Author: Barkha Manral

Geo-fencing: Location On Work

In the world of technology, tracking is not a strenuous task, which will require meticulous efforts. Geo-fencing is one of the technology blessings we are working with. But what is this geo-fencing, how has it developed, in what ways it works, how is it useful and where is it used? Let’s discuss all these answers one by one via this article.

GEO-FENCING

In the word Geo-fencing, the Prefix “Geo” is a Greek word meaning “earth or land” and “fencing” means “drawing an imaginary border” Thus, Geo-fencing defines as setting up fencing or a virtual perimeter boundary to know whenever an object enters within the marked fencing zone.

As the definition explained above, defines Geo-fencing technology as a location-based service (LBS). In this, the app or any other medium by which the service is in use depends on GPS (Global Positioning System), Wi-Fi or cellular data and RFID(Radio-Frequency Identification) to activate the organized action which is based on whenever a device enters or exits the set virtual boundary locations or Geo-fence. The alert can be sent in many ways set up by the developer, it can be in a trigger form of text, pop-up, push notifications, track alert messages etcetera. 

How the Geofencing Work?

The developer set up the virtual boundary using GPS or RFID services or even an IP address in some cases to set up the fencing zone and then set up a per-planned alert system for the device which is going to enter or exit from the fencing zone. As soon as you enter the fence, will be tracked by the developer in case of tracking; you will get a push notification, if the fencing is set up for some marketing or business deals, you will get a message if the fencing is set up for any other purposes related to work personal or professional. So, therefore we can say that Geo-fencing has made life easy for everyone except those who are in the adversary zone. The fence in the Geo-fencing can vary in the perimeter zone, i.e., they can be changed,  reduced or increased depending upon the user and developer. 

Example: If you are running a salon and you want the customers in closer proximity to your location to know about the venue, you can set up the fencing perimeter and send the alerts in whatever format you want to give. 

Geo-fencing Application

In this era of digitization, Geo-fencing has become a crucial way for every sector whether it is a public or private one; whether it is in the security zone or marketing world; whether it is in IT or business firms. Once geographic fencing is set, the opportunities and usage are seemingly endless and that’s one of the reasons that it has become especially popular in marketing and social media lines.

Some of the common Geo-fencing Applications are as follows:

Security: Geo-fencing can be used to make your devices more secure. Like you can set your own Geo-fencing for your device for a specific area like your home, to get push-up notifications whenever someone enters your home.

Social networking: With Geo-fencing development comes its usage in one of the most popular platforms of the last decade called social media. Geo-fencing is the social media app network that gives the application of location status, location sending, and location-based stories to other devices and all these are all made possible with Geo-fencing. 

Human resources: For fencing the on-field employees, and workers and to track the employees, companies nowadays use Geo-fencing to keep a record of employees. Geo-fencing is also useful as a way to automate time cards, employee clocking means keeping track of when they go in and out, within the premises.

Marketing: Geo-fencing is a popular way for business firms to promote themselves by an alert pop-up whenever you are within the fencing range of the company. One of the best use of Geo-fencing is that it helps businesses in targeted ads to a specific audience instead of mass-adherence to figure out the right set of strategies with the right set of people based on the user’s location data.

Telematics: Telematics, the process of merging telecommunications and informatics via any device- Geo-fencing plays a very useful role here as well by allowing companies to set virtual zones around sites, work premises and secure zones. 

Smart appliances: Smart appliances have made us enter the smart world and Geo-fencing is one of the smartest use of these smart appliances  With the capability of smart work of appliances, it’s easier than ever before like reminding you of some household chores, reminding you some office-related files, kids assignments and all. 

The use of Geo-fencing in handling Pandemic COVID19:

When the entire nation is struggling for survival from the pandemic coronavirus, people in technology are working to tackle this problem via the use of technology. Developers from different zones of the country have developed a geo-fencing-based app for COVID-19 to track the people who are on the fence about getting affected by the Coronavirus.

Ministry of Electronics and information technology (MEITY)-GOI has developed an app called ‘AAROGYA SETU’ for citizens to know the risk of contracting COVID-19 by Geo-fencing tracking service. The tracking is done via Bluetooth & location-generated social graphs, which can show your interaction with anyone who has tested positive-All you have to do after the installation is to switch on the Bluetooth and location. By switching on the following you will be in the line of sight of developers and once you crossed paths with the red zone area you will get an alert message based on the information. Thus, Geo-fencing is playing a crucial role in handling this pandemic.

Geo-fencing Future

In this world of data-privacy where everyone is concerned about their data getting stolen, Geo-fencing faces the same criticism of possibilities of a data breach but as said by Nasscom chief R. Chandrasekhar, ‘There is nothing called fully perfect security in IT’, thus we can’t play the data-breach game with Geo-fencing anymore. According to a press release from Markets and Markets (https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/), the Geo-fencing industry is expected to grow by over 27% by 2022, citing “technological advancements in the use of spatial data and increasing applications in numerous industry verticals.”

References:

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary

https://meity.gov.in

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geo-fence

HTTP V/S HTTPS

HTTP (HTTP://)– Hyper Text Transfer Protocol is a Protocol designed for communication between client (Web browser) and server(Web server). It was projected in 1989 by the world wide web. It operates on Port 80 and transfers data in plain text. There were a few revisions in HTTP until http1.1 released in 1996.Then after finding so many loopholes, There was a mega release of HTTP/2 in 2015. Later, HTTP/3 as the proposed successor to HTTP/2 came out, which is already in use on the web, using UDP instead of TCP for the underlying transport protocol. 

