2. 2
ABSTRACT
As time goes by we find out that there are always new technologies evolving
in our day-to-day-basis, these new technologies are developed for the main
reasons of either keeping up with other technologies out there or for the main
purpose of having more technologies in the future.
By the end of my project I am hoping to achieve an understanding of the
different architecture provided by IPv4 and IPv6 and build my knowledge on
how both version of the IP address work within a virtual network environment
and if there are any benefits we can have if we start using IPv6 for our
network towards the future.
I will be currying out tests against both IP Versions to see if there are any
major differences regarding the performance towards a local area network
and if there is time will try and run few test against the Internet to understand
how both IP Versions are able to communicate with other online servers.
3. 3
ATTESTATION
I understand the nature of plagiarism, and I am aware of the University’s
policy on this.
I certify that this dissertation reports original work by me during my University
project except for the following references presented in Harvard Referencing
format and any application names or owners.
Signature Jamal Ali Date 24/03/2014
4. 4
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Over the past few months I have received support and encouragement from a
great number of individuals who helped me curry on with my project by
providing me with great support that helped me a lot in completing many
tasks. Dr. Gaurav Malik has been my supervisor throughout the months and I
would like to dedicate this to him as he has been a great guidance that has
made this a thoughtful and rewarding journey.
I would also like to thank Francis for his support over the past few months as
he provided me with a lot of ideas towards my implementation tasks and also
allowing me to use his lab space to implement my project.
Finally, I would like to thank all the students who have helped me by giving
me support and advice on certain tasks and also thank my family for being
patient with me and allowing me to have this opportunity to go to university
and increase my knowledge towards the subject I have been focusing on over
the past few years.
5. 5
TABLE OF CONTENT
ABSTRACT 2
ATTESTATION 3
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 4
CHAPTER ONE 7
INTRODUCTION 7
AIMS & OBJECTIVES 7
RELEVANT LEGAL, ETHICAL, AND SOCIAL ISSUES 8
PROJECT OVERVIEW 8
CHAPTER TWO 10
INITIAL RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW 10
WHAT IS AN IP ADDRESS 10
HOW DOES AN IP ADDRESS WORK 10
IP VERSION 4 12
IP VERSION 6 14
IPV4 & IPV6 HEADER COMPARISON 16
CHAPTER THREE 19
METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW 19
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION TASK 19
SOFTWARE USED 20
MAIN CLIENT SERVER 20
CLIENTS OPERATING SYSTEM 21
CLIENTS VIRTUAL MACHINE 21
TESTING TOOLS 21
PSPING V2.01 21
ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE 22
MICROSOFT EXCEL 22
NETWORK DIAGRAM 22
CHAPTER FOUR 24
IMPLEMENTATION 24
PRACTICAL EXPLAINED 24
PART ONE – SETTING UP LOCAL AREA NETWORK 24
PART TWO – RUNNING TESTS ON THE LOCAL AREA NETWORKS 24
INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING THE LOCAL AREA NETWORK 25
INSTALLING VMWARE 10 25
INSTALLING WINDOWS SERVER 2008 28
INSTALLING WINDOWS 7 FOR CLIENTS 32
CONFIGURING THE SERVER 33
ADDING A CLIENT TO THE SERVER 38
HIGH LEVEL NETWORK DIAGRAM 39
TESTING THE LOCAL AREA NETWORK 40
PSPING LATENCY & BANDWIDTH TEST 40
PSPING LATENCY TEST RESULTS 43
PSPING BANDWIDTH TEST RESULTS 43
6. 6
CHAPTER FIVE 45
EVALUATION 45
CONCLUSION 47
TOWARDS THE FUTURE 47
CHAPTER SEVEN 48
APPENDIX 48
BIBLIOGRAPHY 48
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN 50
GANTT CHART 53
INITIAL PROPOSAL FORM 54
TURNITIN 55
MEETINGS 56
7. 7
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
IP also known as Internet Protocol deals with the format of packets and the
addressing for different computer systems to communicate over a network,
most networks will use TCP short for Transmission Control Protocol to
establish some kind of virtual connection from the destination and the source.
Till now there are only two versions of IP addresses, IPv4 and IPv6 the newer
version that have been developed for better performance and a larger
address space.
Throughout a brief research I found out that IPv4 uses 32 bits for addressing
different devices to the internet, this shows that this IP version can support
around 4.29 billion different IP addresses which might seem a lot but a lot of
these IP addresses have been assigned by different organisations, this is
where IPv6 comes in as it helps utilizes 128 bit internet addresses which is
therefore can support a much larger IP addresses. This is why the use of
hexadecimal system is required to allow the use of IPv6 where on the other
hand IPv4 only uses binary.
My aim for this project is to use the research and knowledge that I will gain
throughout the project to test the performance between the two different IP
versions and to do this I am going to implement a Local Area Network using
IPv4 architecture and another Local Area Network using the IPv6 architecture
and see how they are different. To illustrate my final results I am going to use
graphs to support my arguments and findings of my final results.
AIMS & OBJECTIVES
By the end of my project I am hoping to achieve an understanding of the
different architecture provided by IPv4 and IPv6 and build my knowledge on
how both version of the IP address work within a virtual network and what are
the different benefits we can have if we start using IPv6 for our network.
The following are the main objectives I will be focusing on throughout my
project:
1. To carry out research in the area of IPv4 and IPv6 architecture.
2. To investigate Legal , Ethical, Social issues pertaining to this project.
3. To design & implement a Local Area Network (LAN) using the IP
version 4 addressing.
4. To design & implement a Local Area Network (LAN) using the IP
version 6 addressing
5. To test and evaluate on the performance of both IP versing within the
two different LANs
6. Investigate future development in the area of my project
8. 8
RELEVANT LEGAL, ETHICAL, AND SOCIAL ISSUES
There are certain Ethical and Social issues that will focus on my topic if I got
people personal data involved however, my project will be comparing IPv4
and IPv6 using two separate network one running IPv4 and the other running
IPv6 that I will implement using the labs available around the university
campus in Bekton.
For me to be able to implement the networks in the lab I will have to ask for
permission to do so and this is where the legal issue comes in. I will be
installing two different networks using the university computers and for me to
do this I Will have to have permission from the administrators who are in
charge of the lab rooms to be able to implement my work before starting my
project, this is why I am going to write up a document that highlights the
different tasks and activities I will be using the lab for and get it signed by the
administrator to approve my implementation side of the project.
I will also need to consider the sources that I will use to download the
softwares that I will be using for my implementation parts, because I am going
to be using the labs within my University, all the softwares that I will be using
must be downloaded legally so I can install them with the right permissions
this will not be a problem as I am going to use the free resources provided by
my University which allows me to download all the software’s I need for free
therefore I will not need to purchase any products. All my software’s will be
downloaded from an organization known as OnTheHub which provide all the
software I need for free as long as I am a student within the eligible
universities.
PROJECT OVERVIEW
In this part of my introduction I am going to cover an overview of what each
chapter is going to cover. The whole project is going to be split into seven
chapters where I will start with the introduction of the project and give you an
idea of the aims and objectives of my entire project, also I will give a brief
history about my project and the kind of issues that comes with it.
The second chapter is where I will start my initial research literature review
where I will be doing the research for my project. In this chapter I will be
documenting all the sources of literature that will help me find information
about my project and the kind of things people have been investigating and
already covered relevant to the project.
Chapter three is where I will start documenting the methodology of my
practical and what this means is, in this chapter I will be currying out a brief
description of all the material I will be using to help me start my
implementation task for my project. In this chapter I will be providing you with
information regarding:
9. 9
§ Implementation requirements
§ Software used
§ Testing tools
§ Additional software
§ Network Diagram
All the information above will be used to simplify my lab work, as I will have an
idea of the kind of hardware and software needed before I even start the
practical. The network diagram is simply used to give you a visual
documentation of what my lab will look like.
After I have all the design completed in chapter four I will then use that to start
my implementation where I will start installing and configuring my local area
network using the virtual machine software and setting the right network
properties. The installation and configuration of my lab work will be
documented using plenty of screenshots of some of the important steps I will
have to go through, when I finish with my set up I will then test the local area
network against both IP versions to compare the performance.
In chapter five and six I will finally start my evaluation discussing my findings
and talk about how I managed to relate my research to my aim and objectives
from the beginning of my project. I will also use my testing results and some
of the information that I documented throughout chapter two to talk about the
future and if it will be necessary to focus on the important aspects of the
project. This will be done in the conclusion to give you an overview idea of
what I think about this entire project.
