbtstat

This is a very useful little tools if networked and/or using Win servers or Lmhost file. It displays TCP/IP connections using netbios.  The switches to be used will be shown if typing nbtstat from the command prompt.

 

• Netstat

This utility provides the connection both the local and remote, ports and the state of the connection. It has several switches which maybe found by typing netstat /? from the command prompt. It provides the IP addresses and the ports of the remote computer(S) to which the socket is connected. It shows the the port numbers as well as IP address for the local computer.

 

• Ping

This is a simple diagnostic tool to verify connection and also used quite frequently as a troubleshooting tools. The available switches can be obtained by typing ping from command prompt.

 

• Route

This command is very useful if using networking. It allows you to view and manipulate the routing tables. It is a very useful tool for diagnosing and modifying networking routing issues.

 

• Tracert

This is a utility which allows you to see the route taken by packages from yourself to a destination. It also show the time it takes. It can also be used to determined the IP address of a service were you only know the name.

 

• Winipcfg

A very useful little utility. Use Start ---->Run and type in winipcfg. It will tell you your present IP address and your subnet mask.

 

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