Advantages of HTTP:-

  1. HTTP can be implemented with other networks as well as protocols.
  2. HTTP pages are stored on computers as internet caches.
  3. The platform of HTTP is independent, thus allowing cross-platform porting.
  4. It can be used over Firewalls.

Issues with HTTP:-

  1. HTTP is a stateless protocol, which means it does not require the HTTP server to retain information or status about each user for the duration of multiple requests. Each time the requests will be treated unique or new irrespective whether it is new or old.
  2. No privacy, as open for all, and anyone can see the content.
  3. Data Integrity is 0, here as security and privacy are absent here and anyone can alter the content.
  4. Anybody irrespective of a genuine user or not, can intercept the request and can get the username and password.

HTTPS (HTTPS://)– Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure, an advanced as well as the secured version of HTTP. It allows secured transference with the help of SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). HTTPS is a combination of SSL/TLS with HTTP. It provides encrypted data and secured transference with the help of key-based encryption algorithms, in which key is generally 40 or 128 bits in strength. It operates on port 443 and transfers data in Cipher (encrypted) format.

Advantages of HTTPS:-

  1. Sites running over HTTPS are redirected, which means even if you type in HTTP:// by mistake, it will redirect to an HTTPS over a secured connection.
  2. Secured with SSL/TLS and provide full encryption over data.
  3. Each SSL Certificate contains unique, authenticated information about the certificate owner.

Issues with HTTPS:-

  1. HTTPS protocol can’t stop stealing confidential information from the pages if they are saved as cache memories on the browser.
  2. SSL data can be encrypted only during transmission via a network, thus the text in the browser memory is still not cleared with SSL.

Difference between HTTP and HTTPS :-

                 HTTP

               HTTPS

-Hyper Text Transfer Protocol

-Hyper Text Transfer Protocol Secure

-Less secure and encryption is absent.

-Secure and encrypted with SSL/TLS.

-Uses Port 80.

-Uses Port 443.

-Doesn’t scramble data before transmission, thus vulnerable to hackers.

-Scramble Data before transmission, thus secure.

-It operates on TCP/IP level protocol.

-It operates on the same HTTP protocol but with SSL/TLS.

-No SSL and data encryption.

-SSL and data encryption are required.

-Fast in procession.

-Slow in processing in comparison to HTTP.

-It operates on an Application layer.

-It operates on the Transport layer.

-It transports plain text information.

-It transports cipher text information.

Difference between GUI and CLI

GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE (GUI)

COMMAND LINE INTERFACE (CLI)

-Based on graphics

-Based on commands.

-Easy to handle as graphics and icons work 

-Difficult to handle as requires command expertise

-Requires more memory

-Requires less memory

-Requires mouse and keyboard

-Requires keyboard only

-Appearance can be changed

-Appearance can’t be changed

-Low precision is there

-High precision in comparison to GUI

-Slow in performance

-Fast in performance in comparison to GUI

-More user friendly

-More advanced and powerful

-More flexible

-Less flexible than GUI

Cloud Computing

Every computing service that can be delivered over the Internet mode is known as cloud computing. The computing involves resources like tools and applications as data servers, networking, data storage, and software. The name cloud computing comes as a virtual space/ cloud space having the information that is accesssible and stored in the cloud space only and computing of all the information and data is known as cloud computing. The biggest advantage of this is that the user who is using it, don’t require to gain access to a specific location to access the data, the user can work remotely. The cloud computing can be done via public as well as private mode referring to what access you want to use or want to give to the user as well.

Types of Cloud Services: Cloud computing services give its users a series of function that includes, email, data analyzing, audio and video streaming, delivery of software on demand, creating and testing apps, VM creation and storage, data retreival etcetera.

Deployment Models: 

Saying certainly that there are three type of clouds wouldn’t be possibleand right, better we can comprehend that there are various types of cloud and each one is different than the other.

Public cloud, is the cloud which works like an open-source, freely available to public providing storage and servers services over the internet. Public cloud is being operated by third-party companies, who manages hardware, software and other general infrastructure.

Private cloud, is the cloud which is not freely available, thus user needs to pay an amount to use the cloud services and it is reserved for specific clientele, usually one business or organization. The user access is reserved by the admin and is being directly operated and managed by the organisation who buys it.

Hybrid cloud,as the name suggest is the combination of both above-mentioned clouds, the public and the private one. This type of cloud provides flexibility with restriction and security for the right optimization and function of the cloud by the user.

Multi-cloud, this is a cloud service in which the client don’t restricted to use the service of only one type of cloud service provider. Insead the client can use the cloud service of one provider and for other they can opt out for some other service provider.

Types of Cloud Computing

The cloud computing types is based on Shared responsibility model, which emphasise on sharing the responsibility and work at different hierarchical level. The Shared responsibility as name defines, is sharing responsibility, i.e.,  the security team maintains some responsibilities for security, while the provider takes some responsibility, but not all the responsibility will be  put on someone’s shoulder to handle it on single-hand mode. Cloud computing is based on three services which are as follows:

–Software-as-a-service (SaaS), the service provider has the major responsibility of handling and operating the system and services.It is based on product-perspective based cloud service.The service provider provides you with a license to access the software applications like Microsoft office’s 365.

–Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), the services is handled majorly by the customer, the service provider maintain the hardware, network connectivity and physical security. Main Function is to lift nd shift or migrate from an on-premise data centre to a cloud-deployment. Example of IaaS is Microsoft Azure.