10. 10
CHAPTER TWO
INITIAL RESEARCH LITERATURE REVIEW
From this section onwards I have to investigate sources of literature that
covers the area of my project. This will help me to create new knowledge and
understanding of the ongoing investigation of my project.
Writing up the literature review is much more focused than creating a
summary of some of the relevant literature that I will be using, it will help me
gain knowledge on my project and provide an overview of some of the issues
my field will cover and see if there are any similarities between them, this will
help to justify my research questions and give me ideas of the things I should
be looking for when undertaking my project.
What is an IP Address
In this present generation the use of the World Wide Web is high due to the
kind of resources available for users to allow them to purchase and sell
products, streaming media from video to audio, communication is a major use
for us to be able to communicate with other users connected to the web.
However, to be able to perform these tasks we need to understand the
architecture of how we are able to perform all these tasks with a matter of little
time.
The use of IP addresses non of the above will work due to the fact that IP
addresses allow information to travel across the Internet, this is simply done
by assigning any device that is connected to a network with a unique IP
address therefor information can then be able to reach each device that is
connected. (Bob Ross, 2012)
How does an IP Address Work
To understand the architecture further I will discuss the journey that takes
place when we connect devices together on the network. When a message is
been sent from a device using the Internet we don’t see what happens when
we send the message and retrieve it back. The journey of the message is
simply done by breaking the message into packets where each packet travel
in its own route to reach the destination. Each packet contains a header that
contains a unique IP address and the format of the IP address. So a message
can contain many packets, this is where a router comes in as it simply reads
the header of each packet to determine the source and destination and be
able to forward these packets to its rightful destination. (Bob Ross, 2012)
We also need to understand some of the methods use to allow the
communication to take place these could be methods such as the “Identifier”
also known as a bit string that has the job of identifying the type of source
from each packets and if it is compatible and readable with the other host.
(B. Carpenter, J. Crowcroft, Y. Rekhter, 1997)
11. 11
Another method that is involved is known as the “Locator”, another bit string
that simply helps the packets get delivered to the right location. It allows the
host to connect to the right destination on a network topology based on the
routing tables. (B. Carpenter, J. Crowcroft, Y. Rekhter, 1997)
You will also ask yourself how does the journey of a web address work and
the answer is simple as the Internet contain many servers that stores the
mapping of a web address that are able to convert web addresses into they
assigned IP addresses. These servers are also known as DNS servers which
has the task of translating web addresses to its assigned IP address. (Bob
Ross, 2012)
We now have briefly discussed how a message goes from one point to
another but I still did not cover the way we assign an IP address for any new
device that might connect to a network. Many devices will either have a
dynamic or static IP address that will get assigned to, the differences between
static and dynamic is a static address simply means assigning an IP address
to a device by an administrator via the network settings. This can cause
issues within the network if the user has no knowledge of how the TCP/IP
protocol works and for that reason it is rare for user to use static IP
addresses. This is why a lot of network administrators use Dynamic IP
addresses that uses DHCP short for Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
that can be found on routers or for a larger scale network they might have a
DHCP server. (Crawford, Stephanie, HowStuffWorks.com Contributors,
2001)
When it comes to assigning IP Addresses using the Dynamic IP address
method I introduce the leasing system and the way it works it assigns devices
with their IP addresses and works the same for every device that connects to
a network running a DHCP system. This works along side with your router, so
when ever a device goes on that is connected to the router the router will
automatically assign the device with an IP address which will allow the device
to communicate over the network. This also mean that every time the device
connects to the router it will change the IP address which mean each IP
address is active for a limited time. This might cause an IP address conflict
however, technology is so advanced that this issue gets repaired
automatically without the users knowledge of this happening. (Crawford,
Stephanie, HowStuffWorks.com Contributors, 2001)
I will be using Dynamic IP addresses for my implementation so I would like to
discuss how does the method work step by step to give you and myself with a
more of an understanding about the method. Lets focus on the main keyword
Dynamic and what this mean is rather than having a static (fixed) IP address
this method allows the network the device is connected to, to retrieve an IP
address from a subnet (pool) found within the network.
12. 12
Below I focus on the process of how this might work:
§ A client uses a device to connect to the internet.
§ To proceed from the previous task, the network a DHCP discover
message will ask for the IP address of the device that is trying to make
a connection.
§ This is when the DHCP server allocates or in other words leases an IP
address which will be allocated to the device. This is known as the
DHCP offer message.
§ Following from the previous process, the device which is the DHCP
client takes the IP address offer and sends a response back as a
DHCP request message that’s highlights that the IP address has been
allocated and approved.
§ Therefor the DHCP server is updated with the new IP address that has
been assigned to the device and any other information that might come
along with it.
§ Finally the device accepts the IP address reflecting on the lease term.
As highlighted previously a DHCP server simply renews the lease
automatically with an administrator having to worry anything about assigning
IP addresses to each device that might be connected to the network. The IP
address lease will eventually expire and if that decides to happen which will
do, the device will automatically get assigned a new IP address using the
same DHCP protocols. All the process discussed is done behind the eyes of
users so we wouldn’t be aware of the steps as it is hidden however we can
still check if this actually works by simply running some network commands
which will allow us to find out information about IP addresses and how they
assigned.
IP Version 4
Looking through some of the resources covering the area of my project one of
the main issues the Internet deals with is the IP side. IPv4 is known to provide
a fare amount of small address spaces which is due to run out very soon, this
is reflected on the architecture of IPv4 as it only uses 32 bits for the IP
address. This evolves core issue where the 32-bit address space is too small
for the current and future size network. Resolving this problem is a major
concern, this is why larger address spaces needs to be introduced to
overcome this issue, and that is why most IT professions started developing
studies on the idea of developing the new IPv6 architecture. (S.Nagaraj,
B.Kishore, G.Narasinga Rao, M.Ramachandra, 2010)
The IPv4 address is divided into four octets of eight bits separated by dots to
make reading easier for example a host might have the IP address of
192.168.0.1, this host IP address is used to identify your computer and allow
other computers on the network to identify yours. We can think of it as a
telephone number, telephone numbers have area codes where IP addresses
have network IDs to help separate and organise your network into logical
13. 13
parts. Originally all networks where divided into classes where these classes
went from class A through class E and depending on the class the network
will determine how many computers are within the network. These networks
can then be broken into smaller parts which is known as Subnetting, IPv4 sins
it was originally introduced have been improved and developed this is why the
system of classes have limited the way the network could be designed sins
then class-less networks have been added which allowed us to change how
the networks can be designed simply by introducing the method of
supernetting which combines subnets together. (B. Carpenter, J. Crowcroft,
Y. Rekhter, 1997)
In this section I will be discussing the IPv4 address structure even though
IPv6 networking is available and started to be used by many organizations out
there, IPv4 addresses will still be available for a very long time as it is the
default IP version for the Internet. It is known to be important to understand
what makes up an IPv4 address, when IPv4 was first developed they
introduced the concept of class-full networking even though the concept have
become deprecated over the years, it is still important to understand how it
works to have a greater understanding of how IPv4 works.
(B. Carpenter, J. Crowcroft, Y. Rekhter, 1997)
To understand how IPv4 protocol works we need to consider that the IP and
the TCP protocols combine together to provide a complete network solution,
TCP is responsible for keeping messages in order and transmitting data when
lost while the IP protocol is simply responsible for sending packets from one
host to another. (B. Carpenter, J. Crowcroft, Y. Rekhter, 1997)
Looking at some of the research regarding the security features of IPv4 I
firstly found out that this version of the IP address was developed with no
consideration towards security due to the reason of the end-to-end model.
(Jalan Gadong, 2008) IPv4 simply relies on each host for security and for
that reasons IPv4 has the following security threats that might take place:
§ DOS also known as Denial of Service Attacks deals with hiding
computer resources from a client this can be done by flooding the client
with repeated requests which can cause unnecessary network traffic.
§ Some codes/ programs can also lead to Viruses and Worms
distribution which develop an infection that can be passed on by
another infected host to another.
§ MITM also known as Man-in-the-middle attacks where a host can act
as an attacker and be able to read, insert or even modify a message
traffic between two hosts of the radar of the other hosts. This is caused
for the reason that IPv4 doesn’t have much focus on the authentication
mechanism.
