One of the best practical books is Network Warrior as mentioned on the class home page
For an interesting bit of historical interest, take a look at RFC 681 at http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc681.html -- such a proposal if acted on back in 1975 might have kept sockets and ports in Unix filename space
Many protocols can co-exist, but one that never made it: The much-ballyhooed ISO/OSI disappeared. It was a definitive 7 layer approach. GOSIP (Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile) was a flop (http://www.itl.nist.gov/fipspubs/fip146-2.htm); here's the official announcement from 1995 repealing the 1990 FIPS146-1 procurement requirement:
FIPS 146-1 adopted the Government Open Systems Interconnection Profile (GOSIP) which defines a common set of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocols that enable systems developed by different vendors to interoperate and the users of different applications on those systems to exchange information. This change modifies FIPS 146-1 by removing the requirement that Federal agencies specify GOSIP protocols when they acquire networking products and services and communications systems and services.
From the Wikipedia (http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deprecate):
Deprecation In computer software standards and documentation, deprecation is the gradual phasing-out of a software or programming language feature. A feature or method marked as deprecated is one which is considered obsolete, and whose use is discouraged.
Visualizing packets -- a tool to capture and display packets is very informative and instructional. Such tools include tcpdump and tshark (previously known as tethereal)
As a system administrator, one of your strongest debugging tools is tethereal. This allows you to actually see at a low level exact packet information.
The four protocol that system administrators interact with
Two main transport layer protocols are TCP and UDP
Physical network types
Ethernet addresses - unique 48-bit (6 byte) MAC (Media Access Control) values examples: 00:0b:db:3f:66:27, 00:30:48:2a:29:fd (if you are doing NAT, these are the addresses that are ``spoofed'' by a router if your IP is locked to a particular MAC. ``Spoof'' means in this case that it is using that MAC address although it is not the one assigned to that port at the factory.)
The logical view that a system administrator has of network connectivity is via an ``interface''.
You can see the interfaces on a machine with ifconfig -a
Linux:
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0B:DB:3F:66:27 inet addr:128.186.120.8 Bcast:128.186.120.255 Mask:255.255.255.0 UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1 RX packets:329465 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:33862 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:1000 RX bytes:86856566 (82.8 Mb) TX bytes:4174751 (3.9 Mb) Base address:0xecc0 Memory:ff8e0000-ff900000 lo Link encap:Local Loopback inet addr:127.0.0.1 Mask:255.0.0.0 UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1 RX packets:221671 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0 TX packets:221671 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 collisions:0 txqueuelen:0 RX bytes:23151065 (22.0 Mb) TX bytes:23151065 (22.0 Mb)
On Solaris:
root@opensolaris:~# ifconfig -a lo0: flags=2001000849mtu 8232 index 1 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 e1000g0: flags=201004843 mtu 1500 index 2 inet 10.0.2.15 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 10.0.2.255 ether 8:0:27:d3:84:8e root@solaris10:~$ ifconfig -a lo0: flags=2001000849 mtu 8232 index 1 inet 127.0.0.1 netmask ff000000 bge0: flags=1000843 mtu 1500 index 2 inet 128.186.120.53 netmask ffffff00 broadcast 128.186.120.255
On Windows, ipconfig /all does the same.
ARP lets you map IP to and from MAC addresses.