–Platform-as-a-service (PaaS), this is the complex one as a service as it shares some responsibility of SaaS and some of the IaaS. The main function of PaaS is to provide the platform for the cloud service for developing the software instead of giving the software as a service which is seen in SaaS.

Advantages of Cloud Computing 

Cloud computing based software provides a number of benefits, which includes the ability to use software from any device through browser or app based function. Thus, user can have the access from anywhere and anytime. 

The storage provide by the Cloud computing services make it possible for the users to keep backup of their data  ensuring that the files are available to them whenever they need it.

Reliability, the ability of a system to recover from failure and continues to function and  Predictability, the ability of a system to perform during the major outbreak of traffic and usage, the cloud computing has proven righteous for both the above-explained cases.

Disadvantages of the Cloud

With everything that the cloud comes out in name of services and flexibility, but security is the biggest concern not for cloud computing only, but for every computing device irrespective of whether it is working on internet or not. Servers maintained by the cloud computing service provider can be a victim of cyber attacks, internal bugs, power outages etcetera.

Cyber Security, Time Demands

Securing everything which is over the internet or is a piece of critical information is called cyber Information Technology Security. It is a general, but important practice of securing critical systems and important information from any kind of digital attack. Cyber security policies and rules are defined and designed in a way that their main function is to combat all kinds of threats against networks, systems, applications, and data.

According to data shared via ‘n’ a number of research organizations, it was stated that, ‘in the year 2020, the average cost of a data breach is found to be USD 3.86 million globally. Cybercriminals target customers personally and organizations via information like address, name, Credit card information etcetera.

Cybersecurity domains:

If the user can follow a well-defined strategy for protection in order to defend against any cybercrime or cyber-attacks, one can safeguard the information and data from cybercriminals. There are layers of protective measures that can be considered as cybersecurity domains for safety from cyber attacks.  The security parameters lie in Critical Infrastructure Security, Application and Network Security, Cloud and Information Security, End User Education, Storage Security, Mobile Security, and Data Disaster Recovery are some of the very important measures in the cybersecurity domains.

Cybersecurity MythsWith technology rising day by day, the myths related to it are also rising to create more misconceptions at the user’s end. But to get full security, one should be aware of all the pros and cons of it. The notions and myths related to technology. Some of the myths related to  Cybersecurity are like Cybercriminals are outsiders which is not true, instead, most of the time cybersecurity breaches are often the result of malicious insiders, working for outsiders who are hackers. Attack vectors are contained in nature which they actually are not, to predict exactly their behavior is quite a difficult job. Risk are known, which actually aren’t because the vulnerabilities are increasing in old as well as new devices and applications, thus giving a certain behavioral result about any risks is not a good practice. Industry Safe,  no industry is safe or far away from the vulnerability access of cyber criminals. Whether you are sitting in a gov. organization or any private firm, you are or can be in the radar of the cybercriminal, so it’s better to be safe, than to get cyberattacked by any criminal.

Common Cyber Threats:Let’s discuss some of the security threats which are as follows:

1) Malware: The term ‘malware’ defines as ‘malicious software, and this software can be worms, viruses, trojans, and spyware. This malware files less and gets unauthorized access to the device and corrupts or misuses the data of the system. 


2) Ransomware: It is a type of malware that demands ransom from the victim by locking down the files, and data, and to release it asks for the ransom, unless a ransom is paid, the data won’t be released.


3) Phishing: These are the most prevalent attacks nowadays, causing victims a heavy loss of amount by using platforms like emails, messages, and calls acting as an authenticate service provider.

4) Insider Threats: Data revelation by the current or former partners, employees, or compromise of the device they are/were using. As they are insider threats, thus are invisible or less vulnerable to security solutions like firewalls, and IDS (Intrusion Detection System), as the focus is on external threats.

5) DDoS Attacks: The purpose of this distributed denial of services is to overwhelm the network of the enterprise by overloading it with irrelevant traffic, usually from multiple coordinated systems.

6) APTs: Advanced persistent threats, are made by an intruder or group of intruders to infiltrate a system by remaining undetected for a time period to steal data and use it in attacks or other illegal activities.

7) Man in the Middle: It is an eavesdropping attack in which the data is stolen by the man in the middle of the service provider and the user. Like the data between the User of an insecure Wi-Fi and the Wi-Fi service provider can be attacked by the man-in-the-middle because of the insecure mode of the Wi-Fi.

Cyber Security Best Practises:

  1. Keep hardware and software up-to-date.
  2. Avoid opening suspicious emails.
  3. Use a secure file-sharing solution to encrypt data or use a VPN to privatize your system.
  4. A strong Password is a key to security.
  5. 2-factor authentication is a must.
  6. Remove adware from your machine.
  7. Double-check for the HTTPS or SSL certificate of the website.
  8. Don’t store or share information on an insecure platform.
  9. Avoid public device usage.
  10. Education at both ends, users as well as providers.
  11. Protect access with efficient identity management.
  12. Use anti-virus and anti-malware.

SSL/TLS-Secure Connection

Whenever we browse the internet, we see some site URLs, there is a padlock present and in some, it is absent. The presence of this padlock symbolizes secure communication between the user and the server. This padlock consists of a secure communication certificate and that certificate communication is called SSL Certificate communication i.e., Secure Socket Layer. SSL’s function is to build a secure chain of trust between the user and the server. The certificate is provided by a Certificate Authority (CAs) like Let’s Encrypt, Bypass, Comodo, GeoTrust et cetera, which actually builds the chain of trust running the certificate validation in a hierarchical manner.