§ Another security threat known as Fragmentation attacks which can
simply cause your computer to crash and this is done by simply pinging
a host with many small fragmented ICMP packets which when received
by the targeted host it will exceed the maximum assigned size for an IP
14. 14
datagram.
§ Users can also scan for a port allowing them to listen to that specific
port and determine the kind of activities using the signal. This is known
as Port Scanning and Reconnaissance and for the reason of having
small address space in IPv4 this can easily be done if you are a
hacker.
§ Finally an interesting attack known as the ARP Poison allows users to
forward a fake/ spoofed message to a network which will cause the
network MAC address to have and IP address of a different node this
will cause any traffic performed by that IP address get forwarded to the
attackers location.
(Jalan Gadong, 2008)
like any threats that might evolve one of the important tasks is to develop
some kind of feature that will overcome all the issues discussed, one feature
introduced is known to be the use of IPSec and this helps provide encrypted
communication between hosts however, it is an optional feature that’s why
when implementing a network we must consider the extra security features
that are needed to make the network more secure. (Jalan Gadong, 2008)
As already been covered each host on the network must have an IP address
to allow communication happen between each other, the IP address will
simply help the host provide services that will terminate packets and by the
help of routers the packets will be forwarded to any other host or router that is
connected to the internet. (B. Carpenter, J. Crowcroft, Y. Rekhter, 1997)
IP Version 6
Looking at the previous paragraph we can see that IPv4 will be replaced soon
with the new IPv6 due to the main reasons that IPv6 has a wider range of
addresses that will support a wider range of host towards the future. However,
there are other advantages that IPv6 will provide our network enviorment.
Reading through Vangie Beal brief description on WebOpedia which discuss
the differences between both IP versions I managed to gain an understanding
that IPv6 is designed to upgrade the current IPv4 architecture as it will allow
the internet to expand the number of host connected to the internet and the
amount of data traffic transmitted. (V.Beal, 2011)
Bellow I have provided a list of more interesting features that IPv6 which I
found on WebOpedia:
§ NAT (Network Address Translation) has been removed from the IPv6
architecture.
§ Automatic configuration.
§ No more private address collisions
§ Provides a more suffiecient multicast routing.
§ The newfangled anycastrouting.
§ Simpler header format.
15. 15
§ More efficient routing.
§ True quality of service (QoS), also known as "flow labeling".
§ Authentication is built in which provides privacy support.
§ Flexible options and extensions
§ Easier administration, the use of DHCP is not needed no more.
(C.Schroder, 2006)
The table you see above you demonstrates the main differences between
IPv4 and IPv6 (M.Khairil Sailan, R.Hassan, 2009) this will help me
understand the areas I will be looking at when it comes to testing the two
different IP versions and see if the table above highlighted the accurate
differences.
The security implications of the basic of IPv6 protocols are in general are
similar to the security issues found on IPv4 however, a number of factors
make the IPv6 protocol sweet challenging from a security standpoint. IPv6
implementation is less mature, security products such as firewalls and
network intrusion detection systems has less support for the IPv6 protocols,
also compared with IPv6 products IPv4 products generally offer better security
features either in terms of the variety of products, the variety of features or
performance. This might make it difficult to enforce exactly the same policies
in IPv6 networks as in IPv4 networks. (Jalan Gadong, 2008)
A number of transition and coexisting technologies have been developed to
on the deployment of IPv6 and the coexisting of IPv6 with IPv4 protocols,
these technologies will however increase complexity and finally technical
personnel have less confidence with the IPv6 protocols then with their IPv4
counterparts. (CPNI VIEWPOINT, 2011)
16. 16
Another issue found that IPv6 is not backward compatible with IPv4 this
means at least during the transition period, IPv6 will need to operate in
parallel with IPv4, this can lead to a number of security and operational
Implications this is why Dual-Stack has been introduced. Dual-Stack allows
IPv4 and IPv6 to work alongside of each other to increases the network
complexity this is because Dual-Stack nodes need to implement two different
sets of the protocols, network administrators will also need to configure two
sets of protocols, security admins need to enforce security policies for two
sets of protocols etc… (Jalan Gadong, 2008)
At core routers we also need to understand that support of both IP versions
generally means two instances of routing protocols and routing tables must be
supported. This will increase the complexity of the network and the attack
surface and may also increase hardware requirements. (CPNI VIEWPOINT,
2011)
Many applications currently do not support IPv6 although some applications
might of took this into consideration and started to incorporate IPv6 support
which make them less mature then they IPv4 only counterparts, it is very likely
that the applications will reveal a number of vulnerabilities before their
maturity matches that of IPv4 applications. Note that applications security is
not likely to be affected by IPv6 itself but by a lack of secure IPv6 software
development practices as it is still the case in IPv4. (CPNI VIEWPOINT, 2011)
There are many other resources out there that has been developed which
looks at the development of IPv4 and IPv6 which I have noted down on the
bibliography page that I will use for my project to help me proceed on the right
path. Till now I haven’t found many resources of the different when it comes to
performance and this is why I am going to design and implement two different
networks that will run the two different IP versions and using the information
above, I will test different traffic and see if there are major similarities or are
there entirely different. (CPNI VIEWPOINT, 2011)
IPv4 & IPv6 Header Comparison
It is already known that the IPv6 header is different than the IPv4 header
structure this is due to some fields where being maintained, some fields have
been changed, some fields have been added and some fields have been
removed. To understand this more I have been doing research into to the
header comparisons where I was able to use the following image to
demonstrate the differences between both IP versions. (Visar Uruqi. 2008)
REF:
http://343networks.files.wor
dpress.com/2010/06/ipv4-
ipv6-header.gif
17. 17
So now you can see the IPv4 and IPv6 header structure but lets compare
both structures side by side so we can have more of an understanding of the
differences between both versions. From the image I have provided on the
previous page we can see by glance that there are some aspects which are
the same and at the same time some things have been changed, right away it
should be obvious by looking at the image example that the IPv4 header
structure looks more complicated than the IPv6 header structure due to the
reason that IPv4 header structure has more fields than the IPv6 header
structure hence the fields on red have been removed on the IPv6 header
structure. The fields that kept the same are highlighted as yellow as
demonstrated on the diagram. (Visar Uruqi. 2008)
When looking at the fields on blue we can see that they almost the same
however, they naming and positioning have been changed within the IPv6
header, also we can see that the IPv6 has a field that has been added called
the Flow Label and it is also obvious comparing side by side that the IPv6
header is a bit larger than the IPv4 due to the fact that the IPv6 address space
has been increased from 32bits to 128bits. (Visar Uruqi. 2008)
We can see the differences but I have done more research into the
differences to give me a more greater idea of some of the important fields and
why they are different from each other as shown on the list below. (Visar
Uruqi. 2008)
§ First of all, the IPv6 Header is a fixed length of 40-bytes where the IPv4
Header was always considered a variable length of 20-bytes minimum
but 20-bytes+ for different options.
§ IPv4 Options now have become IPv6 Extension Headers which are not
considered part of the fixed length IPv6 Header and they are more
easily to recognize by the forwarding devices in between.
§ Sins the IPv4 Header was variable there had to be a Header Length
field that was indicated as to the size of the IPv4 Header for any
particular packet, of course IPv6 does not have to worry about this as it
has a fixed 40-byte header.
§ The IPv4 Total Length becomes the IPv6 Payload Length and one big
difference there is the IPv4 Total Length also included the size of the
IPv4 Header where the IPv6 Payload Length only includes the
information following the fixed 40-byte IPv6 Header.
§ The IPv4 Precedence and Type of Service (TOS) bits become the IPv6
Traffic Class field, it also known that till this date both versions use
different services for there definition.
18. 18
§ IPv4 Flags and Flag Offset have been eliminated from the IPv6
Header. The IPv4 Flags where mostly used for fragmentation which
that concept have been changed a lot in the IPv6 environment.
§ The IPv4 Time to Live field now becomes the IPv6 Hop Limit, originally
the IPv4 Time to Live was thought to be like clock ticks or seconds as
the packets travel through the network and the seconds ticked away
where it was considered intractable to keep track of time in that matter
in a live network so the Hop Limit concept is also the way IPv4 thinks of
it today.
§ The IPv4 Protocol field becomes the IPv6 Next Header field, so as I
mentioned few points back that IPv4 Options becoming IPv6 Extension
Headers, the Next Header field indicates directly that that’s the case or
IPv6 Next Header values also go inside the IPv4 Protocol values for
TCP and UDP for example a value of six and seventeen respectively.
