CIS 1.0

Lab/HW 2: URLs, IP addresses, DNS names, tracert

Answer the following questions and hand them in on paper:

  1. Check out the site www.circuses.com. Is it a site for a circus? What organization appears to own the site?

  2. Go to http://www.networksolutions.com and see if you can find a domain name using your name. What name did you find? Were you able to find your first choice? How much does it cost?

  3. Find domain names that are being sold for over $10,000. Go to http://www.buydomains.com Click on the tab "Find Premium Domains". Scroll down to "List Results By" and choose "Price, highest to lowest". List the highest-priced 3 domains with their prices. Why do you think these domains are so expensive? Why would someone pay that for much for them?

  4. For this question, you will need to get to a DOS prompt to run ping. Click on the "Start" button, then on "Run..." A window will pup up, with a text area that might be filled in already. Delete whatever is there and type in "command" (without the quotes!) A DOS window should come up. To use ping, type ping www.whatever.com to ping that computer.
    If you can't do it from your computer, you can use the ping tool at www.dnsstuff.com

    Use ping to find the IP addresses for these DNS names:

    1. www.ebay.com
    2. www.amazon.com

  5. For this question, you will trace the route to different sites on the Internet.

    • If you are working in room 130aNE, you will do this by opening this page in another window (right-click on it, then select "Open in New Window").  Choose one of the servers in a foreign country, but not the ones in US or UK. Wait for the table and map to appear in the middle of the page.  This page provides a visualization tool for tracert (and in some cases a little more information). First, enter the site name from below in the empty white box next to where it says "Enter Host/URL"; then click on the "Start Trace" button near the top of the page.  Then click the "Show Details" box to the right of the "Start Trace" button.
    • If you are doing this from home, or elsewhere on campus, you will be able to use tracert from the DOS window. To use tracert to a site called www.whatever.com, type tracert www.whatever.com.

    Track a route to these sites. Some are foreign - can you tell which countries they are in?

    1. www.mit.edu
    2. www.berkeley.edu
    3. www.vniis.ru
    4. www.afd.co.uk
    5. www.samara.co.zw

  6. Find out what emoticons are and why they are useful. What is the emoticon to indicate shock?

  7. Read about the Klez email worm. What is particularly nasty about the way it spread?

  8. There are many warnings going around about viruses that are really hoaxes. You can look at an example that was received recently. Look up this hoax at Symantec.com - scroll all the way down near the bottom and click on "WTC survivor". How much damage can this hoax do?