CN 4
CN 4
(Faculty E-Notes)
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UNIT - 4 – INTRANET CONCEPTS AND ARCHITECTURE
S.No Topic Page Number
Intranet Concepts and Architecture, Building
1 03 – 11
Corporate World Wide Web
HTTP Protocol, Intranet Infrastructure,
2 11 – 18
Fundamentals of TCP/IP
3 Intranet Security Design, Intranet as a business tool 18 – 24
4 Future of Intranet, Protocols of Communication 24 - 32
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Intranet
The intranet is a private network that belongs to a particular organization. It is designed for the exclusive
use of an organization and its associates, such as employees, customers, and other authorized people. It
offers a secure platform to convey information and share data with authorized users. Confidential
information, database, links, forms, and applications can be made available to the staff through the
intranet. So, it is like a private internet or an internal website that is operating within an organization to
provide its employees access to its information and records. Each computer in intranet is identified by a
unique IP Address.
It is based on internet protocols (TCP/IP) and is protected from unauthorized access with firewalls and
other security systems. The firewall monitors the incoming and outgoing data packets to ensure they don't
contain unauthorized requests. So, users on the intranet can access the internet, but the internet users can't
access the intranet if they are not authorized for it. Furthermore, to access the intranet, the authorized user
is required to be connected to its LAN (Local Area Network).
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It can also be used to motivate employees, facilitate employee recognition, and to reward them for
performing beyond expectations.
The intranet platform, which is software, allows communication tools, collaboration apps, and databases
to work seamlessly with each other. It is tailored to the specific needs of a business.
The applications are required to enable users to work smoothly. They are the computing tools that allow
users to do their work, communicate, and coordinate with each other and retrieve and store information.
Furthermore, the user who wants to access the intranet is required to have a special network password
and should be connected to the LAN. A user who is working remotely can gain access to the intranet
through a virtual private network (VPN) that allows them to sign in to the intranet to access the
information.
Disadvantages of Intranet:
It may be costly to set up an Intranet due to hidden costs and complexity.
If the firewall does not work properly or not installed, it can be hacked by someone
High-security passwords are required, which cannot be guessed by outside users
There is always a fear of losing control over the intranet
Sometimes document duplication may happen which can cause confusion among employees
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You have to give access to multiple users, so you may find it hard to control this network.
Examples of Intranet:
1. Educational Intranet: It is generally found in a school, college, etc., For example, a school intranet
is intended to allow teaching staff to communicate with each other and get information about
upcoming updates such as exam dates, schools functions, holidays, etc.
2. Real Estate Intranet: The intranet of a real estate company allows its sales team to have access to all
important brochures, templates, forms that they may need to close a sale. Employees also remain up
to date with important events like meetings, training, sessions, etc. It can also be used to share
motivational messages with the team.
3. Health Care Intranet: In the healthcare sector, in big hospitals, the Intranet helps health care
professionals to work as a team to provide proper care and treatment to their patients. Doctors can
share reports, treatment procedures, bills and claims can be settled easily without moving from one
department to another department.
4. IT Sector Intranet: In the IT sector three is always a lot of information that needs to be shared with
all the employees at one go. It may be related to a project that needs to be completed within the given
time frame, such as guidelines, terms and conditions, and rules that are to be followed while working
on a project.
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The building blocks of the Web are web pages which are formatted in HTML and connected by links
called "hypertext" or hyperlinks and accessed by HTTP. These links are electronic connections that link
related pieces of information so that users can access the desired information quickly. Hypertext offers
the advantage to select a word or phrase from text and thus to access other pages that provide additional
information related to that word or phrase.
A web page is given an online address called a Uniform Resource Locator (URL). A particular collection
of web pages that belong to a specific URL is called a website,
e.g., www.facebook.com, www.google.com, etc. So, the World Wide Web is like a huge electronic book
whose pages are stored on multiple servers across the world.
Small websites store all of their WebPages on a single server, but big websites or organizations place
their WebPages on different servers in different countries so that when users of a country search their site
they could get the information quickly from the nearest server.
So, the web provides a communication platform for users to retrieve and exchange information over the
internet. Unlike a book, where we move from one page to another in a sequence, on World Wide Web we
follow a web of hypertext links to visit a web page and from that web page to move to other web pages.
You need a browser, which is installed on your computer, to access the Web.
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But, when you have opened a website like google.com for information, you are using the World Wide
Web; a network of servers over the internet. You request a webpage from your computer using a browser,
and the server renders that page to your browser. Your computer is called a client who runs a program
(web browser), and asks the other computer (server) for the information it needs.
The World Wide Web was invented by a British scientist, Tim Berners-Lee in 1989. He was working at
CERN at that time. Originally, it was developed by him to fulfill the need of automated information
sharing between scientists across the world, so that they could easily share the data and results of their
experiments and studies with each other.