§ The IPv4 Header Checksum field has also been eliminated from the
IPv6 Header. When IPv4 was designed originally the length where
considered very unreliable even to the extent they might corrupt the IP
Header, so what happened with IPv6 the length are considered more
reliable and therefor a Checksum field is not required within the Header
of IPv6.
§ Of course as mentioned many times before the addresses have been
increased from 32-bits for IPv4 to 128-bits for IPv6.
§ Overall the address length increased by 4x but the Header length only
2x.
19. 19
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY OVERVIEW
This chapter is going to be based on a real life experiment of a small network
setup using a virtual machine to help us develop a good working environment
to understand the differences between both IP versions I have been
discussing. Having some kind of computer network setup will allow us to be
able to perform testing tasks and also be able to communicate effectively
using different hardware and software at the same time. This allows us to take
away any communication barriers and will also save a lot of costs towards the
future when it comes to upgrading your network components to keep up with
the upcoming new technologies.
The main objective of this chapter is to develop and describe the best
standard methods for delivering a network plan based on the topics discussed
on the previous chapters. I will use this chapter to produce and present a
documentation that will carry out a network drawing plan based on the topic
covering every components that I will recommend for them to use. I will have
to justify my choices of the technology that I will be using and also talk about
some of the benefits and any drawbacks I might face during the
implementation procedures.
As a network administrator I will have to use all my knowledge to construct
and manage various technologies towards developing a working network plan
that we can look at and understand before actually building the final system. I
will have to make sure that my documentation covers the steps need to take
place to set up a Local Area Networks (LAN) configuration. This will help me
understand some of the implementation features and cost that I will face on
the process of setting up the new network. It will also help me consider what
is the important technologies the new system will need to meet the
requirements, also I will have to outline the installation process of the
hardware and software that will be used.
REQUIREMENTS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION TASK
Based on my topic which is comparing IPv4 and IPv6, I am going to take us
through some of the hardware and software requirements needed to accomplish
my testing phase. As for the moment I am only going to base this towards a small
network consisting of one virtual machine where I will install a server and two
clients. This simple set up will allow me to connect the two clients to the server
within the virtual machine and also be able to configure the server and clients so
they are able to communicate with each other with no barriers.
Below I also listed some of the software I am going to use to accomplish my
testing phase:
§ Windows 7 Professional 64bits
§ Windows Server 2008 R2
§ VM Ware 10
20. 20
SOFTWARE USED
Below I will provide a list of all the hardware and software that I believe will
provide my experiment with a good network environment performance.
MAIN CLIENT SERVER
A server is no different from a typical desktop PC.
While almost any PC that meets the minimum
hardware requirements can run the server
operating system which will allow them to perform
many things efficiency. The reason why this server
will be needed is because it will provide me with a
friendly platform to allow me to manage, store,
send and process data all the time while the server
is active and running. This particular server will
offer us with features not typically found in a desktop which are mentioned on
the following paragraphs.
That’s why I recommend Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2. This
Operating System is designed to deliver, powerful functionality that adds
better performance for simplifying your network operations and improving
your network environment. It provides a lot of features that will support the
streamline of your data centre operations.
I think it will be great to use Microsoft Windows Server 2008 R2 as it
provides many features such as Server Core installations which provides
minimal environment for specific roles. This includes simplifying
management of the server, updating and patching, and there is less threats
on the surface as the machines footprint is designed to have number of files
to support it, which also has been reduced.
Installing this software in your server will also have the features to act as a
DNS Server and this feature will provide services that will allow the
organisation to manage their sites and other Internet domains names and the
DNS Server will use the domain name in the Internet and will translate the
user input domain name into the machine IP address. It also provides a
service where it will allow you to store other information like the mail
exchange servers that accept e-mail for a given domain.
The Active Directory is also another feature this software provides within your
servers which will allow you to store and organize most of the information that
relate to your computer network's end users and the network resources. It
also provides a platform to allow the network administrators to handle users'
access to the resources, in other words it will direct services and act as a
concept layer between users and shared resources.
The DNS server is another important feature which helps control leasing or
assigning IP addresses to your machines or other devices that are connected
21. 21
to your network. This is simply done by reading requests from a computer or a
machine such as a printer that has just been added or replaced to the
network, and automatically get assigned with unique IP address that will have
the same IP address on the network.
CLIENTS OPERATING SYSTEM
Windows has been designed to be
known as one of the main Operating
Systems that most people often use
either at home or work place.
Throughout the years Windows started to improve their Operating Systems
and Windows 7 is the one of the successful version of Windows launched
which have many improvements that Microsoft Windows applied for Windows.
This is why I am going to use this software as my client operating system that
will be installed for both of my clients who are going to be connected to the
network.
CLIENTS VIRTUAL MACHINE
Like every Virtual Machine software out there VMWARE
WORKSTATION is simple a virtual machine application that
provides quality virtualization solutions for the home and business
markets.
With new features ranging from new tablet hardware support to the
improved enterprise management capabilities like the advanced
restrictions for VMs, this new release VMWARE WORKSTATION 10 has
shaped up to be quite the worthy upgrade that will allow user to create virtual
computers which are able to communicate with each other and share
resources within on host desktop.
TESTING TOOLS
PsPing v2.01
PsPing runs as a Ping functionality using the command line interface, that
monitors TCP ping, latency and bandwidth measurement. It is a simple
command line utility for measuring network performance which can provide us
with the following results:
§ The latency of connecting to TCP ports.
§ The latency of TCP round-trip communication between systems.
§ The TCP bandwidth available to a connection between systems.
This will be a very useful utility as it will allow me to obtain min, max, and
average values in 0.01ms resolution where I can use that data to generate
histograms of the results that are easy to import into Spread Sheets.
22. 22
ADDITIONAL SOFTWARE
MICROSOFT EXCEL
Microsoft Excel is simply going to be used to generate histograms from the
results retrieved from my testing task. As I already have many experience and
knowledge on how to use the software I thought it will really save time as I will
use this to generate graphs that will illustrate the differences between test
results.
NETWORK DIAGRAM
In this section I am going to demonstrate the different LAN Networks using
diagrams to make it easy to understand the kind of network I need to set up
when it comes to implement it. The diagrams will be designed to allow me to
understand how the connection is done using a network drawing which is an
easy way to understand as it is a visual representation that clearly displays all
the hardware needed to set up the connection between different clients within
the network.
As I am using a virtual machine to set up my network it will give me a lot of
advantages when it comes to hardware usage as I will only need one host
computer with a guest host operating system. This way I will not need any
additional hardware such as switches and cables to connect the clients
together. For my first diagram I am only going to show how the network will
look to allow users share resources using the Local Area Network. For my
second diagram I am going to add the different network properties such as the
IP addresses, Subnet Masks and the server name that will be assigned to the
different networks that I will implement.
VIRTUAL NETWORK
CLIENT ONE CLIENT TWO
SERVER
23. 23
The diagram you see illustrates what the network will look like without using
the Virtual Machine however, to actually setup my network I will not need two
Desktops and a Server instead all I will be using as mentioned before one
desktop where I will install Windows 7 for both clients and Windows Server
2008 for my Server all running on a virtual environment hence the diagram.
What we can see from the diagram above is the Network as usual however,
this time we can see the different network properties that needs to be
configured to allow communication to take place between the clients and the
server.
By the help of the server features, I will also configure the server so it will be
able to run as the main transport and network protocols which is based on the
TCP/IP suites, the clients within the network are allocated an IP address
statically only for the IPv4 addressing. For IPv6 addressing I am going to
allow Windows Server and Windows 7 on the client machine get assigned
automatically, this way all the IPv6 addressing will be done locally and
assigned automatically.
The Network is also going to have a domain name of 'server.net' and a DNS
look up shows its IP address of ‘192.168.10.5’ as shown on the diagram. The
reason why we assigned the DNS IP address exactly the same as the server
address is because this way we can use the server as a DNS server as well
this way we can convert domain names into IP addresses when we trying to
perform any communication within the network.
Unfortunately I am not able to have any internet connection to my network this
is due to security issues that might occur through out the implementation and
testing period. Because I am using the lab in the University campus I was
notified that my practical work could have security threats that might effect the
whole network therefor, I have decided to create traffic by using the command
prompts as it will be demonstrated on the testing section of my next chapter.
