Basic Internet Architecture Many design decisions and end-user
Basic Internet Architecture Many design decisions and end-user experiences of multiplayer, networked games derive from the particular nature and characteristics of Internet Protocol (IP) networks. In this chapter we will cover the following core aspects of IP networking: Best effort service IP addressing of hosts and other endpoints in the network Transport protocols Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) The difference between unicast, multicast, and broadcast communication Networks as meshes of routers and links Network hierarchies, address aggregation and shortest-path routing protocols Address management Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), Network Address Translation (NAT) and the Domain Name System (DNS). Feel free to skip this chapter if you already understand IP networking basics (such as IP addressing, subnets, prefixes, shortest-path routing, the role of routers and routing protocols). This chapter is primarily to refresh your memory and provide a backdrop for the interaction between IP network services and networked games. We will illustrate IP networking principles with examples based on the current Internet s core technology, known as IP version 4 (IPv4) [RFC791]. We will review how IP networks come in a variety of sizes, the rationale behind IP addressing, the differences between unicast and multicast packet delivery, the roles of the TCP and UDP transport layer protocols, hierarchies in network routing, and shortest-path routing protocols. (We will not discuss an emerging new version known as IP version 6 (IPv6). IPv6 has broadly similar architectural characteristics and is not covered in this book. Even the most optimistic estimates do not see IPv6 being widely relevant to consumer-based networked games until 2010 or beyond.) Figure 4.1 attempts to illustrate how end-user applications (such as our favourite networked games) and support services (such as DNS or DHCP, which are rarely exposed to the end user) are layered on top of the basic data transport services provided by an IP network. The Internet Protocol is so named because it hides the many underlying technologies that can make up an IP network (such as optical fibre links, microwave links, Networking and Online Games: Understanding and Engineering Multiplayer Internet Games Grenville Armitage, Mark Claypool, Philip Branch . 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd
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