CERN, where Tim Berners worked, is a community of more than 1700 scientists from more than 100
countries. These scientists spend some time on CERN site, and rest of the time they work at their
universities and national laboratories in their home countries, so there was a need for reliable
communication tools so that they can exchange information.
Internet and Hypertext were available at this time, but no one thought how to use the internet to link or
share one document to another. Tim focused on three main technologies that could make computers
understand each other, HTML, URL, and HTTP. So, the objective behind the invention of WWW was to
combine recent computer technologies, data networks, and hypertext into a user-friendly and effective
global information system.
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How the Invention Started:
In March 1989, Tim Berners-Lee took the initiative towards the invention of WWW and wrote the first
proposal for the World Wide Web. Later, he wrote another proposal in May 1990. After a few months, in
November 1990, along with Robert Cailliau, it was formalized as a management proposal. This proposal
had outlined the key concepts and defined terminology related to the Web. In this document, there was a
description of "hypertext project" called World Wide Web in which a web of hypertext documents could
be viewed by browsers. His proposal included the three main technologies (HTML, URL, and HTTP).
In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee was able to run the first Web server and browser at CERN to demonstrate his
ideas. He used a NeXT computer to develop the code for his Web server and put a note on the computer
"The machine is a server. Do Not Power It DOWN!!" So that it was not switched off accidentally by
someone.
In 1991, Tim created the world's first website and Web Server. Its address was info.cern.ch, and it was
running at CERN on the NeXT computer. Furthermore, the first web page address
was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html. This page had links to the information related
to the WWW project, and also about the Web servers, hypertext description, and information for creating
a Web server.
Becoming Global:
The first Web server came online in December 1991 in the United States. At this time, there were only
two types of browsers; the original development version which was available only on NeXT machines
and the 'line-mode' browser which was easy to install and run on any platform but was less user-friendly
and had limited power.
For further improvement, Berners-Lee asked other developers via the internet to contribute to its
development. Many developers wrote browsers for the X-Window System. The first web server, outside
Europe, was introduced at Standard University in the United States in 1991. In the same year, there were
only ten known web servers across the world.
Later at the beginning of 1993, the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA) introduced
the first version of its Mosaic browser. It ran in the X Window System environment. Later, the NCSA
released versions for the PC and Macintosh environments. With the introduction of user-friendly
browsers on these computers, the WWW started spreading tremendously across the world.
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Eventually, the European Commission approved its first web project in the same year with CERN as one
of its partners. In April 1993, CERN made the source code of WWW available on a royalty-free basis and
thus made it free software. Royalty-free means one has the right to use copyright material or intellectual
property without paying any royalty or license fee. Thus, CERN allowed people to use the code and web
protocol for free. The technologies that were developed to make the WWW became an open source to
allow people to use them for free. Eventually, people started creating websites for online businesses, to
provide information and other similar purposes.
At the end of 1993, there were more than 500 web servers, and the WWW has 1% of the total internet
traffic. In May 1994, the First International World Wide Web conference was held at CERN and was
attended by around 400 users and developers and popularly known as the "Woodstock of the Web." In
the same year, the telecommunication companies started providing internet access, and people have
access to WWW available at their homes.
In the same year, one more conference was held in the United States, which was attended by over 1000
people. It was organized by the NCSA and the newly-formed International WWW Conference
Committee (IW3C2). At the end of this year (1994), the World Wide Web had around 10000 servers and
10 million users. The technology was continuously improved to fulfill growing needs and security, and e-
commerce tools were decided to be added soon.
Open standards:
The main objective was to keep the Web an open standard for all rather than a proprietary system.
Accordingly, CERN sent a proposal to the Commission of the European Union under the ESPRIT
program "WebCore." This project's objective was to form an international consortium in collaboration
with Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the US. In 1994, Berners-Lee left CERN and joined
MIT and established the International World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and a new European partner
was needed for W3C.
The European Commission approached the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science
and Controls (INRIA), to substitute the CERN's role. Eventually, in April 1995, INRIA became the first
European W3C host and in 1996 Keio University of Japan became another host in Asia.
In 2003, ERCIM (European Research Consortium in Informatics and Mathematics) replaced INRIA for
the role of European W3C Host. Beihang University was announced as the fourth Host by W3C in 2013.
In September 2018, there were over 400 member organizations around the world.
Since its inception, the Web has changed a lot and is still changing today. Search engines have become
more advanced at reading, understanding, and processing information. They can easily find the
information requested by users and can even provide other relevant information that might interest users.
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The Web works as per the internet's basic client-server format as shown in the following image. The
servers store and transfer web pages or information to user's computers on the network when requested
by the users. A web server is a software program which serves the web pages requested by web users
using a browser. The computer of a user who requests documents from a server is known as a client.