Most modern web browsers have flagged sites without SSL/TLS as insecure or unsafe. Going forward, SSL/TLS certificate may become a mandatory website hosting requirement. By hosting a website with SSL/TLS certificate, it provides security to the data transferred between the website and the Website visitor, by encrypting the communication, in addition to this the SSL/TLS certificate also helps to verify the identity of the site, thereby helping users to surf on a secure and encrypted connection. The SSL certificate consists of Website Owner information including Domain and sub-domain name, the Validity period of the certificate, Public key used for encryption

TLS is the new or updated version of SSL; TLS has evolved from SSL (Secure Socket Layer) only, which was developed by Netscape Communication in 1994. SSL 1.0 was never used but followed by SSL and 3.0. TLS 1.0 is based on SSL 3.0. TLS 1.3 is the latest version, published in the year 2018  and almost all Cas are using or moving to TLS1.3. The presence of secure connection or TLS can be seen through HTTPS presence in URL, which is an implementation of TLS encryption on top of HTTP protocol, which is used by all the websites running web services. Hence, any website over https is deploying TLS only.

                       USER——–(SSL/TLS HANDSHAKE)——–CLIENT

SSL CERTIFICATE VALIDATION AT DIFFERENT LEVELS:

1)    DOMAIN VALIDATED CERTIFICATE: In this validation, only a domain name is validated and a certificate is issued in this validation name only. That’s why it is the easiest validation in the SSL certificate validation game. It is beneficial for servers who are just willing to take SSL for namesake or blogs, and small enterprises not dealing with products or selling.

2)    ORGANISATION VALIDATED CERTIFICATE: In this validation, additional details like the address of that particular server with the domain name will be required for the validation check to pass. Thus, it is a bit more stringent than domain one. The additional details validation makes it more trustworthy on the user’s end.

3)     EXTENDED VALIDATION CERTIFICATE: This is the most cost-equipping, trustworthy, time taking validation. This is required by all the large e-commerce, enterprises and business to mark up with the customer trust level.

TYPES OF SSL CERTIFICATES:

1)    Single Domain SSL: As the name defines, it is a single domain name, thus, only and only single name domain SSL will be generated, and no other name or sub-domain name will be able to use the certificate.

2)    Wildcard SSL certificate: The domain and all sub-domain along with this will be able to use the certificate known as Wildcard SSL. The sub-domain list can be seen by clicking on the padlock icon in the URL.

3)    Multidomain SSL certificate: Multiple distinct domains can use a single certificate issued in the name of all the distinct domains. The domains are neither the sub-domain of a single domain nor the multiple pages of a single domain.

TLS/SSL HANDSHAKE:

(Image Source: https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/secure-socket-layer-ssl/)

Phase 1:  This is Establish Connection Phase. The client sends a ‘HELLO’ message with its TLS version, List of Cipher Suites and Random Client’s Number and the server replies with a ‘Hello’ message along with its SSL certificate, Cipher suite chosen and a Random Server’s number.

Phase 2: This is the Pre-secret master key Generation Phase. A client sends one more random string which is encrypted with a Public key (which is taken from Server’s SSL certificate), commonly called a ‘pre-secret master key’. The server decrypts this secret key with the private key of its certificate.

Phase 3: This is thesession key Generation Phase. The client as well as the server generates the session key using its own random numbers and pre-secret master key. The session key at both ends generated will be the same.

Phase 4: Handshake Ends. The session key will be verified and authenticated at both ends, it should be the same, then only a secure connection is established and the data moves now in an encrypted manner. If anyhow the key differs, the connection won’t be established. Once the connection is established both client and server send a ‘Finished’ message to each other and a green signal for encrypted data transfer will proceed.

This TLS/SSL handshake is validated till TLS1.2, in TLS 1.3 the handshake has been changed a little bit. In place of a 4-way handshake, it is now based on 2-step handshake validation or completed in just one round trip of a handshake. The TLS1.3 is more secure, encrypted and less time taking than all the previous versions.

UPGRADE IN TLSV1.3:

                              (Image Source: https://timtaubert.de/images/tls-hs-static-rsa.png)

Phase 1: Establish Connection. Same as TLS1.2 Phase 1, TLS1.3 also commences the handshake with the “Hello” message with an add-on of a list of supported cipher suites and a guess of which key agreement protocol will be chosen by the server along with the Client’s chosen key agreement protocol.

Phase 2: Validation Completion. The server replies with a “Hello” message with the key agreement protocol that it has chosen, key share, certificate and ‘Finished’ message.

The Server “Finished” message, which was sent in the 6th step in the TLS1.2 handshake, is sent in the second step in TLS1.3. Thus, completing the round trip in just 2 steps.

Phase 3: Finished Message. In the last step, the client will validate the server certificate, and generate a key share while using the key of the server. Once all the checklists are done client sends a “Finished” message. Now, the data encryption begins.

Cipher Suite:  A complete set of cryptographic algorithms require to secure a network connection through SSL/TLS. For each set, there is a specific algorithm. The SSL/TLS does the Handshake process for building the secure connection and during the handshake, the client and the web server will use the following cipher suite components:

O  A key exchange algorithm is used to determine how symmetric keys in the handshake will be exchanged. Example: RSA (Rivert-Shamir-Adleman).

O  An authentication algorithm, which function is to tell how the authentication at both ends client as well as server will be implemented and finished. Example: DSA (Digital Signature Algorithm).

O  An Encryption cipher, to encrypt the data. Example: AES (Advanced Encryption Standard)

O  A Message Algorithm, a function is to check and administrate how the data integrity checks will be carried out. Example: SHA (Secure Hash Algorithm)

API, the Application Interface is in working mode!

