The World Wide Web is a boundless resource of information. It contains blogs, tutorials, demos, videos, text, references, and resources for just about any topic you may want to research. Computer users visit Web sites identified by an address, or URL (uniform resource locator). You are doubtless familiar with URLs, such as http://www.cnn.com or http://www.fox.com.
Unlike URLs, which use letters, the DNS (domain name system) resolves URLs into a numerical IP (Internet provider) address. These addresses are assigned to nodes in a computer network. While you answer the following questions, ask yourself if there are an infinite number of Web sites available.
Define the following:
- What is a URL?
- What is an IP address?
- What is a DNS?
Explain:
- How are URLs assigned to IP addresses?
- What does DNS stand for and what does it do?
- Is there a limited number of Web sites available using IP version 4 (documented as IPv4)?
- What changes have been made in IPv6 compared with IPv4?
Calculate:
- Given that an IP address in IPv4 is a 32-bit string, how many different addresses can be encoded? Show your calculation. Hint: Use the multiplication principle.
- How many different Web sites could be encoded using IPv6? Show your calculation.
For this assignment, make sure you clearly and completely define, explain, and show all work for your calculations. The assignment should be two to three pages. Include all resources used. Review the Web Addresses and Discrete Math Applications Scoring Guide to understand how the assignment will be graded.