Browser, which is installed on the user' computer, allows users to view the retrieved documents.
All the websites are stored in web servers. Just as someone lives on rent in a house, a website occupies a
space in a server and remains stored in it. The server hosts the website whenever a user requests its
WebPages, and the website owner has to pay the hosting price for the same.
The moment you open the browser and type a URL in the address bar or search something on Google, the
WWW starts working. There are three main technologies involved in transferring information (web
pages) from servers to clients (computers of users). These technologies include Hypertext Markup
Language (HTML), Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Web browsers.
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display the tags and use them only to render the content of a web page. In simple words, HTML is used
to display text, images, and other resources through a Web browser.
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Web Browser:
A web browser, which is commonly known as a browser, is a program that displays text, data, pictures,
videos, animation, and more. It provides a software interface that allows you to click hyperlinked
resources on the World Wide Web. When you double click the Browser icon installed on your computer
to launch it, you get connected to the World Wide Web and can search Google or type a URL into the
address bar.
In the beginning, browsers were used only for browsing due to their limited potential. Today, they are
more advanced; along with browsing you can use them for e-mailing, transferring multimedia files, using
social media sites, and participating in online discussion groups and more. Some of the commonly used
browsers include Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer, Safari, and more.
When we open a website using a browser, a connection to the web server is opened, and the browser
communicates with the server through HTTP and sends a request. HTTP is carried over TCP/IP to
communicate with the server. The server processes the browser's request and sends a response, and then
the connection is closed. Thus, the browser retrieves content from the server for the user.
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HTTP
HTTP stands for HyperText Transfer Protocol.
It is a protocol used to access the data on the World Wide Web (www).
The HTTP protocol can be used to transfer the data in the form of plain text, hypertext, audio, video,
and so on.
This protocol is known as HyperText Transfer Protocol because of its efficiency that allows us to use
in a hypertext environment where there are rapid jumps from one document to another document.
HTTP is similar to the FTP as it also transfers the files from one host to another host. But, HTTP is
simpler than FTP as HTTP uses only one connection, i.e., no control connection to transfer the files.
HTTP is used to carry the data in the form of MIME-like format.
HTTP is similar to SMTP as the data is transferred between client and server. The HTTP differs from
the SMTP in the way the messages are sent from the client to the server and from server to the client.
SMTP messages are stored and forwarded while HTTP messages are delivered immediately.
Features of HTTP:
Connectionless protocol: HTTP is a connectionless protocol. HTTP client initiates a request and
waits for a response from the server. When the server receives the request, the server processes the
request and sends back the response to the HTTP client after which the client disconnects the
connection. The connection between client and server exist only during the current request and
response time only.
Media independent: HTTP protocol is a media independent as data can be sent as long as both the
client and server know how to handle the data content. It is required for both the client and server to
specify the content type in MIME-type header.
Stateless: HTTP is a stateless protocol as both the client and server know each other only during the
current request. Due to this nature of the protocol, both the client and server do not retain the
information between various requests of the web pages.
HTTP Transactions
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The above figure shows the HTTP transaction between client and server. The client initiates a transaction
by sending a request message to the server. The server replies to the request message by sending a
response message.
Messages
HTTP messages are of two types: request and response. Both the message types follow the same message
format.
Request Message: The request message is sent by the client that consists of a request line, headers, and
sometimes a body.
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Response Message: The response message is sent by the server to the client that consists of a status line,
headers, and sometimes a body.
Method: The method is the protocol used to retrieve the document from a server. For example,
HTTP.
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Host: The host is the computer where the information is stored, and the computer is given an alias
name. Web pages are mainly stored in the computers and the computers are given an alias name that
begins with the characters "www". This field is not mandatory.
Port: The URL can also contain the port number of the server, but it's an optional field. If the port
number is included, then it must come between the host and path and it should be separated from the
host by a colon.
Path: Path is the pathname of the file where the information is stored. The path itself contain slashes
that separate the directories from the subdirectories and files.
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Why Is the Network Infrastructure Important to Your Intranet?
An intranet is made up of two parts: the applications (software / protocols) and the network infrastructure
on which the applications run. Applications— the visible part of an intranet —provide the functionality
to improve productivity and lower costs. A wide spectrum of Internet/intranet applications is available
from many vendors. The network infrastructure includes the hardware—network interface cards (NICs),
hubs, routers, switches, and servers—over which the applications run. All network hardware is not the
same, and an intranet is only as usable, reliable, and cost-effective as the hardware on which it runs.
