1. Internet Ecosystem
How the Internet works!
Nepal IGF
18-19 August 2017
Srinivas (Sunny) Chendi
Senior Advisor Community Development
2. What is the Internet?
• “A network of networks”
– … using IP, the Internet Protocol?
• A collection of useful online applications
– … connected by competing service providers?
• A platform for innovation
– … and for social and economic development?
• A borderless “Cyberspace”
– … inhabited by free-roaming netizens?
• A critical global infrastructure
– … and enabler of e-commerce, e-governance, e-citizenship… ?
3. How did we get here…
• Initially, research project (70-80s)
– Open, cooperative, public domain
– Highly collaborative environment
– “Rough consensus and running code”
• Then, product of liberalization (90s)
– Also, catalyst for deregulation
– Highly competitive environment
– Still free to join and use
• Now, public utility and critical infrastructure
(2000 and beyond)
– Internet governance (re-regulation?) is a recent afterthought
3
4. Before the Internet…
– and many more: Novell, Microsoft etc etc etc
• User choices determined by vendor
• Proprietary systems
• Limited interconnection
4
Applications
Network
OS
Hardware
Applications
Network
OS
Hardware
Applications
Network
OS
Hardware
5. So, Why is the Internet?
• Global
– “End-to-End”
– Uniform
• “Dumb”
– Lightweight and efficient
– Intelligence at the edges, in applications and devices
• Neutral
– By default
• Open
– No/Low barrier to entry
– Free standards
– Multistakeholder governance
7. Layers – in the telephone network
Wires
Exchanges
Devices
8. Layers – according to ISO OSI
7: Application
6: Presentation
5: Session
4: Transport
3: Network
2: Link
1: Physical
9. Layers – in practice
Phone/Fax/SMS
TV/VOD/conf
“The Internet”
Applications
Fixed, Dialup/ISDN
Mobile/2G
Cable/ADSL
Infrastructure
Voice
Video
Data
Network
10. Layers – in the Internet
10
Voice, email, IM
Video, TV, conf
WWW, +++
DNS
Applications
802.11x/WiMax
Mobile/4G/LTE
Cable/xDSLx
FTTH, ETTH
Infrastructure
Internet
Network
11. So, what is a standard?
• Standards operate at different levels of the protocol stack
– In fact they define the protocol stack
• A standard (or protocol) is simply an agreement
– among members of a community,
– on a set of guidelines or rules,
– which allow cooperation (interoperability),
– and often, agreed by a recognized standards body such as ISO, ITU,
W3C or IETF.
• An open standard is a standard which is
– Developed through open and accessible processes
– Freely accessible, implementable and usable
– Available without barriers such as licenses and fees. … “ideally”, at
least.
11
15. What’s an IP Address?
• The fundamental Internet address
– Every address must be unique within the network
– Every device must have an address
– Every network must have a block (or more) or addresses
• A finite “Common Resource”
– Managed in the common interest
– According to openly-defined policies
• Please learn to distinguish:
– Domain names (eg apnic.net)
– Email addresses (eg sunny@apnic.net)
– and IP and Intellectual Property
16. IP Addresses in use…
Traffic
202.12.29.0/24
The Internet
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
202.12.29.0/24
…
Announce
202.12.29.0/24 202.12.29.0/24
R
17. Internet Address Routing
The Internet
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Net
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
4.128/9
60.100/16
60.100.0/20
135.22/16
…
Global Routing Table
32. Domain Name System
• Converts domain names to IP addresses
– Like a phone book
– A “critical infrastructure service” on the Internet
– A specialised database service, essentially
• Highly distributed and reliable
– Distributed servers
– Distributed administration
– Distributed authority (through “delegation”)
– Redundancy/secondary services, caching etc
– Security deployment via DNSSEC
33. Using the DNS
The Internet
www.apnic.net
www.apnic.net?
202.12.29.194
2001:dc0:2001:11::211
DNS
2001:0C00:8888:: 2001:dc0:2001:11::211
34. DNS name hierarchy
whois www www www www
.The “root”
net org com asia np… arpaTLDs
apnic iana …. rigf npix
SLDs
www.npix.np.
36. What’s in a nameserver?
• Authority for a particular zone eg “npix.np”
• The “zonefile” for that zone
• Zonefile records including
– A: www = “203.12.45.91” (IPv4 address for this name)
– AAAA: www = “2001:FC03::203:EFEF” (IPv6 address)
– NS: www = “220.35.35.1” (delegation to another server)
• In real life, much more than this
– Caches of recent queries
– Secondary (backup) server configurations
– Configuration and tuning settings
– Many more record types
– Replication using the “anycast” technique
37. What’s in a root nameserver?
• The all-important “root zone file”
• Delegation records for all TLDs
– gTLDs such as: .com .org .asia etc
– ccTLDs such as: .np .us .cn .ch .tv etc
– IDN TLDs: .网络 (Wǎngluò for net) and .公司 (Gōngsī for com)
• Actually, there are 13 distinct root operations
– Most have a different operator
– Named A, B, C, … L and M
– Each can have multiple secondaries
– Each can have many “anycast” copies/clones/instances
– Now there are many hundreds of individual root servers globally