Net-HOWTO

Introduction

This is the first release of the GOLEM Network Howto, this document aims to be a sort of unofficial update of the Linux Networking Howto.

General Information about Networking

Sources of non-linux-specific network information

If you are looking for general TCP/IP networking information, here you can find some resources:

• IBM TCP/IP Tutorial and Technical Overview

IPv4 Addresses

Internet Protocol v4 Addresses are composed of 4 bytes (32 bit), each byte is converted to a decimal number (0-255) and bytes are separated by a . (dot), for this reason IPv4 addresses are limits to near 4 billions (2³²). Usually every network interface has its own IP address in a format like this: 192.168.0.5

Subnetting

Addresses in a network have some digits in common, that part is called the network portion of the address, the remaining numbers are called the host portion.

For example:

           -----------------  ---------------
           Host Address       192.168.0.23
           Network Portion    192.168.0.
           Host portion                .23
           -----------------  ---------------
           Network Address    192.168.0.0
           Broadcast Address  192.168.0.255
           -----------------  ---------------

Subnetting is a way to subdivide an TCP/IP network. The Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) is the current method for defining subnet, the IP address is followed by a prefix number between 0 and 32 that shows how many bits represent the network.

192.168.0.23/24 => network 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.0.255
192.168.0.23/16 => network 192.168.0.0 - 192.168.255.255

This method replace the obsolete classful network addressing architecture.

The maximum number of addresses of a network may be calculated as 2^{32 − prefix number}

CIDR	Classful network mask	Number of Hosts	Typical use
/8	255.0.0.0	16777214 = 224 - 2	Largest IANA block allocation
/9	255.128.0.0	8388608 = 223
/10	255.192.0.0	4194304 = 222
/11	255.224.0.0	2097152 = 221
/12	255.240.0.0	1048576 = 220
/13	255.248.0.0	524288 = 219
/14	255.252.0.0	262144 = 218
/15	255.254.0.0	131072 = 217
/16	255.255.0.0	65536 = 216
/17	255.255.128.0	32768 = 215	ISP / large business
/18	255.255.192.0	16384 = 214	ISP / large business
/19	255.255.224.0	8192 = 213	ISP / large business
/20	255.255.240.0	4096 = 212	Small ISP / large business
/21	255.255.248.0	2048 = 211	Small ISP / large business
/22	255.255.252.0	1024 = 210
/23	255.255.254.0	512 = 29
/24	255.255.255.0	256 = 28	Large LAN
/25	255.255.255.128	128 = 27	Large LAN
/26	255.255.255.192	64 = 26	Small LAN
/27	255.255.255.224	32 = 25	Small LAN
/28	255.255.255.240	16 = 24	Small LAN
/29	255.255.255.248	8 = 2³	The smallest multi-host network
/30	255.255.255.252	4 = 2²	Point-to-point links (glue network)
/31	255.255.255.254	2 = 21	Point-to-point network (RFC 3021)
/32	255.255.255.255	1 = 20	Single host

Traffic between subnets is guaranteed by routers.

Network Configuration

Driver

Modern Linux distributions already include driver for most of LAN and WiFi devices. Otherwise try to upgrade your OS or compile and install a newer kernel.

Network tools

iproute2: IP Routing Utilities

nftables: Linux kernel packet control tool (firewall)

iputils: arping, clockdiff, ping, tracepath

Legacy tools

net-tools: configuration tools for Linux networking (arp, ifconfig, ipmaddr, iptunnel, mii-tool, nameif, netstat, plipconfig, rarp, route, slattach)

iptables: Linux kernel packet control tool (firewall)

Network Application Programs

Most common network application programs are collected in the inetutils package: dnsdomainname, ftp, ftpd, hostname, ifconfig, ping, rcp, rlogin, rlogind, rsh, rshd, talk, talkd, telnet, telnetd, whois

Bibliography

Linux Networking HOWTO