Here's an ARP table from a Linux machine (arp -a):
aegis.cs.fsu.edu (128.186.120.1) at 00:0B:BE:F7:51:88 [ether] on eth0 csdc03.cs.fsu.edu (128.186.120.179) at 00:30:48:2A:29:FD [ether] on eth0
ARP table from a Solaris 10 machine:
Net to Media Table: IPv4 Device IP Address Mask Flags Phys Addr ------ -------------------- --------------- ----- --------------- bge0 aegis.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:0b:be:f7:51:88 bge0 mail 255.255.255.255 00:30:48:27:18:3c bge0 sophie.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:0b:db:3f:66:27 bge0 titanic.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:30:48:76:22:de bge0 omicron 255.255.255.255 00:03:ba:2f:c3:45 bge0 brain.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:b0:d0:7b:8b:6d bge0 csdc02.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:30:48:27:43:2b bge0 csdc03.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:30:48:2a:29:fd bge0 tempest.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:90:27:e0:01:15 bge0 m114-8.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:04:75:e7:2f:d7 bge0 azaroman.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:0b:db:3f:65:73 bge0 ivy.cs.fsu.edu 255.255.255.255 00:0b:db:7e:ab:48
One from OpenSolaris:
Net to Media Table: IPv4 Device IP Address Mask Flags Phys Addr ------ -------------------- --------------- -------- --------------- e1000g0 10.0.2.15 255.255.255.255 SPLA 08:00:27:d3:84:8e e1000g0 10.0.2.2 255.255.255.255 o 52:54:00:12:35:02 e1000g0 10.0.2.3 255.255.255.255 o 52:54:00:12:35:03 e1000g0 BASE-ADDRESS.MCAST.NET 240.0.0.0 SM 01:00:5e:00:00:00
arp -a also works on Windows:
Interface: 128.186.121.35 Internet Address Physical Address Type 128.186.121.10 08-00-20-1d-f0-37 dynamic 128.186.121.36 00-a0-24-8e-31-06 dynamic 128.186.121.41 08-00-20-7d-4f-49 dynamic 128.186.121.83 00-c0-f0-16-4d-13 dynamic
You can also do an ``ARP ping'':
[root@localhost root]# /usr/sbin/arping csdc02.cs.fsu.edu ARPING 128.186.120.178 from 128.186.120.8 eth0 Unicast reply from 128.186.120.178 [00:30:48:27:43:2B] 2.029ms Unicast reply from 128.186.120.178 [00:30:48:27:43:2B] 1.092ms Unicast reply from 128.186.120.178 [00:30:48:27:43:2B] 0.987ms Unicast reply from 128.186.120.178 [00:30:48:27:43:2B] 0.978ms
Name service is typically done via UDP, not TCP, although both are supported.
The best fundamental RFC for name service is RFC1034 (http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1034.txt).
Here's a simple nameserver lookup, view from tshark:
Capturing on eth0 1 Frame 1 (74 bytes on wire, 74 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 10:27:59.500427000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000000000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000000000 seconds Frame Number: 1 Packet Length: 74 bytes Capture Length: 74 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:udp:dns Ethernet II, Src: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27), Dst: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Destination: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Source: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8), Dst: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Total Length: 60 [ ... ] Protocol: UDP (0x11) [ ... ] Source: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Destination: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 32778 (32778), Dst Port: domain (53) Source port: 32778 (32778) Destination port: domain (53) Length: 40 Checksum: 0x09a4 [correct] Domain Name System (query) Transaction ID: 0xdc56 Flags: 0x0100 (Standard query) 0... .... .... .... = Response: Message is a query .000 0... .... .... = Opcode: Standard query (0) .... ..0. .... .... = Truncated: Message is not truncated .... ...1 .... .... = Recursion desired: Do query recursively .... .... .0.. .... = Z: reserved (0) .... .... ...0 .... = Non-authenticated data OK: Non-authenticated data is unacceptable Questions: 1 Answer RRs: 0 Authority RRs: 0 Additional RRs: 0 Queries www.cs.fsu.edu: type A, class IN Name: www.cs.fsu.edu Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) 2 Frame 2 (90 bytes on wire, 90 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 10:27:59.500918000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000491000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000491000 seconds Frame Number: 2 Packet Length: 90 bytes Capture Length: 90 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:udp:dns Ethernet II, Src: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd), Dst: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Destination: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Source: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179), Dst: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Total Length: 76 [ ... ] Protocol: UDP (0x11) [ ... ] Source: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) Destination: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: domain (53), Dst Port: 32778 (32778) Source port: domain (53) Destination port: 32778 (32778) Length: 56 Checksum: 0xdf2c [correct] Domain Name System (response) Transaction ID: 0xdc56 Flags: 0x8580 (Standard query response, No error) 1... .... .... .... = Response: Message is a response .000 0... .... .... = Opcode: Standard query (0) .... .1.. .... .... = Authoritative: Server is an authority for domain .... ..0. .... .... = Truncated: Message is not truncated .... ...1 .... .... = Recursion desired: Do query recursively .... .... 1... .... = Recursion available: Server can do recursive queries .... .... .0.. .... = Z: reserved (0) .... .... ..0. .... = Answer authenticated: Answer/authority portion was not authenticated by the server .... .... .... 0000 = Reply code: No error (0) Questions: 1 Answer RRs: 1 Authority RRs: 0 Additional RRs: 0 Queries www.cs.fsu.edu: type A, class IN Name: www.cs.fsu.edu Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Answers www.cs.fsu.edu: type A, class IN, addr 192.168.23.10 Name: www.cs.fsu.edu Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 1 hour Data length: 4 Addr: 192.168.23.10