VIRTUAL NETWORK
CLIENT ONE CLIENT TWO
SERVER
IPv 4 Address: 192.168.10.3
IPv 6 Address: Automatic
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
DNS Server: 192.168.10.5
IP Address: 192.168.10.6
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
IPv 6 Address: Automatic
DNS Server: 192.168.10.5
IP Address: 192.168.10.5
Subnet Mask: 255.255.255.0
IPv 6 Address: Automatic
DNS Server: 192.168.10.5
24. 24
CHAPTER FOUR
IMPLEMENTATION
PRACTICAL EXPLAINED
What you will find out about my implementation task is It will be split into two
parts where in the first part I am going to demonstrate the set up process of
my simple virtual LAN network and the second part I am going to run test to
demonstrate the differences in performance between both IP versions within
the LAN network.
PART ONE – SETTING UP LOCAL AREA NETWORK
In the first part of my implementation I am going to take us through the
following installation process that will help me set up my LAN Network:
Step 1- Provide a step-by-step demonstration of installing the VMware 10
64bits application, the Virtual Machine I am going to be using to set up my
LAN Network and what I’m going to do is install my Operating Systems that I
will be using for my server and clients.
Step 2- When completing the installation process of the Virtual Machine I will
then proceed to the next task which is installing and configuring Windows
Server 2008 R2 64bits the Operating System that I will be using for my server.
Step 3- In this step will be installing and configuring my clients Operating
System which is Windows 7 64bits.
Step 4- Finally in this step I will be configuring my LAN Network so my clients
are added to the server and able to communicate with each other.
PART TWO – RUNNING TESTS ON THE LOCAL AREA NETWORKS
Throughout my second part of my implementation I am going to take us
through the following testing procedures that will help me test my LAN
Network against IPv4 and IPv6:
Step 1- In the first step I am going to configure my network so it only runs on
an IPv4 network environments by simply changing the properties on the
network property wizard for both clients and the server.
Step 2- I will then use the PsPing and make sure that it is installed and
configured for both clients and the server before proceeding to the next step.
Step 3- When the PsPing tool is configured I will then run my first test which
will focus on the latency of both clients by creating traffic using simple
commands provided by the PsPing running on command prompt. The way
this will work is I will have to use my server to send these commands to both
clients when the test is completed I will then use a command which will send
25. 25
the results straight to a text file which I will for my comparison phase on a later
stage.
Step 4- Following on from the previous task I will then proceed to the next test
which will focus on the bandwidth of the traffic of both clients where again I
will generate traffic using simple commands using the server machine and
save the results for both clients.
Step 5- After testing the performance against an IPv4 network environment I
will then repeat the previous steps again however, I will change the LAN
network property to an IPv6 environment and perform the tests again against
the IPv6 LAN network.
INSTALLING AND CONFIGURING THE LOCAL AREA NETWORK
INSTALLING VMWARE 10
In this part I am going to take us through the installation process, which is
pretty simple and straight forward of VMWare Workstation 10 on a Windows
based system. Before starting the installation I have to make sure that my
physical machine meets the system requirements for VMWare Workstation
and I must make sure that my supported guest Operating System is
compatible with this version of the virtual machine.
To download my free version of the VMware software, I will need an account
on the VMware website for software downloads (http://bit.ly/uel-vmware.)
provided for all students in the ACE department as shown on my screenshot
below.
After installing the extension file that will take a while depending on the
Internet connection due to the file size we then will proceed by starting the
installation of the virtual machine.
To start installing the software on a Windows host I will have to login with a
user that has a administrator rights I will then have to locate the extension file
of the software and start by running the download file to proceed with the
installation.
26. 26
When opening the download file we will see the above screen loading the
installation file of VMWare Workstation 10 and simply loads the package
ready for installation. We then simply accept the Licence Agreement as it is
compulsory for any software we install.
Before proceeding
to the next step I
must accept the
Licence Agreement
so I can press the
next button to move
on with the
installation
procedure.
27. 27
As shown above we proceed to the next window where I will have to justify
the setup environment I would like and in my case I chose Typical as I only
need to use the program typical feature and nothing advanced.
I then simply followed on the screen instructions to finish the installation by
clicking on the continue button where I eventually came to the following
window requesting the product license key which I already have.
After providing the product license key I was able to proceed to the next and
final step of the installation process where I was then prompted to restart the
whole machine for changes to take place.
28. 28
After the reboot step I was able to view the icon for the VMWare Workstation
10 on the desktop, I then launched the program and was successfully able to
install and run the programme with no difficulties or issues at all.
INSTALLING WINDOWS SERVER 2008
In this part of my implementation I am going to take us through the installation
process of Windows Server 2008 r2 into a 64bit VMWare Workstation virtual
machine. Before I install the Windows Server 2008 r2 I need to first download
the installation file as an image format, again I was able to have this server
operating system for free and to download my free software I simply visited
(on the hub) web store and managed to obtain my free copy as shown below.
When the image file has finished downloading I then progressed to the next
step where I had to set up the properties of my virtual machine so I can install
the server operating system with the right requirement with facing any trouble.
29. 29
We start with selecting the create new virtual machine wizard and what we
see is the first window shown on the screen shot above asking user to select
the type of configuration I want this virtual machine to have. For my purpose I
do not need any additional configuration therefore the recommended option
(Typical) support my software and provides all the requirements needed to
run the installation.
After proceeding to the next
step I had to make sure that
my virtual machine knows the
location of the image file (.iso
file) that I have downloaded.
We can also install the
operating system straight
from an installer disc but it
wasn’t necessary as I already
had the image file located
and linked to the current
virtual machine.
30. 30
The next window simply
requests for the product key
that I already have and
prompts for the full user name
and password that can be left
empty as it is only optional.
For the version of Windows I
kept it for small business
environment as I am only
going to be using the network
for testing purposes and there
will only be two hosts
connected to the server
therefor there are not many
requirements needed in this
case.
I had to specify some disk
capacity for my server and as
Windows Server 2008 x64
only requires 40GB I kept the
disk storage as 40GB
although I had a 500GB
storage but for my case it
wasn’t necessary for a large
amount of storage.
All the application, and
activities will be stored in a
single file at the host machine
storage, and this is where the
virtual machine will also be
stored when turned of and
launched back again from
where I last left off.
Before the installation process
begins I was provided with a
window containing a report
with a summary of the virtual
machine I am making to act as
my server. I also had the
opportunity to customize the
properties however, I decided
to keep it as it is as long as
the network adapter is
configured as NAT.
31. 31
After I have specified the
properties of the virtual
machine I am trying to create
and I am happy with the
settings, the virtual machine
will then boot up with the
installation image and the first
window I simply had to select
the language of my choice and
the keyboard language
structure of my choice.
After proceeding to the next
step I came to a window where
I had to specify the version of
the operating system I am
trying to install and in the this
case I wen for the standard full
edition as I am only going to
use the server for testing
purposes and I am not trying to
create a large network.
After selecting the version of
the version of the server
operating system I am trying to
install I had to agree to the
licence agreement that bought
me to the next windows where I
had to decide on the installation
type I wanted to go for. It was
my first time installing the
server therefor I wasn’t
upgrading a server so I went for
the custom choice.
32. 32
After I have selected the
custom installation method I
have been provided with a
window asking me what I want
to do with the properties of my
hard drive, as it is only a
virtual hard drive and I am
only using it for testing
purposes I only gave it a
60GB of space and from the I
clicked next and the
installation process should
start.
Finally I have finished the
installation progress of the
server as we can see, I had to
make changes to my
password as I was prompted
to and after the virtual
machine was rebooting a few
time to apply the changes I
have successfully installed the
server operating system and
was displayed with the home
screen of the server where I
can start to configure the
server.
INSTALLING WINDOWS 7 FOR CLIENTS
In this part of my implementation I am going to take us through the installation
process of Windows 7 into a 64bit VMWare Workstation virtual machine.
Before I install the Windows 7 I need to first download the installation file as
an image format, again I was able to have this operating system for free and
to download my free software I simply visited (on the hub) web store and
managed to obtain my free copy as shown below.
33. 33
All in all the installation progress of the clients operation system is exactly the
same as the installation progress of the server operating system, there are
only minor differences when it comes to hardware requirements and storage
requirements however, I kept all the settings as standard and I made sure that
the virtual machine linked to the Windows 7 image file before I started
installing the clients operating system.