Crucial considerations in choosing appropriate hardware include:
Bandwidth availability
Reliability
Value, in terms of both initial cost and ease of use and management
Scalability, to ensure that present and future needs can be met
FUNDAMENTALS OF TCP/IP
Introduction:
TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a suite of communication protocols that
define the standards for transmitting data over computer networks, including the internet. The TCP/IP
protocol is the foundation of the internet and enables devices to communicate with each other using a
common language.
The TCP/IP protocol is divided into two layers: the Transport layer and the Internet layer. The
Transport layer is responsible for ensuring that data is transmitted reliably from one device to another.
This layer is comprised of two protocols: the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the User
Datagram Protocol (UDP). TCP is used for reliable data transmission, while UDP is used for fast
transmission of data that can tolerate some packet loss.
The Internet layer is responsible for transmitting data packets between devices. This layer is comprised
of two protocols: the Internet Protocol (IP) and the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP). IP is
responsible for routing data packets between devices, while ARP is used to map IP addresses to
physical addresses.
TCP/IP also includes a number of application layer protocols that are used to provide services to end-
users. These include protocols such as HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) for web browsing, FTP
(File Transfer Protocol) for file transfer, and SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for email.
TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol. It is a set of conventions or
rules and methods that are used to interconnect network devices on the Internet. The internet protocol
suite is commonly known as TCP/IP, as the foundational protocols in the suite are Transmission
Control Protocol and Internet Protocol. It chooses how the information will be traded over the web
through end-to-end communications that incorporate how the information ought to be organized into
bundles (bundles of data), addressed, sent, and received at the goal. This communication protocol can
also be utilized to interconnect organize devices in a private network such as an intranet or an extranet.
History of TCP/IP:
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Office (DARPA), the investigation department of the U.S.
Department of Defense, made the TCP/IP shown in the 1970s for utilization in ARPANET, a wide
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zone organize that gone before the web. TCP/IP was initially planned for the Unix working framework,
and it has been built into all of the working frameworks that came after it.
Characteristics of TCP/IP:
Share Data Transfer: The TCP allows applications to create channels of communications across a
network. It also permits a message to be separated into smaller packets before they are transmitted
over the web and after that collected in the right order at the destination address. So, it guarantees
the solid transmission of data across the channel.
Internet Protocol: The IP address tells the packets the address and route so that they reach the
proper destination. It includes a strategy that empowers portal computers on the internet-connected
to arrange forward the message after checking the IP address.
Reliability: The most vital feature of TCP is solid data delivery. In arrange to supply unwavering
quality, TCP must recover information that’s harmed, misplaced, copied, or conveyed out of
arranging by the Arrange Layer.
Multiplexing: Multiplexing can be achieved through the number of ports.
Connections: Before application forms can send information by utilizing TCP, the devices must set
up a connection. The associations are made between the harbor numbers of the sender and the
collector devices.
Compatibility: TCP/IP is designed to be compatible with a wide range of hardware and software
platforms. This makes it a versatile protocol suite that can be used in a variety of network
environments.
Scalability: TCP/IP is highly scalable, which means that it can be used in networks of any size,
from small home networks to large enterprise networks.
Open standards: TCP/IP is based on open standards, which means that the protocol specifications
are publicly available and can be implemented by anyone. This fosters innovation and competition
in the networking industry.
Modular architecture: TCP/IP is designed with a modular architecture, which means that different
protocols can be added or removed as needed. This allows network administrators to tailor their
networks to specific needs.
Reliability: TCP/IP is designed to be highly reliable, with built-in error checking and correction
mechanisms that ensure data is transmitted accurately and reliably.
Flexibility: TCP/IP is a flexible protocol suite that can be used for a wide range of applications,
including web browsing, email, file sharing, and more.
End-to-end connectivity: TCP/IP provides end-to-end connectivity between devices, which means
that data can be transmitted directly from the source device to the destination device without being
routed through intermediate devices.
TCP/IP Layers
Application Layer An application layer is the topmost layer within the TCP/IP model. When one
application layer protocol needs to communicate with another application layer, it forwards its
information to the transport layer.
Transport Layer It is responsible for the reliability, flow control, and correction of data that is
being sent over the network. There are two protocols used in this layer are User Datagram Protocol
and Transmission control protocol.
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Internet/Network Layer It is the third layer of the TCP/IP Model and also known as the Network
layer. The main responsibility of this layer is to send the packets from any network, and they arrive
at the goal irrespective of the route they take.
Network Access Layer It is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP Model. It is the combination of the
Physical Layer and the Data link layer which present in the OSI Model. Its main responsibility is to
the transmission of information over the same network between two devices.
Application/Uses of TCP/IP
Some Real-Time Applications are:
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP): It helps to send email to another email address.
File Transfer Protocol(FTP): It is used for sending large files.
Dynamic Host Configure Protocol(DHCP): It assigns the IP address.
Telnet: Bi-directional text communication via a terminal application.