Here's another type of record, an MX (mail exchange) record:
tethereal -V port 53 Capturing on eth0 1 Frame 1 (70 bytes on wire, 70 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 10:31:00.104730000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000000000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000000000 seconds Frame Number: 1 Packet Length: 70 bytes Capture Length: 70 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:udp:dns Ethernet II, Src: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27), Dst: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Destination: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Source: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8), Dst: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: UDP (0x11) Header checksum: 0x4885 [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Destination: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 32778 (32778), Dst Port: domain (53) Source port: 32778 (32778) Destination port: domain (53) Length: 36 Checksum: 0xf824 [correct] Domain Name System (query) Transaction ID: 0x68be Flags: 0x0100 (Standard query) 0... .... .... .... = Response: Message is a query .000 0... .... .... = Opcode: Standard query (0) .... ..0. .... .... = Truncated: Message is not truncated .... ...1 .... .... = Recursion desired: Do query recursively .... .... .0.. .... = Z: reserved (0) .... .... ...0 .... = Non-authenticated data OK: Non-authenticated data is unacceptable Questions: 1 Answer RRs: 0 Authority RRs: 0 Additional RRs: 0 Queries cs.fsu.edu: type MX, class IN Name: cs.fsu.edu Type: MX (Mail exchange) Class: IN (0x0001) 2 Frame 2 (107 bytes on wire, 107 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 10:31:00.105676000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000946000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000946000 seconds Frame Number: 2 Packet Length: 107 bytes Capture Length: 107 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:udp:dns Ethernet II, Src: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd), Dst: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Destination: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Source: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179), Dst: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: UDP (0x11) Header checksum: 0x746c [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) Destination: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: domain (53), Dst Port: 32778 (32778) Source port: domain (53) Destination port: 32778 (32778) Length: 73 Checksum: 0xc6ba [correct] Domain Name System (response) Transaction ID: 0x68be Flags: 0x8580 (Standard query response, No error) 1... .... .... .... = Response: Message is a response .000 0... .... .... = Opcode: Standard query (0) .... .1.. .... .... = Authoritative: Server is an authority for domain .... ..0. .... .... = Truncated: Message is not truncated .... ...1 .... .... = Recursion desired: Do query recursively .... .... 1... .... = Recursion available: Server can do recursive queries .... .... .0.. .... = Z: reserved (0) .... .... ..0. .... = Answer authenticated: Answer/authority portion was not authenticated by the server .... .... .... 0000 = Reply code: No error (0) Questions: 1 Answer RRs: 1 Authority RRs: 0 Additional RRs: 1 Queries cs.fsu.edu: type MX, class IN Name: cs.fsu.edu Type: MX (Mail exchange) Class: IN (0x0001) Answers cs.fsu.edu: type MX, class IN, preference 10, mx mail.cs.fsu.edu Name: cs.fsu.edu Type: MX (Mail exchange) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 1 hour Data length: 9 Preference: 10 Mail exchange: mail.cs.fsu.edu Additional records mail.cs.fsu.edu: type A, class IN, addr 128.186.120.4 Name: mail.cs.fsu.edu Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 1 hour Data length: 4 Addr: 128.186.120.4
Here's a more complex lookup:
Capturing on eth0 1 Frame 1 (73 bytes on wire, 73 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 10:19:50.034677000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000000000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000000000 seconds Frame Number: 1 Packet Length: 73 bytes Capture Length: 73 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:udp:dns Ethernet II, Src: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27), Dst: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Destination: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Source: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8), Dst: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: UDP (0x11) Header checksum: 0xdb64 [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Destination: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: 32778 (32778), Dst Port: domain (53) Source port: 32778 (32778) Destination port: domain (53) Length: 39 Checksum: 0xce29 [correct] Domain Name System (query) Transaction ID: 0xf7f5 Flags: 0x0100 (Standard query) 0... .... .... .... = Response: Message is a query .000 0... .... .... = Opcode: Standard query (0) .... ..0. .... .... = Truncated: Message is not truncated .... ...1 .... .... = Recursion desired: Do query recursively .... .... .0.. .... = Z: reserved (0) .... .... ...0 .... = Non-authenticated data OK: Non-authenticated data is unacceptable Questions: 1 Answer RRs: 0 Authority RRs: 0 Additional RRs: 0 Queries www.yahoo.com: type A, class IN Name: www.yahoo.com Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) 2 Frame 2 (539 bytes on wire, 539 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 10:19:50.036833000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.002156000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.002156000 seconds Frame Number: 2 Packet Length: 539 bytes Capture Length: 539 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:udp:dns Ethernet II, Src: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd), Dst: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Destination: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Source: Supermic_2a:29:fd (00:30:48:2a:29:fd) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179), Dst: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: UDP (0x11) Header checksum: 0xa538 [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.179 (128.186.120.179) Destination: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) User Datagram Protocol, Src Port: domain (53), Dst Port: 32778 (32778) Source port: domain (53) Destination port: 32778 (32778) Length: 505 Checksum: 0xeafe [correct] Domain Name System (response) Transaction ID: 0xf7f5 Flags: 0x8180 (Standard query response, No error) 1... .... .... .... = Response: Message is a response .000 0... .... .... = Opcode: Standard query (0) .... .0.. .... .... = Authoritative: Server is not an authority for domain .... ..0. .... .... = Truncated: Message is not truncated .... ...1 .... .... = Recursion desired: Do query recursively .... .... 1... .... = Recursion available: Server can do recursive queries .... .... .0.. .... = Z: reserved (0) .... .... ..0. .... = Answer authenticated: Answer/authority portion was not authenticated by the server .... .... .... 0000 = Reply code: No error (0) Questions: 1 Answer RRs: 9 Authority RRs: 10 Additional RRs: 7 Queries www.yahoo.com: type A, class IN Name: www.yahoo.com Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Answers www.yahoo.com: type CNAME, class IN, cname www.yahoo.akadns.net Name: www.yahoo.com Type: CNAME (Canonical name for an alias) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 1 minute Data length: 22 Primary name: www.yahoo.akadns.net www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.52 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.52 www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.55 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.55 www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.34 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.34 www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.35 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.35 www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.37 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.37 www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.44 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.44 www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.45 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.45 www.yahoo.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 68.142.226.50 Name: www.yahoo.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 48 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 68.142.226.50 Authoritative nameservers akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns use1.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: use1.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns use9.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: use9.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns usw5.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: usw5.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns usw6.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: usw6.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns asia4.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 8 Name server: asia4.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns asia9.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 8 Name server: asia9.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns eur4.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: eur4.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns eur7.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: eur7.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns eur8.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: eur8.akadns.net akadns.net: type NS, class IN, ns usc4.akadns.net Name: akadns.net Type: NS (Authoritative name server) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 10 hours, 55 minutes, 5 seconds Data length: 7 Name server: usc4.akadns.net Additional records eur4.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 195.219.3.169 Name: eur4.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 1 day, 8 hours, 20 minutes, 19 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 195.219.3.169 eur7.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 193.108.94.88 Name: eur7.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 18 minutes, 34 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 193.108.94.88 eur8.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 62.4.69.96 Name: eur8.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 18 minutes, 34 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 62.4.69.96 usc4.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 69.45.78.3 Name: usc4.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 1 day, 12 hours, 53 minutes, 38 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 69.45.78.3 use1.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 67.72.17.134 Name: use1.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 7 hours, 19 minutes, 34 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 67.72.17.134 use9.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 81.52.250.134 Name: use9.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 20 hours, 59 minutes, 38 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 81.52.250.134 usw5.akadns.net: type A, class IN, addr 63.241.73.200 Name: usw5.akadns.net Type: A (Host address) Class: IN (0x0001) Time to live: 1 day, 15 hours, 13 minutes, 44 seconds Data length: 4 Addr: 63.241.73.200
TCP is inherently more complex than UDP: UDP just throws a packet on the wire. In an environment where speed is desirable, and small packetsize is not a detriment, and there is no particular need for sequencing, UDP can be quite useful.
TCP tries to be fast, and to also provide sequencing and losslessness, which fits in the general paradigm of a file as just a bytestream.