The applications you are using like food eateries, clothing, e-commerce, and all, on every application you are sending a request and getting a reply; the request sent from the user end is taken via the application to the concerned server and the server gives a reply to it eventually. Thus, for all the above-mentioned cycle processes API aka application programming interface is working.

What exactly API is?

An application Programming Interface or API is a middleman in application technology whose function is to set rules, standards and protocols that will allow the different software applications to communicate, receive or send data with each other on different or same grounds. So, basically, API is asking you to let your application services of yours interact with the application service of others without even asking each other that ‘how they are processing or working?

API can be released in different policies method:

Private: The company is the master of this API and is controlled by the company only.

Public: This API is open to all and can be used by any innovator to use by, to create any innovation.

Partner: Partner API defined itself, that it is sometimes private or sometimes public in nature, i.e., partners can limit the sharing and usage of API, without compromising the API quality and encryption.

Composite: These combine two or more APIs’ together to address complex system requirements at the user end.

Usage of API:

The main function is to request data from one end and send it to another end, like a request made by the user replied to by the API on a web browser.

API is an updating tool as well which means updating social media, updating servers, adding, or deleting things etcetera. API uses all this through integration property.

Benefits of using API:

–Data Sharing

–Increased Security

–Easy to use

How does API function?

REST API: Representational State Transfer. The REST API let the data be shared between the client and server using the HTTP method via a set of functions like GET, PUT etcetera. It is stateless in nature, thus not saving any user data at an end. The REST API has major benefits like integration, innovation, ease of maintenance and expansion. REST API can be made secure via authentication tokens and API Keys

SOAP API: Simple Object Access Protocol. The messages between the client and server are exchanged via the XML method. This is an old API method, frequently used in past, nowadays REST API is more frequently in usage.

RFC API: Remote Procedure Calls. At first, the client input the function/procedure on the server then only the server give output to the client.

WebSocket API: It is another modern API after the REST API. It uses JSON to exchange messages between clients and the server. It supports two-way communication, i.e., a client can send call-back messages to the server, making it more efficient than the REST API.

GRAPH QL API: It is a special type of query language created for the API exchange of messages only. It is a developer-friendly, fast, and flexible format an easy manner giving an output of required data only neither less than that nor more than asked. It gives free hand to developers for the database’s multiple queries, microservices and APIs’, thus making it easy to handle and update developers.

API GATEWAY: An API Gateway is a management tool client that will use a broad range of activities. Like all gateways, the API Gateway handles the tasks like user authentication, rate management and statistics overall API calls. For example, Amazon API Gateway.

What is API testing?

API testing strategies are like other software testing methodologies. The focus is on validating server responses. API testing includes making multiple requests to API endpoints for performance testing, writing tests to check business logic and function and security testing by simulating system attacks.

Creating an API: A reliable, flexible, fast and developer-friendly is the prime goal while creating an API.

–PLAN API

–BUILD API

–TEST API

–DOCUMENT THE API

–MARKET THE API

LAMP SERVER installation through Repository Packages

The website you see or the blog you are reading right now is working on a web server and to write that website some coding language has been used, using a database to store the information. Thus, when these components work together to serve a web page or website to the user or visitor, they create a LAMP Server. These components together are called LAMP Stack.

By LAMP Stack here means is;

(L)inux as Operating System (OS)

(A)pache as Web Server (WS)

(M)ySQL as a Database (DB)

(P)HP (Hypertext preprocessor) as a programming language,

But for these OS, WS, DB, and programming languages, other options can also be considered. For in place of LINUX, one can use windows, then, it will be called WAMP, or In place of PHP, perl or python can be used or APACHE can be replaced by nginx or mariadb can be used in place of MySQL. All 4 components are used or opted for according to the requirements.

Why LAMP server, when other forms of the server are present there?

LAMP is open source, easily customizable, customer-support is available, and it is a mature stack, thus, mentioned all characteristics make the LAMP server more accepting and easier to use.

The open-source servers are MEAN, XAMPP, LLLMP, LEAP, and LAMP and the non-open-source servers are WAMP, WIMP, and MAMP.

Requirements for making a web server for a web page are a VM based on the required OS.

1.) OS of choice, like for LAMP server LINUX is the required OS.

      2.) Install APACHE: The Apache web server is a popular open-source web server that can be used along with PHP to host dynamic websites. It’s well-documented and has been in wide use for much of the history of the web.

       –To clean old configurations if any:

   sudo yum clean all   

–To update the package      

   sudo yum update                                                  

–To install APACHE server service

   sudo yum install httpd -y                                     

–To enable Apache service

   sudo systemctl enable httpd.service                   

–To start Apache

  sudo systemctl start httpd.service                       

–To know the status of Apache service,  it should be in running status

  sudo systemctl status httpd                                

–To enable port 80 (http) on firewall for Apache

   sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –zone=public –add-service=http                      

 –To enable port 443(https) on firewall for APACHE (remember to install SSL module and call the      same in the configuration file.

   sudo firewall-cmd –permanent –zone=public –add-service=https                    

 –Reload Firewall service

   sudo firewall-cmd –reload 

–To know the version and status of the APACHE server

   sudo rpm -qi httpd    

–To know error logs, if face any                                              

   sudo /var/log/httpd/error_log      

–To enable port 443 we need to have the specific module for https in conf.d                           

     cd /etc/httpd/conf.d           

1.1) How to give a name to your webserver

–Install Bind to give a name to your webserver

   sudo yum install bind  

–Edit conf file with this zone creation in the same file                                           

   cd  /etc/named.conf                                                

   zone “example.com” {                                             

        type master;

        file “/var/named/example.com.zone”;

    };

–In the zone file, do these entries

cd /var/named/example.com.zone                     

$TTL 86400

@   IN SOA  ns1.example.com. root.example.com. (

        2017022801 ; serial

        3600       ; refresh

        1800       ; retry

        604800     ; expire

        86400      ; minimum

)

@   IN NS   ns1.example.com.

