Welcome to our blog on device communication!
Ok let me start by asking a question, have you ever wondered what happens when you request information from a website? You type in the address, hit enter, and almost like magic, the information appears. But how does your request know where to go and how to get there?
Well, wait no more! This blog will answer and clear all your doubts about how devices communicate with each other. Dive into insightful articles to understand the fascinating world of device communication, ensuring you stay informed and confident in your tech knowledge.
Imagine a digital city where smartphones, laptops, and servers are actors in a communication drama. Each device follows specific protocols, like road signs guiding traffic, to interact smoothly. Your smartphone, as the main character, seeks directions to a server holding the information you want. Supporting actors like routers and DNS servers ensure your request reaches its destination.
Our hero, a sleek smartphone, embarks on a mission to find www.friend.com. With Alexa, the AI assistant, as its guide, the smartphone navigates digital pathways with determination. This storytelling approach simplifies the complex process of device communication, making protocols more understandable and engaging.
Let’s start this exciting journey together!
Smartphone: Hello Alexa.
Alexa: Good evening, Smartphone! How can I assist you?
Smartphone: (determined) Alexa, we need to find www.friend.com and check on his well-being. But I only have his name. How do we start?
Alexa: You know, Smartphone, to find www.friend.com’s exact location, we need to translate its name (www.friend.com) to an IP address. I know someone named DNS who can help us with that. DNS stands for Domain Name System. It’s like an internet phone book where names are mapped to their IP addresses. DNS will check its records, find the IP address associated with www.friend.com, and provide it to us.
Smartphone: So DNS will tell us where www.friend.com is?
Alexa: Exactly! Let’s contact the DNS to get the IP address for www.friend.com.
Smartphone races through the bustling streets and arrives at the DNS Server Hub, where the DNS Server is work hard to cater to everyone’s request.
DNS Server: Ah, Smartphone! How can I help you today?
Smartphone: I need the IP address for www.friend.com.
DNS Server: (typing rapidly) Certainly! Let me find that for you… Here you go: The IP address of your friend is 192.0.2.1.
Smartphone: Thanks, DNS Server!
DNS Server: Anytime! Good luck finding your friend!
With the IP address in hand, Smartphone is one step closer to finding his friend.
Smartphone: Great! We have the IP address, 192.0.2.1. What’s next?
Alexa: Next, we need to find the physical address of Router Central to communicate directly with www.friend.com’s location. Router will help us with the detailed route plan for reaching our friend.
Smartphone: But how will we find the Physical/ MAC address of Router?
Alexa: Smartphone, look into your default gateway configuration. The IP address of router will be listed there. We’ll broadcast the IP address to all the devices in our local network.
Smartphone: But Alexa how can I send message to all the devices in my network?
Alexa: Smartphone, We’ll use an ARP request to broadcast the IP address of the Router to all the devices in our local network. The device with the matching IP address will recognizes the ARP request and will responds with an ARP reply, providing its MAC address directly to the us.
Smartphone: What is ARP?
Alexa: ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol. It’s used to map the IP address to a physical MAC address.
Smartphone: Great. But Alexa is it safe to send the message to all the device. What will happen to Router privacy?
Alexa: Don’t Worry Smartphone, The ARP reply is unicast, meaning it is sent only to the device that made the request, rather than to all devices on the network. Once the reply is received I would advice to store Router’s MAC address into your ARP Cache so that you can directly communicate with Router for meeting your friend in future. Remember Smartphone for any communication to outside world you will be needing Router help.
Smartphone: Why do we need the MAC address, again?
Alexa: The MAC address, or Media Access Control address, is a unique identifier assigned to network interfaces like routers. It functions like the specific street address in a digital city, ensuring devices can communicate effectively within their network neighbourhood.
Smartphone: Alexa, may I ask you a question?
Alexa: Sure, go for it.
Smartphone: If we can get the MAC address of a router by sending an ARP request, why can’t we just send ARP requests to all devices on the network to find my friend’s MAC address? Why make it so complicated?