Let's look at a TCP connection over port 25, the SMTP MTA port:
[root@localhost root]# tshark -V port 25 Capturing on eth0 1 Frame 1 (74 bytes on wire, 74 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 11:48:35.009104000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000000000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000000000 seconds Frame Number: 1 Packet Length: 74 bytes Capture Length: 74 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:tcp Ethernet II, Src: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27), Dst: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Destination: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Source: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8), Dst: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: TCP (0x06) Header checksum: 0x39ee [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Destination: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Transmission Control Protocol, Src Port: 35433 (35433), Dst Port: smtp (25), Seq: 0, Ack: 0, Len: 0 Source port: 35433 (35433) Destination port: smtp (25) Sequence number: 0 (relative sequence number) Header length: 40 bytes Flags: 0x0002 (SYN) 0... .... = Congestion Window Reduced (CWR): Not set .0.. .... = ECN-Echo: Not set ..0. .... = Urgent: Not set ...0 .... = Acknowledgment: Not set .... 0... = Push: Not set .... .0.. = Reset: Not set .... ..1. = Syn: Set .... ...0 = Fin: Not set Window size: 5840 Checksum: 0x2105 [correct] Options: (20 bytes) Maximum segment size: 1460 bytes [ ... ] 2 Frame 2 (74 bytes on wire, 74 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 11:48:35.009722000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000618000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000618000 seconds Frame Number: 2 Packet Length: 74 bytes Capture Length: 74 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:tcp Ethernet II, Src: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c), Dst: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Destination: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Source: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4), Dst: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: TCP (0x06) Header checksum: 0x493b [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Destination: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Transmission Control Protocol, Src Port: smtp (25), Dst Port: 35433 (35433), Seq: 0, Ack: 1, Len: 0 Source port: smtp (25) Destination port: 35433 (35433) Sequence number: 0 (relative sequence number) Acknowledgement number: 1 (relative ack number) Header length: 40 bytes Flags: 0x0012 (SYN, ACK) 0... .... = Congestion Window Reduced (CWR): Not set .0.. .... = ECN-Echo: Not set ..0. .... = Urgent: Not set ...1 .... = Acknowledgment: Set .... 0... = Push: Not set .... .0.. = Reset: Not set .... ..1. = Syn: Set .... ...0 = Fin: Not set Window size: 5792 Checksum: 0x2559 [correct] Options: (20 bytes) Maximum segment size: 1460 bytes [ ... ] SEQ/ACK analysis This is an ACK to the segment in frame: 1 The RTT to ACK the segment was: 0.000618000 seconds 3 Frame 3 (66 bytes on wire, 66 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 11:48:35.009786000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000064000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.000682000 seconds Frame Number: 3 Packet Length: 66 bytes Capture Length: 66 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:tcp Ethernet II, Src: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27), Dst: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Destination: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Source: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8), Dst: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ .... ] Protocol: TCP (0x06) Header checksum: 0x39f5 [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Destination: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Transmission Control Protocol, Src Port: 35433 (35433), Dst Port: smtp (25), Seq: 1, Ack: 1, Len: 0 Source port: 35433 (35433) Destination port: smtp (25) Sequence number: 1 (relative sequence number) Acknowledgement number: 1 (relative ack number) Header length: 32 bytes Flags: 0x0010 (ACK) 0... .... = Congestion Window Reduced (CWR): Not set .0.. .... = ECN-Echo: Not set ..0. .... = Urgent: Not set ...1 .... = Acknowledgment: Set .... 0... = Push: Not set .... .0.. = Reset: Not set .... ..0. = Syn: Not set .... ...0 = Fin: Not set Window size: 5840 [ ... ] SEQ/ACK analysis This is an ACK to the segment in frame: 2 The RTT to ACK the segment was: 0.000064000 seconds 4 Frame 4 (101 bytes on wire, 101 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 11:48:35.023964000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.014178000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.014860000 seconds Frame Number: 4 Packet Length: 101 bytes Capture Length: 101 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:tcp:smtp Ethernet II, Src: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c), Dst: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Destination: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Source: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4), Dst: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: TCP (0x06) Header checksum: 0x03ce [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Destination: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Transmission Control Protocol, Src Port: smtp (25), Dst Port: 35433 (35433), Seq: 1, Ack: 1, Len: 35 Source port: smtp (25) Destination port: 35433 (35433) Sequence number: 1 (relative sequence number) Next sequence number: 36 (relative sequence number) Acknowledgement number: 1 (relative ack number) Header length: 32 bytes Flags: 0x0018 (PSH, ACK) 0... .... = Congestion Window Reduced (CWR): Not set .0.. .... = ECN-Echo: Not set ..0. .... = Urgent: Not set ...1 .... = Acknowledgment: Set .... 