@   IN A    10.197.52,185

 –Create zone name files in APACHE server config folder

cd /etc/httpd/conf.d/example.com.conf             

<VirtualHost *:80>

    ServerName example.com

    ServerAlias www.example.com

    DocumentRoot /var/www/html

</VirtualHost>

–Restart the Apache service and check the same IP with the name this time instead of the IP

   sudo systemctl restart httpd                                  

 3). MariaDB installation: maria DB function is to manage the database and this database can be vertical or horizontal scalable.

  –To install mariadb

      install mariadb-server mariadb -y     

  –To start mariadb                           

     systemctl start mariadb                                               

  –To enable mariadb

     systemctl enable mariadb                                            

  –To know status of mariadb

    systemctl status mariadb                                                                                 

  4). PHP Installation: To run or create any web page or to run multiple pages or options over that web page, a language will be required and for that PHP, Perl, or python language package needs to be installed.

    –To update all the packages

        sudo yum update 

    –To install php database                                                                 

       sudo yum install php php-mysql php-common php-gd php-mbstring php-mcrypt php-devel php-xml      

   –To restart service

      sudo systemctl restart httpd                                                  

   –To verify that PHP is installed and working, create a file as ‘info.php’ in the root directory as   

     /var/www/html/ with the following content

      <?php

      phpinfo();

       ?>

      After creating check at the following URL “http://server-address/info.php”. 

      If your PHP is working fine, you will see a page with the PHP information.

      Bravo! your LAMP server is ready.

Routing: Choosing the Best Pathways since 1976!

Routing directs network traffic through routers, enabling smooth data flow. Routers use administrative distance (AD), metrics, and protocols like OSPF and BGP to select optimal paths. Routing tables and FIBs manage network efficiency. Key types like static, dynamic, and backup routes ensure secure, streamlined traffic control. In today’s hyper-connected world, effective routing underpins seamless communication across networks, influencing everything from social platforms to global data transfers.

(Image Source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/routers/what-is-routing.html)

Routing basically means ‘to route’. The aim of the routing process is to provide a way out for the network traffic to reach from the source to the destination and this destination can vary from 1 to multiple locations. Thus, Routing can be defined as the path/route for network traffic flow from the source to the destinations, being both in same network or different networks. Routing is controlled by the Router and router is the device which actually defines the whole path for routing.

Routing Process:

Routing depends on various factors like Administrative distance, ASN, Interface, next hop and mainly on Destination Network. Whenever the traffic flows out from the source and reach to the Router, the router at first check the destination IPv4 or IPv6 address and then proceed further by checking the Forward Information Base or FIB which consists of 3 main elements and those are Destination Network, Next Hop and Outgoing Interface. This FIB is generated by the RIB aka Routing Information Base which contains prefixes, routing tables, metrics, and next hop information. We will read about all this later in this document.

So once the Datagram reach to the router, the router will check the destination IP address and referring the FIB, it will send the information to the destined IP address and this network flow can be of unicast nature or multicast nature. It is not bounded to one form of flow only.

Routing Components:

1.) Router: The router is a hardware device which functions to flow the network traffic in multiple or unicast way. It uses routing tables, and algorithms to decide the right path and to ensure to let the traffic reach its right destination.

2.) Administrative Distance (AD): Numerical values assigned to different routes or protocols from 0 to 255, basis on which the preferred path is selected or rejected. It is a numerical value of trustworthiness of a routing information gained from different sources. The higher the AD value, lower will be the chances of its selection. Thus, can say that AD is inversely proportional to the numerical value. AD is one of the most important or the prior element checked by the router to forward any traffic. For example, if a router receives a route for a particular destination from two protocol one follows RIP with value as 120 AD and another static route as 10 AD, then the router will prefer the static route only as it is having lesser AD value.

3.) Routing Protocol: Set of rules and procedures to make a protocol that function is to maintain Routing Tables is called Routing Protocol. Example: OSPF, BGP, EIGRP.

4.) Routing Table: It is a database of a router which contains information like destination Network, network topology, or available routes in the network. Thus, this is very useful for the routers and on basis of this the RIB (Routing Information Base) is prepared and maintained which further generates the FIB (Forward Information Base).

5.) Interface: A connection point located on a router device to connect to a network and each interface has its own IP address and subnet mask assigned. Signifies as G0/1 or other symbols but in this manner only. This interface can be physical or virtual as well. Each interface on a router can also have the configuration of other factors like default gateway, access control lists (ACLs), quality of service (QoS) policies etcetera.

6.) Metrics: Metrics including various factors like hop count, bandwidth, or delay determines the best route for any data gram.

7.) Path select Algorithm: By considering different factors like metrics, AD, policies, the path select algorithm provides and choose the best available paths and then the traffic to the destined IP is sent.

Types of Routing:

1.) Static Route: Manually modifies, added and maintained by a Network Administrator only.

2.) Dynamic Route: Gradual addition of routes that are learned by Network devices from the different routing protocols and they share the best possible route information with each other.