I had to make sure that I installed Windows 7 for two clients as shown on the
screenshot above and again as mentioned many times previously it is not
complex to install the operating system just simply following the steps of the
server installation progress I was able to build two clients PC running
Windows 7 as a virtual machine.
CONFIGURING THE SERVER
What I am going to show you now is the configuration process of setting up
my server so when it comes to adding the clients to the server we will be able
to do that with no issues. I had to make sure that my server acts as an Active
Directory so I am able to add users to the servers domain.
To get started I launched the Server Manager and was focusing on the Add
Roles option found on the Role Summary section and selected add roles.
34. 34
Before I started to make the
installation of the Active Directory
I had to make sure that the
servers network settings are
configured therefor, I had to
ensure that my servers static IP
address is assigned.
So I started with configuring
the Internet Protocol Version
4 first, this is found under
Control Panel – Network and
Sharing Centre and by
selecting the properties of
the Network Adapter I was
able to select the IPv4
protocol and assign the IP
address, subnet mask and
the DNS server as
demonstrated from the
screenshot.
The same process is also
done for the IPv6 address
however, the difference is I
chose the option where I can
obtain an IPv6 automatically
and for DNS I used ::1 which
basically tells the server that
the DNS address is the
same as the IPv6 address
so its simply rolling back to
the server.
35. 35
The server network properties
have now been set and now I
can proceed with the
installation process of Active
Directory Domain Services.
As mentioned before the
Active Directory will provide
my server with functionality
that will allow me to store and
organize most of the
information about any
hardware that is connected to
my network. It also provides a platform to allow the network administrators to
handle users' access to the resources, in other words it will direct services
and act as a concept layer between users and shared resources.
The next few windows of the
installation was simply
information that I needed to
keep into consideration about
the role I am trying to add, so I
went along by pressing next
and installed the active directory
role.
When I went back to the Server
Manager window, I managed to
click on the Active Directory
Domain Services link however, I
couldn’t see any information
linked to it and that is because I
still haven’t run the DCPROMO
command yet.
36. 36
So I went along to Start > Run and
typed in ‘dcprom’ and the installation
wizard has been launched where we
are able to proceed with (AD DS)
installation and configuration.
I also selected the advance mode
installation option so I can learn more
about the advanced features through
the installation and configuration set
up.
When I clicked next I was provided
with an important message about the
operating system compatibility, I had to
make sure that the versions of
Windows meet the requirements of the
active directory domain services
otherwise it will not work when trying
to connect clients to the server.
In the Choosing Deployment
Configuration window, I have clicked
on "Create a new domain in a new
forest" and click Next as I do not have
an existing forest.
1. In the next few windows I had to start
entering an appropriate name for the
new domain and I had to make sure
that I have picked the right domain
name. This domain will also be the
first domain in the forest I am creating,
I then set the forest functionality level
to Windows Server 2008 r2 so I am
able to use all the new features this
server has got to offer. I also
37. 37
managed to select the option where I am able to install the Domain Name
Services (DNS) so my server will have the functionality to translate computer
names into IP addresses rather than having to understand all hardware
connected to the network as IP addresses we can use the DNS to allow us to
change these names into IP addresses.
Before the installation began I got a warning telling me that the server has one
or more dynamic IP Addresses however, going back few pages this will prove
that this is not true, because as I clearly demonstrated earlier, I have given
the server a static IPv4 Address. So, where did this come from? The answer
is IPv6. I did not manually configure the IPv6 Address, this because if we go
back I have selected the choice where the IPv6 is automatically assigned. I’m
only going to be using the IPv6 network for testing purposes therefor, I can
safely ignore this warning and proceed with my installation.
After setting up
the configuration
for the Active
Directory I was
briefed with a
summary of the
properties it
contains and
when I clicked
next the wizard
began creating
the Active
Directory
Domain and
when the
installation
process is done the server had to reboot to allow changes to take place.
38. 38
When the system boots up again, I was able to see that the Active Directory
Services was installed and now I am able to add users to the server. I can
also see that we have set the domain name of server as you can see from the
screenshot below you that the server has the domain name of server.net. You
can also see the servers IPv4 address and that the IPv6 address is also
enabled.
ADDING A CLIENT TO THE SERVER
What I am going to show you now is the configuration process of setting up
one of my clients machine so when it comes to adding clients to the server we
will be able to do that with no issues. I had to make sure that my server acts
as an Active Directory before we proceed so we can connect the clients to the
servers domain and be able to add other roles if needed.
So what I have started with is by checking the clients machines settings by
going to my computer > right click > properties so I can retrieve the
information about the clients machine as demonstrated below.
I then went ahead by clicking on the change settings so I was able to bring up
the window where I can specify the domain name which in my case is
server.net and I also had to give the machine a name that I have provided
using the Active Directory on the server. For this reason I had to go back to
the server and add a new user using the Active Directory Services and make
sure that the user has a unique user name and because we only creating this
network for testing purposes I didn’t not set a password or any security for
both of my users who are connected to the net work. I simply restarted the
39. 39
clients machine and was able to see that the client is a member of the
server.net domain and was also able to ping the servers domain name.
HIGH LEVEL NETWORK DIAGRAM
After setting up the server and clients network properties and was able to add
my clients to the domain name of the server and also had the chance to do
some simple ping tests on the command prompt this is what the network looks
like running in a virtual machine.
The network is now fully configured and I am able to communicate between
all the devices by simply pinging the machines together to see if there is any
communication between all the devices connected to the network and the
results where successful. All the devices are also connected to the same
network device on the virtual machine, this way all the virtual machine are
able to communicate with each other after the network have been configured.
We can see that the server and both clients have an IPv4 address and an
IPv6 address which has been locally assigned and we can simply disable and
enable IP versions from the network adapter property for each machine this
way I will have the choice to set up an IPv4 or an IPv6 only network hence if
we go back right to the beginning of my report one of the two main objectives
of my project is to implement an IPv4 and IPv6 network environment, and this
Server: Sever 1
Domain: server.net
IPv4: 192.168.10.5
IPv6: fe80::35a9:8ca2:8804:3a22%11
Workstation: Client One
Domain: server.net
IPv4: 192.168.10.3
IPv6: fe80::cced:ce70:ec0d:6686%11
Workstation: Client Two
Domain: server.net
IPv4: 192.168.10.6
IPv6: fe80::6390:5601:5fac:f46c%11
Virtual Connection
40. 40
proves that I have managed to accomplish that by taking us through the
demonstrations.
TESTING THE LOCAL AREA NETWORK
PsPing Latency & Bandwidth Test
PsPing is a new Microsoft Windows Tool for measuring network performance,
it is a tool that can be found in the Sysinternals Suite that acts as a command
line utility where I was able to measure my networks by simply performing
standard ICMP Ping functionality where I was able to obtain results on the:
§ Latency of connecting to TCP ports
§ Latency of TCP round-trip communication between systems
§ Results are obtained in min, max and average values in 0.01ms
resolution.
§ Results can be generated into histograms that are easy to import into
spreadsheets to create graphs for comparison purposes.
The TCP latency usage has few commands that I needed to understand
before currying out any tests:
First I had to start by opening a port on the clients host machines by providing
the right information using the following command layout [psping [[-6]|[-4]] <-s
source:sourceport>] All of this was done using Command Line Interface.
After a port have been opened on the client machine I then went back to the
server and again using the Command Line Interface I provided the right
information for the following command layout [psping [[-6]|[-4]] [-h [buckets]] [-
r] <-l requestsize>] <-n count> [-w ] <count>] <destination:destport>]
KEY:
-h Print histogram (default bucket count is 20).
-l Request size.
-n Number of sends/receives.
-r Receive from the server instead of sending.
-w Warmup with the specified number of iterations (default is 5).
-4 Force using IPv4.
-6 Force using IPv6.
The server can serve both latency and bandwidth tests and remains active
until I decide to terminate it with the command Control-C. I was also able to
use [ > <name.txt>] as a command that allowed my results generated as text
file so I was able to copy that information into a spreedsheet.
So let me start by showing you a simple diagram demonstration of my first
network environment by providing you with the network set up for my first IPv4
PsPing Latency Test.
41. 41
Before I got started with the testing procedure I had to make sure that the
PsPing utility extension file is located on the server and both clients. I then
started by opening a port on Client One workstation.