HyperText Transfer Protocol(HTTP): Used to transfer the web pages.
Domain Name System(DNS): It translates the website name to IP addresses.
Simple Network Time Protocol(SNTP): It provides the time of a day to the network devices.
Benefits of TCP/IP
It is an industry–standard demonstrate that can be viably deployed in commonsense organizing
problems.
It is interoperable, i.e., it permits cross-platform communications among heterogeneous networks.
It is an open convention suite. It isn’t claimed by any specific established and so can be utilized by
any individual or organization.
It may be versatile, client-server engineering. This permits systems to be included without
disturbing the current services.
It allots an IP address to each computer on the organize, hence making each device to be
identifiable over the arrange. It allots each location a space title. It gives the title and addresses
determination administrations.
Challenges of TCP/IP:
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It is not generic in nature. So, it comes up short to represent any protocol stack other than the
TCP/IP suite. For the case, it cannot depict the Bluetooth connection.
It does not clearly isolate the concepts of services, interfacing, and protocols. So, it isn’t
appropriate to portray unused advances in modern networks.
It does not recognize between the data link and the physical layers, which has exceptionally
distinctive functionalities.
The information interface layer ought to concern with the transmission of outlines. On the other
hand, the physical layer ought to lay down the physical characteristics of the transmission.
In this, model the transport layer does not guarantee delivery of packets.
Security: TCP/IP was originally designed for an open and trusting environment, and as a result, it is
not inherently secure. This has led to a range of security challenges, including attacks such as
DDoS, man-in-the-middle attacks, and other types of network-based attacks.
Complexity: The TCP/IP protocol suite is highly complex, with many different protocols and layers
that interact with each other. This complexity can make it difficult to troubleshoot network issues
and can increase the likelihood of errors and misconfigurations.
Scalability: While TCP/IP is highly scalable, there are limits to its scalability. As networks grow
larger and more complex, it can become more difficult to manage and optimize TCP/IP-based
networks.
Congestion: TCP/IP was not designed with congestion management in mind, which can lead to
issues such as network congestion and packet loss. This can result in reduced network performance
and reliability.
Legacy systems: TCP/IP is based on legacy technology that was designed in the 1970s and 1980s.
While the protocol has been updated over the years, it can still struggle to support modern
networking needs, such as real-time applications, mobile devices, and the Internet of Things.
IPv4 address depletion: The IPv4 address space is limited and has been depleted in many regions,
which has led to the widespread adoption of IPv6. However, the transition from IPv4 to IPv6 has
been slow, and many networks still rely on IPv4.
Access Layer
The access layer is the edge of a campus network, which provides various access modes to PCs, network
cameras, printers, IP phones, and wireless terminals. It is the first layer of the campus network, and needs
to meet access demands of various terminals. The access layer also needs to protect the entire network by
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preventing unauthorized users and applications from connecting to the network, so it must provide
security without compromising network availability. The suggestions at the access layer are as follows:
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Air interface security: Identifies and defends against attacks such as rogue APs, rogue STAs,
unauthorized ad-hoc networks, and DoS attacks.
STA access security: Ensures the validity and security of STAs' access to the WLAN.
Service security: Protects service data of authorized users from being intercepted by unauthorized
users during transmission.
Figure 3-21 WLAN security diagram
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o Interference visualization module: Displays interference resource information in graphs,
including real-time spectrum graphs.
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Figure 3-22 Spectrum analysis system
To prevent unauthorized attacks, you are advised to enable the illegal attack detection function in
public areas and student dormitories with high security requirements to detect flood, weak-vector,
and spoofing attacks, automatically add attackers to the dynamic blacklist, and send alarms to
notify the administrator.
STA Access Security
Four WLAN security policies are available: Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP), Wi-Fi Protected
Access (WPA), WPA2, WLAN Authentication and Privacy Infrastructure (WAPI). Each security
policy has a series of security mechanisms, including link authentication used to establish a
wireless link, user authentication used when users attempt to connect to a wireless network, and
data encryption used during data transmission. The following table lists the WLAN security
policies.
Table 3-22 Comparison of WLAN security policies
SECURITY CHARACTERISTICS
MECHANISM
WEP shared key authentication requires that the same static key be preconfigured on
WEP the server and client. Both the encryption mechanism and the encryption algorithm are
vulnerable to security threats. Therefore, this authentication mode is not recommended.
WPA and WPA2 provide almost the same security. WPA/WPA2 has two editions:
enterprise edition and personal edition.
WPA/WPA2-Enterprise requires an authentication server and is recommended for
employee access on large- and medium-sized campus networks.
WPA/WPA2
WPA/WPA2-Personal does not require an authentication server and is recommended
for guest access on large- and medium-sized campus networks. The WPA/WPA2-
PPSK (PPSK is short for Private PSK) enhances network security while ensuring the
convenience.
