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CompTIA Network+ 1.4 Cisco CyberOps Associate 4.8
InteractiveNetworkFree

Name the IPv4 Header Field

A router reads a packet's header. Type the field that does each job, and work out a few of its numbers.

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About this interactive

The lesson's IPv4 header, top to bottom: - **Version** (4 bits): 0100 for IPv4. **IHL**: the header's length in 32-bit lines, usually 5 (20 bytes); more than 5 means **Options** are present. - **DSCP** (6 bits): marks how routers should treat the packet, such as voice first; it used to be Type of Service. **ECN** (2 bits): signals congestion. The video also says DSCP tells what the payload is; that is the Protocol field's job. - **Total Length** (16 bits): header plus payload, at most 65,535 bytes. - **Identification**, **Flags** and **Fragment Offset**: which packet a fragment belongs to, whether more follow, and where its data fits. - **TTL**: lowered by one at each router; the packet is dropped at zero, which stops routing loops. - **Protocol**: what the payload carries, such as TCP or UDP. **Header Checksum**: checks the header, recomputed at every router because the TTL changed. - **Source Address** and **Destination Address**: 32 bits each.

What you'll learn

Aligned to

CompTIA Network+
1.4 Explain common networking ports, protocols, services, and traffic types
Cisco CyberOps Associate
4.8 Interpret the fields in protocol headers as related to intrusion analysis

Key terms

IP Packet Header
The portion of an IP packet that contains control information, including the source and destination IP addresses, prepended to the payload.
Internet Header Length
IHL
A 4-bit field in the IPv4 header that specifies the total length of the IP header in 32-bit words, indicating where the payload begins.
Time to Live
TTL
A value in a packet that limits its lifespan on a network, preventing it from circulating indefinitely.
Fragment Offset
A 13-bit field in the IPv4 header that indicates the position of a fragment relative to the original unfragmented packet, enabling correct reassembly.
Differentiated Services Code Point
DSCP
A 6-bit value in the IP header's Type of Service field used to mark packets for differentiated forwarding treatment in a DiffServ network. Routers read the DSCP marking to apply the appropriate queuing, scheduling, and drop policy.
Explicit Congestion Notification
ECN
A 2-bit field in the IPv4 header that allows network devices to signal congestion to endpoints without dropping packets.
Checksum
A value calculated from packet header data and used to detect errors; recalculated by a router after modifying the IP header fields such as TTL.

Topics

Ipv4 Ip Header Ttl Ihl Fragmentation Interactive Fill In

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