1... = Push: Set .... .0.. = Reset: Not set .... ..0. = Syn: Not set .... ...0 = Fin: Not set Window size: 5792 (scaled) Checksum: 0x44e4 [correct] Options: (12 bytes) NOP NOP Time stamp: tsval 3481428865, tsecr 9604399 Simple Mail Transfer Protocol Response: 220 mail.cs.fsu.edu ESMTP Postfix\r\n Response code: 220 Response parameter: mail.cs.fsu.edu ESMTP Postfix 5 Frame 5 (66 bytes on wire, 66 bytes captured) Arrival Time: Jan 31, 2006 11:48:35.024014000 Time delta from previous packet: 0.000050000 seconds Time since reference or first frame: 0.014910000 seconds Frame Number: 5 Packet Length: 66 bytes Capture Length: 66 bytes Protocols in frame: eth:ip:tcp Ethernet II, Src: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27), Dst: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Destination: Supermic_27:18:3c (00:30:48:27:18:3c) Source: DellEsgP_3f:66:27 (00:0b:db:3f:66:27) Type: IP (0x0800) Internet Protocol, Src: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8), Dst: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Version: 4 Header length: 20 bytes [ ... ] Protocol: TCP (0x06) Header checksum: 0x39f4 [correct] Good: True Bad : False Source: 128.186.120.8 (128.186.120.8) Destination: 128.186.120.4 (128.186.120.4) Transmission Control Protocol, Src Port: 35433 (35433), Dst Port: smtp (25), Seq: 1, Ack: 36, Len: 0 Source port: 35433 (35433) Destination port: smtp (25) Sequence number: 1 (relative sequence number) Acknowledgement number: 36 (relative ack number) Header length: 32 bytes Flags: 0x0010 (ACK) 0... .... = Congestion Window Reduced (CWR): Not set .0.. .... = ECN-Echo: Not set ..0. .... = Urgent: Not set ...1 .... = Acknowledgment: Set .... 0... = Push: Not set .... .0.. = Reset: Not set .... ..0. = Syn: Not set .... ...0 = Fin: Not set Window size: 5840 Checksum: 0x53be [correct] Options: (12 bytes) NOP NOP Time stamp: tsval 9604400, tsecr 3481428865 SEQ/ACK analysis This is an ACK to the segment in frame: 4 The RTT to ACK the segment was: 0.000050000 seconds
strace and tshark are two of the system administrator's best tools.
ping -- can do both UDP pings and ICMP pings
traceroute -- may be useful to see where a network blockage might be
tcpdump -- similiar to tshark (in fact, tshark uses some of the libraries from tcpdump) (libpcap)
netstat -- lets you see network status. netstat -rn is particularly useful since it can let you see the routing table
route -- lets you manipulate routing tables
route add -net 128.186.5.0 netmask 255.255.255.0 gw 128.186.121.41 (Linux) route add net 128.186.5.0 128.186.121.41 (SunOS/Solaris)
This has been an active area for networkers (with lots and lots of protocols such as RIP-2, IGRP, EIGRP, IS-IS, MOSPF, DVMRP, PIM, and so on), but increasing irrelevant for system administrators, who are largely using ``static'' routing.
There are at least three different ways to implement ``static'' routes:
This document specifies an alternative router discovery method using a pair of ICMP [10] messages, for use on multicast links. It eliminates the need for manual configuration of router addresses and is independent of any specific routing protocol.
On Solaris, in.routed also understands ICMP router discovery. On Linux, it is still done via a separate rdisc daemon.
traceroute is also useful program to see exactly how packets are traversing the network
Finally, tcpdump/tshark are also useful to make sure traffic is proceeding well
In the past, firewalls were not nearly as important as they are today, particularly for interior machines. While it has been generally recognized for a long time that firewalls were important for outward facing machines, with the proliferation of malware, it is now conventional wisdom that one should enable firewalls on virtually all non-isolated machines.
On the Linux side, this generally means running iptables.
The configuration for iptables is generally found in places like /etc/sysconfig/iptables:
# Firewall configuration written by redhat-config-securitylevel # Manual customization of this file is not recommended. *filter :INPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :FORWARD ACCEPT [0:0] :OUTPUT ACCEPT [0:0] :RH-Firewall-1-INPUT - [0:0] -A INPUT -j RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -A FORWARD -j RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -i lo -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p icmp --icmp-type any -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p 50 -j ACCEPT # IPsec ESP -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p 51 -j ACCEPT # IPsec AH -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited COMMIT
For instance, if you wanted to let this machine serve SMTP, you could add a rule:
... -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p 51 -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -p tcp --destination-port 25 -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -m state --state ESTABLISHED,RELATED -j ACCEPT -A RH-Firewall-1-INPUT -j REJECT --reject-with icmp-host-prohibited ...
Solaris uses ipfilter, an older scheme from BSD. W2K8 now has an "advanced firewall".