WAPI is a WLAN security standard proposed in China and provides higher security
WAPI
than WEP and WPA.
STA access security design aims to properly plan STA access security policies and ensure both
security and convenience. For example, in an enterprise, the WPA/WPA2 security policy is
recommended.
In addition, if users do not need to communicate with each other, it is recommended that user
isolation be configured.
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Service Security Design
The wired network between APs and WACs also faces common security threats, for example,
interception, tampering, and spoofing, on IP networks. To improve data transmission security,
CAPWAP tunnels between the WAC and AP support DTLS encryption, including:
o DTLS encryption for management packets in CAPWAP tunnels
o DTLS encryption for service data packets in CAPWAP tunnels
o Sensitive information encryption: When sensitive information is transmitted between an AP and
a WAC, the information can be encrypted to ensure security. Sensitive information includes the
FTP user name, FTP password, AP login user name, AP login password, and service
configuration key. The sensitive information encryption function can also be configured to
protect data transmitted between WACs.
o Integrity check: When CAPWAP packets are transmitted between an AP and a WAC, these
packets may be forged, tampered with, or used by attackers to construct malformed packets to
launch attacks. Integrity check can protect CAPWAP packets between the AP and WAC.
If the AP and WAC are both located on the internal network, this security function does not
need to be enabled. It is recommended that this function be enabled when the AP is connected to
the WAC across the Internet or the WACs are located across the Internet.
Aggregation Layer
Aggregation devices are responsible for Layer 2 forwarding of service traffic, for example, transparent
transmission of VLAN packets or authentication packets. Typically, terminals are not directly connected
to the aggregation layer, so only port isolation needs to be configured.
If terminals are connected to the aggregation layer, perform security design according to Access Layer.
If the aggregation device functions as the user gateway or authentication point, perform security design
according to Core Layer.
Core Layer
Core devices are located at key positions of the network, and the security of the core devices is critical.
When the core device functions as the centralized authentication point, the CPU performance must meet
requirements of processing protocol packets when a large number of users access the network. When the
core device functions as the gateway, ARP security must be considered.
To ensure that the CPU can process services in a timely manner, switches provide the local attack defense
function. When a device is undergoing an attack, this function ensures uninterrupted service transmission
and minimizes the impact on network services.
Local attack defense includes CPU attack defense, attack source tracing, port attack defense, and user-
level rate limiting. By default, the switch is enabled with the functions.
CPU attack defense
CPU attack defense can limit the rate of packets sent to the CPU so that only a limited number of
packets are sent to the CPU within a certain period of time. This ensures that the CPU can properly
process services.
The core of CPU attack defense is Control Plane Committed Access Rate (CPCAR). CPCAR limits
the rate of protocol packets sent to the control plane to ensure security of the control plane.
Attack source tracing
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Attack source tracing defends against denial of service (DoS) attacks. The device enabled with attack
source tracing analyzes packets sent to the CPU, collects statistics about the packets, and specifies a
threshold for the packets. Excess packets are considered to be attack packets. The device finds the
source user address or source interface of the attack by analyzing the attack packets and generates logs
or alarms. Accordingly, the network administrator can take measures to defend against the attacks or
configure the device to discard packets from the attack source.
Port attack defense
Port attack defense is an anti-DoS-attack method. It defends against attacks based on ports and
prevents protocol packets on ports from occupying bandwidth and causing other packets to be
discarded.
By default, the device is enabled with interface attack defense for common protocol packets, such as
ARP, ICMP, DHCP, and IGMP packets. When an attack occurs, the device isolates the attack impact
within the interface that receives attack packets, reducing the impact on other interfaces.
User-level rate limiting
User-level rate limiting identifies users based on MAC addresses, and rate-limits specified protocol
packets, such as ARP, ND, DHCP Request, DHCPv6 Request, IGMP, 802.1X, and HTTPS-SYN
packets. If a user undergoes a DoS attack, other users are not affected. The core of user-level rate
limiting is host CAR. By default, user-level rate limiting is enabled.
When a switch functions as an access gateway, it receives a large number of ARP packets requesting the
interface MAC address of the switch. If all these ARP Request packets are sent to the MPU for
processing, the CPU usage of the MPU will increase and other services cannot be processed promptly.
The optimized ARP reply function addresses this issue. After this function is enabled, the LPU directly
returns ARP Reply packets if the ARP Request packets are destined for the local interface. This function
helps the switch defend against ARP flood attacks. This function is applicable to the scenario where a
modular switch is configured with multiple LPUs or fixed switches constitute a stack.
By default, the optimized ARP reply function is enabled on a switch. Do not disable the function.
