Learning Module 1

After reading the content of module 1, I performed the required tasks.

Telnet
The first task consisted of using Telnet. I previously used telnet sessions in my previous work, which was based opening a telnet session from my client computer which then linked to a server that then opened an application to be used for various purposes. I have not used Windows telnet before, so I did a little bit of navigation along the way. It was easy to use and the commands from the “help” section were clear. The task was performed accurately (I hope) as an email from the library was sent confirming my enquiry.

The second task involving Telnet required a session to towel.blinkenlights.nl. This destination shows an animation of Star Wars. It was quite clever, however I had some trouble “breaking out of the session”. It shows that the remote login session can trigger an application run by the destination address. The interface may appear to be somewhat “ancient” these days, but I found it quite interesting as I am use to DOS and command line type sessions from previous work requirements. However, I think the “youth” of today would prefer a GUI with more advanced graphics and possibly interaction.

FTP
This task consisted of using FTP to answer a question. I used Windows ftp from the command prompt. A bit dusty on my FTP commands so I had to checkout the help by typing ? at the prompt once I was in. I used the “get” command to download the file which revealed the answer to the question (I hope I am right).

Therefore, the answer to the question is CAPITALISATION. This is pretty fun to do and certainly more enjoyable than performing exercises out of a text book (which I am also doing for another subject). Below is a snippet from the readme file:


* ATTENTION MAC, OS/2, MS-DOS and MS-WINDOWS users:

This server runs on a unix platform, so CAPITALIZATION MATTERS

FTP is a great tool to move files around, access files and or analyse files. However, if not secured properly, I think it would be a security nightmare. I wonder what permissions were set on anonymous login?

Internet Tools
Traceroute – first I pinged curtin.edu.au from my pc to obtain its IP address (use the ping –a command) then went to network tools website (http://network-tools.com/) and ran a trace to determine the route. I think the traceroute command may be useful in analysing offline problems such as determining if a “route” is down, hence preventing the packets to reach its required destination.

The results were interesting showing each “hop” or route as it went and then timed out, assuming it had reached its destination:
134.7.177.136 is from Australia(AU) in region Oceana
TraceRoute to 134.7.177.136 [curtin.edu.au]


Ping – a ping was performed to determine response speed using net tools website and my pc. The first result was using my pc. Again, I determined the IP address of Webct using the –a option in ping. The results were interesting leading me to think that it was quicker to get a response from net tools than my own pc. After a couple more tries, the speeds did change but not by much. Maybe someone can comment on why?

Results from PC:
C:\>ping -a http://webct.curtin.edu.au/webct/homearea/homearea
Pinging http://webct.curtin.edu.au/webct/homearea/homearea [208.67.216.132] with
32 bytes of data:
Reply from 208.67.216.132: bytes=32 time=379ms TTL=46
Reply from 208.67.216.132: bytes=32 time=354ms TTL=46
Reply from 208.67.216.132: bytes=32 time=356ms TTL=46
Reply from 208.67.216.132: bytes=32 time=378ms TTL=46
Ping statistics for 208.67.216.132:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 354ms, Maximum = 379ms, Average = 366ms
Results from net tools website:
Ping 208.67.216.132
[hit-nxdomain.opendns.com]
Round trip time to 208.67.216.132: 77 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 76 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 75 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 85 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 80 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 83 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 79 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 75 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 78 msRound trip time to 208.67.216.132: 76 ms
Average time over 10 pings: 78.4 ms

Traceroute from my PC
C:\>tracert curtin.edu.au

Tracing route to curtin.edu.au [134.7.177.136]
over a maximum of 30 hops:
1 196 ms 187 ms 183 ms 139.134.98.50
2 186 ms 183 ms 187 ms 139.134.98.29
3 193 ms 187 ms 171 ms 139.134.53.70
4 170 ms 175 ms 167 ms GigabitEthernet2-3.cha23.Brisbane.telstra.net [139.130.65.209]
5 173 ms 171 ms 175 ms TenGigE0-8-0-2.cha-core4.Brisbane.telstra.net [203.50.51.1]
6 169 ms 171 ms 167 ms TenGigE0-8-0-5-1.woo-core1.Brisbane.telstra.net [203.50.6.218]
7 185 ms 179 ms 179 ms Bundle-POS2.chw-core2.Sydney.telstra.net [203.50.6.201]
8 193 ms 195 ms 199 ms Bundle-POS1.exi-core1.Melbourne.telstra.net [203.50.6.14]
9 204 ms 215 ms 223 ms POS0-0-0-0.way-core4.Adelaide.telstra.net [203.50.6.190]
10 217 ms 215 ms 211 ms TenGigabitEthernet7-1.way21.Adelaide.telstra.net [203.50.120.31]
11 209 ms 211 ms 207 ms optusn1.lnk.telstra.net [139.130.33.214]
12 241 ms 247 ms 243 ms 61.88.243.246
13 * * * Request timed out.
14 235 ms 247 ms 239 ms 61.88.226.115
15 233 ms 239 ms 239 ms AARNET.o6ssc76fe.optus.net.au [61.88.166.134]
16 233 ms 247 ms 243 ms ge-1-0-3.bb1.a.per.aarnet.net.au [202.158.198.1]
17 244 ms 239 ms 239 ms gigabitethernet0.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au [202.158.198.178]
18 233 ms 239 ms 239 ms gw1.er1.curtin.cpe.aarnet.net.au [202.158.198.186]
19 * * * Request timed out.
20 * *