To start testing I went to start > run > cmd and pressed enter to launch the
command prompt tool where I used the command ‘cd’ to simply change the
directory to the destination of the PSTools so I can use the PsPing Latency
commands to run my tests.
When the PSTools are running I performed the following command
[psping.exe -4 –s 192.168.10.3:80] which request the machine to open a port
that waits for a TCP connection against the client IP address. -4 simply tells
the command that we are only using IPv4 address format as I am testing
against an IPv4 LAN enivorement.
The same procedure is done for Client Two workstation and again I was
successfully able to open a port on the second client machine, I then went
back to the server and went to start > run > cmd and pressed enter to launch
the command prompt tool where again I had to change the directory to the
PSTools destination.
IPv4: 192.168.10.5
Workstation: Client Two
IPv4: 192.168.10.6
Open Port: 80
Workstation: Client One
IPv4: 192.168.10.3
Open Port: 80
VIRTUAL IPv4 LAN
42. 42
What we see here is me performing my first latency test against the first
clients IPv4 address from the server where I run the following command
[psping –l 1024k –h 5 192.168.10.3:80]. This command simply request the
server to perform a TCP latency test sending a 1kb of packets to the
destinations IP address at port 80, the command will measure the round trip
latency of sending a 1kb packet to the target, printing a histogram with 5
buckets when completed as demonstrated above. I have repeated the
command again but this time I made sure that the results are saved in a text
file for a later use when it comes to comparing the results.
The same PsPing latency test is done for the second client and I have saved
the results into a text file, there was no need to provide a screenshot as the
process is exactl the same the only different is the server is performing the
test against the second client.
Again the same procedure goes for the IPv6 latency test the only difference is
I disabled the IPv4 protocol so the network is only running in an IPv6
IPv6:
fe80::35a9:8ca2:8804:3a22%11
Workstation: Client Two
IPv6:
fe80::6390:5601:5fac:f46c%11
Open Port: 80
Workstation: Client One
IPv6:
fe80::cced:ce70:ec0d:6686%11
Open Port: 80
VIRTUAL IPv6 LAN
43. 43
environment. The test is done for both clients and the results are saved in a
text file that I will use later on.
There was no need to provide more screen shots on how to perform a PsPing
Latency test for each client as the procedure is exactly the same therefor, I
am going to now show you an example of how I was able to use the PsPing
tool to perform a bandwidth test against an IPv6 network environment. Again I
am only going to do one demonstration to show you how I was able to get
results when I was performing the test.
This command tests the bandwidth against the first client workstation listening
at the targets IP address for 10 seconds while sending 8kb of packet data to
the source. The results again saved into a text file and the same operation is
done for all my clients using IPv4 and IPv6 network environments.
PsPing Latency Test Results
Here I am only going to display the final results for my latency testing.
PsPing Bandwidth Test Results
Here I am only going to display the final results for my bandwidth testing.
All the results we see above I’m going to use to generate graphs using
Microsoft Excel to allow us to see the differences in a graphical form that way
it will be easier to understand and compare hence my project is focusing on
the performance comparison of IPv4 and IPv6.
44. 44
Again there wasn’t any tests done against the Internet as I discussed before
that the default IP version is IPv4 therefor there wasn’t much I can do but to
test the performance by creating my own traffic as have been demonstrated
on the last few pages of my documentation.
45. 45
CHAPTER FIVE
EVALUATION
So let me evaluate my findings by discussing the different research and
procedures I went through to compare the differences in performance
between IPv4 and IPv6. As I already covered on my literature review, I now
know that one of the main reasons IPv6 was introduced is because it provides
our network with solutions that will allow the growth of the Internet and this is
because IPv6 has a much larger address space that can be allocated to new
devices.
I also found out that IPv6 is designed so it provides our networks with
functionalities that help improve our network against security, mobility, auto-
configurations and many more other features, which are integrated in the
protocol suite itself. Also IPv6 will help reduce the complexity of the network
by providing features such as auto-configuration that simplifies the addressing
administration or the elimination of added functionality.
One of the major concerns I have found out during my documentation is, at
the mean time IPv6 is only used by certain organisations, because the
Internet is a large network and it will be very difficult to migrate it all to meet
the requirements that will come with IPv6. That is why I had issues trying to
generate traffic against the Internet in the university due to the fact that the
university did not run an IPv6 network therefor it is really important to
understand that aspect when it comes to building the network. I also had the
same difficulties using my home network where my Internet provider wasn’t
supporting the IPv6 protocols for the same reason I have mentioned on the
previous paragraph therefor I decided to keep it simple and generate my own
traffic as demonstrated throughout my methodology and implementation
tasks.
To evaluate the performance of the translator I have used the results at the
end of the previous chapter to generate graphs to illustrate the differences
between both tests results, this will help me understand if there are many
differences and if there are any issues that we will need to consider when it
comes to the latency and bandwidth of both architecture towards the future.
By using the PsPing Tool tool to measure bandwidth and the latency between
a pair of IPv6 and IPv4 hosts. We compare the packet forwarding
performance of the IPv6/IPv4 and from the final results we have the following
graphs:
46. 46
What we see from the results above is the Latency test results in milliseconds
when performing the latency test against the clients IP addresses from the
server where I run the following command [psping –l 1024k –h 5
192.168.10.3:80]. This command simply request the server to perform a TCP
latency test sending a 1kb of packets to the destinations IP address at port
80, the command will measure the round trip latency of sending a 1kb packet
to the target, printing a histogram with 5 buckets when completed as
demonstrated above. I have repeated the command again but this time I
made sure that the results are saved in a text file for a later use when it
comes to comparing the results. From the results we can see that the average
results are different comparing both of those results, this tells me that the
tests for IPv4 LAN clients uses less time then the results from the IPv6 LAN
test results under the same environment, this shows me that when sending
packets using IPv4 addressing the duration of that packet been sent is so
much less than IPv6 therefor IPv6 traffic might take longer than IPv4.
Looking at the Bandwidth results which is measured in megabits where I was
simply testing the bandwidth against the clients workstation listening at the
targets IP address for 10 seconds while sending 8kb of packet data to the
source. From the results we can see that the IPv4 network uses much more
bandwidth than the IPv6 network therefor when It comes to using IPv6 for our
network we can say that the bandwidth represents the capacity of the
connection. The greater the capacity, the more likely that greater performance
will follow, though overall performance also depends on other factors, such as
latency. Therefor IPv6 network might also affect our bandwidth if we don take
it into consideration when it comes to implementing our network.
IPv4 LAN Latency Test Results IPv6 LAN Latency Test Results
IPv4 LAN Bandwidth Test Results IPv6 LAN Bandwidth Test Results
47. 47
All in all I can say that I have met my objectives where I was able to create an
IPv4 and an IPv6 network environment and I was also able to curry out
research about related topics covered on the passed hence my literature
review. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to perform many tests against both
versions of IP addresses due to my knowledge however, I was able to
understand the major differences between both IP versions which I was able
to document and demonstrate on the entire documentation.
CONCLUSION
Looking back through my entire project, I have managed to build my
knowledge with many aspects that allowed me to conclude that IPv6 protocols
will come with many concern. One of the major concerns is the world is
running out of IPv4 addresses, this is why most organisations are turning to
IPv6 addresses and started using IPv6 to build there network. However, IPv6
will have many implications when it comes to internet communications over
the next few years, this is due to the fact that the two internet protocols are
not interoperable, this can cause challenges in ensuring that networks are
able to talk to each other as more go over to the new version.
I found out that there are already ways where an organisation are able to use
both IP version to communicate between devices, this is known as Dual Stack
where it allows devices to work with both protocols, this basically will allow
devices to be able to accept requests from a host on IPv6 by converting it into
IPv4 datagram and send it into an IPv4 destination. However, this is a short
term solution as many organisations are still stuck with IPv4 network
environment where they will straggle when users are only on IPv6 network as
the Internet will grow where IPv6 addressing will be used to allow new devices
to have IP addresses.
So before Implementing an IPv6 network environment we need to consider all
the features discussed on the literature review are taken into consideration
these will be related to how your device will communicate with other devices
running IPv6, we need to understand the security policies and if there are the
same on both versions which they are not and finally looking at the
performance of both IP version we can understand how both versions act on
the same environment.