Alexa: That’s a great question. The primary purpose of ARP is to map IP addresses to MAC addresses to facilitate communication between devices on the same local network.
It’s important to note that ARP isn’t designed as a tool for discovering all devices on a network. Constantly broadcasting ARP requests to discover all devices’ MAC addresses would flood the network with unnecessary traffic, which can lead to inefficiencies and potential network slowdowns.
Moreover, broadcasting ARP requests to identify all devices on a network raises privacy and security concerns.
Devices on a network are typically configured to respond only to specific, legitimate ARP requests. Randomly sending ARP requests to discover other devices’ MAC addresses could be viewed as intrusive or even malicious behaviour.
In summary, ARP serves a specific role in local network communication, and using it for network-wide device discovery isn’t its intended purpose. It’s important to respect network protocols and privacy considerations when using ARP and other networking tools.
Smartphone: Thank you, Alexa. You’re the best! Let’s go talk to the Router for our detailed travel plan to meet our friend.
The Smartphone heads to Router Central, a high-tech facility guarded by the ROUTER (a robust, no-nonsense character with antennas).
Router: (noticing Smartphone) Ah, you’re here to meet? Please let me know how I can assist you.
Smartphone: Yes, I have the IP address of my friend and I’d like to check on his well-being. Could you assist me with that?
Router: Sure, It will be my pleasure. Please provide me with the destination IP address and I will prepare the best path for you to reach your destination. For your information, I maintain a table of known routes, called a routing table, which helps me make decisions about the optimal travel path. Additionally, I use protocols like ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) to discover and store the MAC addresses of devices on my network, ensuring efficient travel. Overall, I manage and optimize traffic to ensure fast and reliable communication between devices on your network and beyond.
The router starts preparing the best route for the smartphone using the provided IP address. It does this by consulting its routing table, which contains information about how to reach various networks and IP addresses. The router carefully selects the next hop, which is the next router on the path to the destination. During this process, it records the MAC addresses of each hop along the way. Once the router has completed this preparation, it hands over the entire travel itinerary to the smartphone.
Router: Here’s the optimal travel path for you. Follow HTTP protocol and once you reach there contact Server on port 80 to send a message to your friend. Proceed with your mission.
Smartphone: Thanks, Router!
Router: Stay safe out there.
The Smartphone began its journey according to the instructions received from the router. However, unaware of what the HTTP protocol is, it sought Alexa’s assistance to learn more.
Smartphone: Alexa, what is the HTTP protocol and why is it important?
Alexa: HTTP protocol (Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is a guide that will help us navigate through the digital city, which is the internet. We need to follow set of rules and directions set by HTTP protocol to communicate with your friend at his location.
Smartphone: Ok, but why port 80?
Alexa: Port 80 is the standard port for HTTP traffic, just like how certain phone numbers are dedicated to specific departments in a company. We’ll use port 80 for the HTTP request. Ports are endpoints for communication.
Smartphone: Understood. Sending HTTP request through port 80…
The Smartphone zooms down the Internet Highway, navigating through data packets and digital traffic, heading towards the SERVER DISTRICT. The Smartphone arrives at Server HQ, a grand building with the SERVER (a wise, sophisticated character) waiting inside. The HTTP request is visualized as a digital envelope.
Smartphone: (handing over the request) I’m looking for my friend www.friend.com. How is he doing?
Server: (smiling) Let me check… Processing your request through port 80…
The Server types on a console, and data streams fill the air. Moments later, the Server hands back a data packet.
Server: Your friend www.friend.com is doing well. Here’s a message from him.
Smartphone: Thank you, Server!
Server: Anytime, Buddy. Stay connected!
With the message from www.friend.com safely in his system, Smartphone heads home, mission accomplished.
Alexa and Smartphone celebrate the successful mission.
Alexa: Mission accomplished! www.friend.com is safe and sound.
Smartphone: (satisfied) Another successful connection. Let’s prepare for the next adventure.
“In the digital world, connections are everything. Stay smart, stay connected.”