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document management - viewing, printing and working collaboratively on office documents such as
spreadsheets or databases
training - accessing and delivering various types of e-learning to the user's desktop
workflow - automating a range of administrative processes, including dealing with holiday requests,
staff performance reviews and appraisals, meeting room and equipment booking, etc
front-end to corporate systems - providing a common interface to corporate databases and business
information systems
email - integrating intranet content with email services so that information can be distributed
effectively
It is a good idea to give your intranet a different image and structure from your customer-facing website.
This will help to give your internal communications their own identity and prevent employees from
confusing internal and external information.
FUTURE OF INTRANET
Traditional intranets with outdated features and functionalities are fast becoming obsolete. Today’s
modern workplace demands a modern intranet equipped with modern features to drive better employee
experience, collaboration, knowledge management and ROI.
Key Trends
1. Artificial Intelligence
“Artificial intelligence assistants and conversational interfaces have a great deal of potential to help
(SharePoint intranet) users complete quick tasks and are becoming easier to deploy” – ClearBox
Consulting
2. Faster Development
“Intranet development timelines are getting shorter…Faster development strategies, such as Agile,
contribute to shorter times, as do continually improving website development tools” – Nielsen Norman
Group
3. Personalized Experiences
Intranet personalization enhances the way employees interact with the intranet. A robust personalization
strategy will be vital to improving user experience and adoption rates.
4. Simplified Design
Design focus will be less on leveraging latest fads and more on getting the fundamentals right.
Foundational design elements like page structure, information architecture, a streamlined look etc. will be
a major focus.
As the number of tools and applications increase within an enterprise, intranets will be used as a gateway
for employees to access all these systems at one place.
5. Systems Integration
As the number of tools and applications increase within an enterprise, intranets will be used as a gateway
for employees to access all these systems at one place.
6. Mobile-Friendliness
This is the next key step for intranets. As your workforce becomes more mobile, your intranet features
should be optimized for a range of mobile and desktop devices.
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Modern Intranet Features to Look For
AI Chatbots
The conversational UI of a chatbot helps employees swiftly access Intranet information within the
actively used messaging app and complete tasks quickly. Content updating can also be automated.
Intranet Analytics
Analytics tools can be leveraged to measure and analyze your intranet engagement, adoption, content,
and the overall performance.
Enterprise Search
Enabling enterprise search within your intranet increases the employee productivity by eliminating the
hassle of switching between different apps to get the information they require.
Social Features
Social features and tools continue to evolve and promise a much better collaboration. New options to
look for include in-depth employee profiles, personalized quick links, employee updates etc.
Hub Sites
Hub sites are the latest building block of SharePoint intranets that bring together a group of related sites,
give a persistent menu navigation and improve search.
COMMUNICATION PROTOCOLS
In the digital world, communication protocols create many rules. For instance, on the Internet, the
formation of these protocols can be done by groups such as the association of WWW (World Wide Web)
or W3C & the IETF (Internet Engineering Task) assists in providing worldwide operations & limits
different types of liability as well as vulnerabilities within these technologies. Communication protocol
plays a key role when HTTP turns into HTTPS otherwise an extensive use of SSL (Secure Sockets
Layer) certificate becomes the standard. Other types of protocols use the data packets within global
network routes and sometimes its looks like particle physics. So, technology is advancing day by day, so
different communication protocols are used in advanced networks. The Internet of Things (IoT) assures
the latest developing communications protocols to connect the wide set of devices to a universal network.
This article discusses an overview of communication protocols in embedded systems.
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Communication Protocols
The implementation of these protocols can be done within hardware as well as software. So
communications protocols are available around thousand types which are used all over in analog &
digital communications, so computer networks cannot be present without them.
Introduction
Protocol: A set of rules and regulations is called a protocol.
Communication: Exchange of information from one system to another system with a medium is
called communication.
Communication Protocol: A set of rules and regulations that allow two electronic devices to connect
to exchange the data with one and another.
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Inter Bus System Protocols
The different categories of intersystem protocol mainly include the following.
UART Protocol
USART Protocol
USB Protocol
UART Protocol
UART stands for a universal asynchronous transmitter and receiver. UART Protocols is a serial
communication with two wired protocols. The data cable signal lines are labeled as Rx and Tx. Serial
communication is commonly used for transmitting and receiving the signal. It is transferred and receives
the data serially bit by bit without class pulses. The UART takes bytes of data and sends the individual
bits in a sequential manner.
UART is a half-duplex protocol. Half-duplex means transferring and receiving the data but not at the
same time. Most of the controllers have hardware UART on board. It uses a single data line for
transmitting and receiving the data. It has one start bit, 8-bit data and a one-stop bit mean the 8-bit data
transfer one’s signal is high to low.
Ex: Emails, SMS, Walkie-talkie.