3.) Default Route: These are the routes which are assigned as the default one when the device lacks the routing destination information in its routing table, then the device transfers the traffic to the default gateway or route which then send it the appropriate destination.

4.) Black Hole Route: The main purpose of black hole route is security, thus whenever a selected segment or IP address from which the traffic is blacklisted try to hit the router, that IP address will by default fall down in the black hole route and get discarded. This is also called as null route.

5.) Interior Route: The interior route is basically a route which is flowing inside a same Autonomous System (AS) only and managed by interior gateway protocols only, like the Route in Corporate Network.

6.) Exterior Route: The routes that are learned from outside the AS like via the internet are exterior routes only and they follow the exterior gateway protocols.

7.) Floating Static Routes: It is also called as backup route, because of its function that whenever the primary route fails to reach the destination, the backup or floating static route will function and let the datagram reach the appropriate destination. The AD of floating static route is higher than the primary ones.

Forwarding Information Base or FIB:

Forwarding Information Base (FIB) is a database table used by a router to know the next-hop address and interface for forwarding a packet. FIB is generated by the routing information base or RIB. When a packet arrives at the router, the router checks the destination IP address against and refer the FIB to determine where to forward the packet by seeing the destination network, next hop and outgoing interfaces and on basis of the information the router forwards the packet. FIB entries are typically stored in a hash table or a database structure, which allows for fast lookup and retrieval of the next-hop address or interface.

Routing Information Base:

It is a database where routes and route related metadata is stored by a routing protocol – allowing the routing protocol to select a ‘best’ path to a given destination. Each protocol has its own separate RIB. RIB functions as a backbone for FIB, without which the FIB can’t function. RIB consists of Routing tables, prefixes, next hop information and metrics.

Routing Protocols:

OSPF:

Open Shortest Path First, is a link-state routing protocol used to map the path with the shortest distance. It is a dynamic interior gateway protocol which uses link-state Algorithm and can work as OSPFv2 for IPv4 address using RFC 2328 and OSPFv3 for IPv6 address using RFC 5340. The OSPFv3 can be used for IPv4 and IPv6 as well by using RFC5838. The AD in case of OSPF is 110 and it is a fixed numerical value. The OSPF supports Hierarchical Routing. OSPF processes as by first giving a ‘Hello packet’ to the neighboring routers in same AS which will lead to exchange of topology among neighbors via Link-state advertisement. Once the hello is sent to all, then a topology map will be prepared for the network by creating a link-state Database. Using the database calculation for the best path is done and that is update in the OSPF tables. OSPF divides the routers into different areas starting from area0 to area n respectively. OSPF Router can Internal router which is for same area and External router which is for different areas. OSPF also supports other features like support for multiple paths to a destination, unequal cost load balancing, and authentication mechanisms to ensure secure routing information exchange.

Intermediate System to Intermediate System:

Intermediate System-to-Intermediate System (IS-IS) is a link-state, Interior gateway protocol that uses modified version of Dijkstra Algorithm. The AD value for IS-IS is 115. An IS-IS network has range of components, routers, areas, and domains. Just like OSPF it also organizes routers into areas and multiple areas together form a domain. It uses two network addresses, one is Network Service Access Point (NSAP) and other is Network Entity Title (NET).

Routing Information Protocol:

RIP is an Interior gateway protocol that also runs on Application layer of the OSI model. Like OSPF it has also two versions as RIPv1 and RIPv2. The former version functions to find network path based on IP destination and the hop counts by broadcasting IP tables to all routers in the network. While the later one or RIPv2 being more precise sends the IP tables to multicast addresses only. RIP, AD is with a fixed value of 120. RIP is not a suitable protocol for larger networks as it has limitations of hop count as 15.

Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing Protocol:

EIGRP is a distance vector and link-state routing protocol. Thus, also known as ‘Hybrid Protocol’. EIGRP is a Cisco proprietary protocol that was designed to follow on from the original IGRP protocol. EIGRP has features like bandwidth, reliability, maximize efficiency etc., whenever multiple paths to the same destination are available, EIGRP will select the path with the lowest metric, regardless of the administrative distance. In EIGRP, the router takes information from the routing table and keep a record of the same, whenever a change or update occurs in the path the router informed the neighbors and they do update the tables accordingly The AD for EIGRP is 90 for internal EIGRP routes, and 170 for external EIGRP routes.

Broader Gateway Protocol:

BGP is distant-vector routing protocol designed to replace Exterior gateway protocol. The AD vale for BGP is 20 for eBGP (external BGP) routes and 200 for iBGP (internal BGP) and in the time of selection with multiple path value the BGP will always select the one with lower AD value independent of Metric value. BGP uses best path selection Algorithm. No auto-discovery of table like events happen in BGP case, i.e., user has to configure BGP manually.

Routing Algorithms:

Routing algorithms are the algorithms that implements different routing protocols by assigning a cost number to each link, which is calculated using various network metrics and aim is always to transfer the data packet with the lower cost value.

1) Distance Vector Routing: This routing algorithm updates the best path information to all known destinations irrespective of same AS and different AS.

2) Link State Routing: In Link State Routing, Same AS network discovery of best path among neighboring routers take place. Using the information, a map is created and best path is then calculated.

Networking 101

Harnessing the power of computer networking, seamless connectivity allows data to flow effortlessly between devices across local and wide area networks, guided by the structured OSI model. Understanding these fundamentals is key to unlocking the digital world’s potential.

Networking!!