TOWARDS THE FUTURE
I really recommend the deployment of IPv6 starting from now ready for the
future for many reasons however, looking throughout my project I had many
difficulties while trying to perform tests against the IPv6 network environment
due to the reasons that many Internet Providers does not support IPv6
features which was a major constraints for me as my project was comparing
both IP versions. Due to that main reason we also need to consider that in the
future there will be many more devices which will need IP addresses to be
allocated to them therefor we are running out of IPv4 addresses so IPv6 will
eventually to be used for the next generation to allow the growth of the
internet.
49. 49
Miller, M.A. (2004).
Internet technologies handbook: optimizing the IP network.
New Jersey: John Wiley and sons Inc.
Last accessed 10th of January 2014
Matt Calder , Xun Fan , Zi Hu , Ethan Katz-Bassett , John Heidemann , Ramesh
Govindan. (2013).
Mapping the expansion of Google's serving infrastructure, Proceedings of the 2013
conference on Internet measurement conference.
Barcelona, Spain.
Last accessed 10th of January 2014
Shin, M-K, Hong, Hagino. J, Savola. P, Castro. E. (2005).
Application Aspects of IPv6 Transition.
Last accessed 10th of January 2014
Samuel Sotillo (2010)
IPv6 Security Issues.
East Carolina University.
Last accessed 20th of January 2014
S.Nagaraj, B.Kishore, G.Narasinga Rao, M.Ramachandra. (2010),
A Comparative Study of IPv6 Statistical Approach, Vol. 2,
Last accessed 20th of January 2014
Stephanie Crawford. (2001).
What is an IP address?
Available:
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/internet/basics/question549.htm.
Last accessed 20th of January 2014
V. Beal. (2010).
What is The Difference Between IPv6 and IPv4?
Available:
http://www.webopedia.com/DidYouKnow/Internet/ipv6_ipv4_difference.html.
Last accessed 20th of January 2014
Visar Uruqi. (2008).
Comparing IPv6 vs. IPv4.
Last accessed 20th of January 2014
50. 50
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Within this section of my project I am going to write up a personal
development plan that will help me think through, in a structured way about
my strengths that will help me proceed throughout this project and most
importantly, what are my weaknesses and how would I go about it to help me
improve them.
This write up of the plan will help me gain:
§ A clear focus to my learning outcomes.
§ Self motivation.
§ A better understanding of how I will learn and how to
improve my performances and weaknesses.
§ More awareness of how to apply my new knowledge to new problems
and contexts.
§ Reflective thinking skills that can improve my strength towards my
academic performance.
Project Plan
For this task I will have to develop a project plan that I can use to plan my
project throughout the period that I will have to accomplish my project. This
plan will consist of all the important tasks and will help me see what tasks
need to be accomplished for what date so I don’t face the trouble of falling
behind with the project.
To accomplish this task I will need to do some research on some of the best
tools/ application that will help me design a gantt chart that is easy to use and
follow.
I will say my weakness for this task will be time management as it will be hard
to plan ahead as I will need to plan aside with my other modules and home
life, the other weakness is creating the gantt and finding the right tool and
understand how it works as I will not have much time for simpler tasks.
To improve my weaknesses I will have to start doing some research on some
of the best tools/ application that will help me design a plan that will consist of
reminders before deadlines that can be sent as notification to my calendar
and maybe have it sent straight to my phone that way I will know what task
needs to be accomplished by what certain date. This way I will manage my
time and even if I full behind I will be able to set a reminder so I know that I
am falling behind.
Research
In this task I will have to carry out research using different sources and
facilities provided by the university to use for my project.
One of my weaknesses for this task is finding information from different
resource as most of the research I do is via the internet. I will need to use the
library to find information for my topics from books, any possible articles or
research papers they can provide me that covers the area of my project.
51. 51
This task will also help me improve my referencing skill, as I will need to have
a proper understanding of Harvard referencing format that I will need to use
throughout the whole documentation side of my project.
Using my research finding will help understand and develop the area of my
project. This is where the project proposal will come in as I will use my
research to find out my title, a write up of a brief aim, objectives and a rational
description that summarises my entire project and what I am trying to achieve.
The research will also help me identify any relevant legal, ethical and social
issues and a clear understanding of my project area and how it is related to
my programme.
Implementation Part
The implementation part is where I will have to design, implement and
analyse the area for which my practical is to be built and the theory I will have
to apply. By now I have chosen my project area which you can see from the
title of my project which will deal with the comparing of IPv4 and IPv6
architecture.
I will have many weaknesses within this part of the project as I will have to
design and implement a local area network one using IPv4 and the other
using IPv6 and see how their differ according to the network performance.
Designing before starting to implement my practical part is very important, and
this is where I will have to search for softwares that will allow me to design
some kind of network plan that will help me develop a visual structure of what
I am trying to achieve by the end of my project. I think Microsoft Visio is one of
the best applications that provide a great platform for users to design a visual
plan for many purposes. I have used Visio many times before so my
knowledge of the software is very strong and I wouldn’t have any issues
designing a visual representation of my LAN systems.
To overcome my weaknesses I will first need to have a good understanding of
the different hardware and software needed for this project for me to be able
to set up a network environment running both versions of IP addresses. In this
case I will need to do some research on existing systems to see the kind of
hardware and software the system have been using and try and understand
the plan before I go ahead. I need to gain more knowledge on the installation
part of a local area network and understand the period it will take to set a up a
local area network so I don’t fall behind.
I will also need to develop a better understanding of how I will be able to
install IPv6 into a local network and the kind of process I will need to
undertake to accomplish this task, therefore I will try and find books and
manuals that will help me improve my knowledge towards that area. Watching
videos and going for meeting with other students and lectures will also be
great as I find it easy to learn more verbally and visually rather than reading
instructions from books and other material which is less preferred.
52. 52
Documentation Part
For the documentation part of my project I will work as an individual to help
complete a report as part of one of the most important part of this module. To
complete this task I will have to take a lot of different activities and task to
achieve the highest mark possible.
I will use this task to improve many things such as:
I find it hard to solve every single task without facing any problems or threats.
So problem solving is a skill that I will try and achieve throughout this task by
trying to use different sources to solve problems that I might face towards
completing the project.
I will also need to improve my Auditory Learning skills as there will be many
lectures and tutorials that will be discussing the tasks I will need to undertake
for the project. I find it hard sometimes to understand the kind of things
lectures discuss about and find it difficult to ask questions as my confidence is
really low and cause me to fall behind. However, part of the tasks I have to
undertake will help me train myself up to make improvements.
The documentation will be measured in every tutorial session that we have by
my supervisor and personal tutor where will get feedbacks on what we need
to improve ready for the next task this will help me overcome my confidence
weakness as it will be a smaller group and I will be able to ask many
questions that I will have which will help me proceed with my documentation
side of my project.
Within the documentation part I will also need to provide evidence of my
testing towards the practical side of the project as it is important that I show
results of my experiment as I am comparing two different system and I will
have to show some results of my experiment. Therefore I will need to
research on some testing tools that will allow me to monitor my networks and
be able to save the results on some kind of format, graphs preferably which I
can the use towards my evaluation part of my documentation.
54. 54
INITIAL PROPOSAL FORM
Programme: Computer Networks Year: 3
Semester: A
Student Number: U1116963
Proposed Title: A Comparative Study Between IPv4 & IPV6
Proposed Aim:
By the end of my project I am hoping to achieve an understanding of the
different architecture provided by IPv4 and IPv6 and build my knowledge on
how both version of the IP address work within a virtual network and what are
the different benefits we can have if we start using IPv6 for our network.
Proposed Objectives:
1. To carry out research in the area of IPv4 and IPv6 architecture.
2. To investigate Legal , Ethical, Social issues pertaining to this project.
3. To design & implement a Local Area Network (LAN) using the IP version 4
addressing.
3. To design & implement a Local Area Network (LAN) using the IP version 6
addressing.
4. To test and evaluate on the performance of both IP versing within the two
different LANs.
6. Investigate future development in the area of my project.
Rationale
My programme title is Computer Networks and throughout my first two years I
have gained knowledge on how to use different tools and resources for me to
be able to design and implement some kind of network using different
computer systems, and it was interesting to understand how different
computer hardware and software are able to communicate each other using
the different protocols and how does data go through the OSI model from one
end to another.
This is why I have chosen to direct my project towards the IP side of Network
and compare and contrast between the two versions of IP addresses we have
out there that help our devices communicate with each other using different
translation methods.
Suggested Supervisor(s)
Gaurav Malik