USART Protocol
USART stands for a universal synchronous and asynchronous transmitter and receiver. It is a serial
communication of a two-wire protocol. The data cable signal lines are labeled as Rx and TX. This
protocol is used to transmitting and receiving the data byte by byte along with the clock pulses. It is a
full-duplex protocol that means transmitting and receiving data simultaneously to different board rates.
Different devices communicate with microcontroller to this protocol.
Ex:-Telecommunications.
USB Protocol
USB stands for universal serial bus. Again it is a serial communication of two-wire protocol. The data
cable signal lines are labeled D+ and D-. This protocol is used to communicate with the system
peripherals.USB protocol is used to send and receive the data serially to the host and peripheral
devices.USB communication requires driver software that is based on the functionality of the
system.USB devices can transfer data on the bus without any request on the host computer.
Now a day’s most devices are using this technique for communicating with USB protocol. Like a
computer to communicate with an ARM controller using USB. USB transfer the data to different modes
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.first one is slow speed mode 10kbps to 100 kbps; the second one is full speed mode 500kbps to 10mbps,
high-speed mode 25mbps to 400 Mbps.USB maximum cable length of 4 meters.
Ex: Mouse, Keyboard, Hubs, switches, pen drive.
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I2C Protocol
I2C stands for the inter-integrated circuit and it requires only two wires connecting all peripherals to the
microcontroller. I2C requires two wires SDA (serial data line) and SCL (serial clock line) to carry
information between devices. It is a master to a slave communication protocol. Each slave has a unique
address. The master device sends the address of the target slave device and reads/writes the flag. The
address matches any slave device that the device is ON, the remaining slave devices are disabled mode.
Once the address is match communication proceed between the master and that slave device and
transmitting and receiving the data. The transmitter sends 8-bit data, the receiver replies 1-bit of
acknowledgment. When the communication is completed master issues the stop condition. The I2C bus
was developed by Philips Semiconductors. Its original purpose is to provide an easy way to connect CPU
to peripherals chips.
Peripheral devices in embedded systems are often connected to the microcontroller as memory-mapped
devices. I2C requires only two wires for connecting all the peripherals to the microcontroller. These
active wires, called SDA and SCL, are both bidirectional. SDA line is a serial data line and the SCA line
is a serial clock line.
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I2C Pull-up Resistors
Why given the pull-up resistors in I2C SCL and SDA line.
Both SDA and SCL lines are open-drain drivers.
It can drive output low canot driver it high.
For the lines to be able to go high you must provide pull-up resistors
SPI Protocol
SPI stands for the serial peripheral interface. It is one of the serial communication protocol developed by
Motorola. Sometimes SPI protocol is also called a 4-wire protocol. It requires four wires MOSI, MISO,
SS, and SCLK.SPI protocol used to communicate the master and slave devices. The master first
configures the clock using a frequency.
The master then selects the particular slave device for communication by pulling the chip select button.
That particular device is selected and starts the communication between the master and that particular
slave. The master selects only one slave at a time. It is a full-duplex communication protocol. Not limited
to 8-bit words in the case of bit transferring.
CAN Protocol
CAN stands for the controller area network. It is a serial communication protocol. It requires two wires
CAN High (H+) and CAN low (H-). It was developed by the Robert bosh company in 1985 for in-
vehicle networks. It is based on a message-oriented transmission protocol.
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Host Link Protocol
RAPIENet
therNet/IP
Mechatrolink
PPI- Point to Point
Ethernet Powerlink
Multi-Point Interface (MPI)
Data Highway (DH)
Actuator Sensor Interface (ASI)
DeviceNet
Highway Addressable Remote Transducer Protocol (HART)
Ethernet Global Data (EGD)
Factory Interface Network Service Protocol (FINS)
Open Smart Grid Protocol (OSGP)
Recommended Standard (RS-232, RS- 422, and RS-485) Protocols
Bristol Standard Asynchronous Protocol (BSAP)
Distributed Network Protocol (DNP3)
Service Request Transport Protocol (SRTP)
Smart Distributed System Protocol (SDS)
Process Image Exchange Protocol (PIEP)
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HTTP is a connectionless protocol, so devices do not maintain a connection to the cloud IoT core. As an
alternative, they send requests as well as get responses. The protocols of cloud computing are a set of
rules that permit two electronic elements to unite as well as exchange the data with each other. It is
mainly used for communication, storage, encryption, networks, decryption, security, management of user
login, etc. Some cloud computing protocols include
Gossip Protocol
MTP (Media Transfer Protocol)
CLNP (Connection Less Network Protocol)
CEE (Coverage Enhanced Ethernet Protocol)
SRP (State Routing Protocol)
SSHP (Secure Shell Protocol)
IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol)
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