Networking or computer networking is a conduit that connects one node to another (devices) in network information. Networking is all about connecting, designing, using, managing and operating a network. The information can be between two users or segments and be sent in a local area network (LAN) or in a wide area network (WAN) connectivity. Networking works segments include diverse zones like calls, messages, video streaming, or other Internet of things (IoT).

Network Types:  Networking can be defined in various types on the basis of designing, layers in the OSI model, components etc. We describe on the basis of the Physical layer of the OSI Model and Designing.

     On the basis of the Physical layer of the OSI Model:

Wired: The network requires a physical medium to travel to send the information from one device to another device. For example usage of ethernet cables in connecting computer devices to a common network in offices. This type of network is cost-effective, reliable, and durable.

Wireless: The network doesn’t require a physical medium, as it works on radio waves to make the information travel from one device to another. For example Wi-Fi. This type of network is mobile, fast, and scalable.

      On the basis of the Designing component:

LAN: Local Area Network or LAN is a small area network where a group of devices is connected on a single, geographically limited Network. It can be wired (e.g. -switch) or wireless (e.g.- Access Points)

WAN: Wide Area Network or WAN is a wide or larger region network, where multiple LANs network are connected in the same network. It is not geographically limited like the LAN.

Network travels following the OSI 7-layer model or TCP/IP 4 layers model:

Open System Interconnection Model:

The open system interconnection model or OSI model is a network model which defines how actually information travels from one device node to another device node. The information travels via 7 layers, from one stage to another. The 7 layers are as follows:

Application layer>>Presentation layer>>Session layer>>Transport layer>>Network layer>>Data layer>>Physical layer

     Application Layer:  The application layer’s basic purpose is to provide a user interface for applications. This layer provides network services to the applications running on it. Protocol for this layer is SMTP, HTTP, and FTP.

     Presentation Layer: The data from the application layer is extracted here and then sent to the next layer. The function of this layer is to translate, encrypt-decrypt and compress the data. Protocol used in this layer is HTML, XML, and JSON.

        Session Layer:  The function of this layer is to establish and maintenance of the session, authentication, security, and communication between two devices in half-duplex or full-duplex mode. Protocol used in this layer is RPC and SIP.

       Transport Layer: Data of the transport layer is called segments. It is the layer responsible for taking services from the network layer and providing services to the application layer. It is actually responsible for the end-to-end transmission of data in the whole process. At this layer, the source and destination ports are decided. It makes connectionless (UDP) or connection-oriented (TCP) pathways depending on which is required. For example, UDP is used by DNS services while TCP is used for communication which requires acknowledgment like a query asked by the user. Protocol used in this layer is TCP, UDP, and SCTP

        Network Layer: Transmission of data from one host to another which might or might be not in the same network zone. The data here are called packets. It put the source and destination IP address in the header. The function includes routing and logical addressing. For example Routers and advanced switches. Protocol used in this layer is IP, ICMP, and RIP

        Data Link Layer: The layer’s responsibility is to transfer data from node to node using the Source and destination MAC address. The receiver’s MAC address is obtained by using a request process called as ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) onto the wire asking “Who has that IP address”? and whoever will be the destination host will reply with an acknowledgment. The data packet here on this layer is called a Frame. The function of the layer includes framing, physical addressing, error, flow, and access control. Example: Switch, and Hub all are data link layer devices. Protocol used in this layer is PPP and HDLC.

     Physical Layer: The lowest layer at receiving end and the upper layer for the sender’s end is the physical layer. It is a part of the hardware layer and its function is to create an actual physical connection between devices. The message here comes in form of bits and is transferred in form of bits only from one node to another node. The function of the layer includes bits synchronization and rate control, transmission mode, and physical topologies. For example Hub, modem, cables, repeaters, etc. Protocol used for this layer is Ethernet, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB.

  Different protocols followed at each layer:

               LAYER

            NAME

          PROTOCOLS

Layer-7

APPLICATION

SMTP, HTTP, FTP

Layer-6

PRESENTATION

SSL, TLS

Layer-5

SESSION

NetBIOS, SAP

Layer-4

TRANSPORT

TCP, UDP

Layer-3

NETWORK

ICMP, ARP

Layer-2

DATA

PPP, FRAME RELAY, CABLE

Layer-1

PHYSICAL

ISDN, MACHINES, LAPTOP

 Difference between OSI and TCP/IP Model:

                   OSI MODEL

                TCP/IP MODEL

OSI model has a clear distinction among the interfaces, services, and protocols.

TCP/IP hasn’t any clear distinguishing points between services, interfaces, and protocols.

To define routing standards and protocols OSI model uses the Network layer.

TCP/IP uses only the Internet layer.

OSI model use two separate layers physical and data link to define the functionality of the bottom layers

TCP/IP uses only one layer (link) to define the functionality.

In the OSI model, only the transport layer is connection-oriented.

A layer of the TCP/IP model has a major advantage over OSI and it is both connection-oriented and connectionless.

In the OSI model, the data link layer and the physical are separate layers.

In TCP data link layer and physical layer are combined as a single host-to-network layer.

The minimum size of the OSI header is 5 bytes.

The Minimum TCP/IP header size is 20 bytes.

SUMMARY:

The OSI Model, TCP/IP model, and networking is a logical and conceptual fundamentals in the IT field. The model defines network communication as a process used by the systems in open to interconnection and communication with other systems. As we observed as well, In the OSI model, a layer should only be created where definite levels of abstraction are needed, otherwise, no such requirement is observed. OSI layer helps you to understand communication over a network.  Thus, for understanding and work in networking, one needs to work and understand the fundamentals of Networking