Local Host

A localhost is, put plainly, the standard hostname given to the address assigned to the loopback network interface. Translated into an IP address, a localhost is always designated as 127.0.0.1. This may be overwhelming, so let's look at what these things mean.

Hostname is the term for the label that is assigned to any device connected to a computer network and is used to identify the device across the web. A hostname usually consists of a single word or phrase and can be followed by a Domain Name System domain at the end. That is, a website. Used this way, the hostname is called a domain name. An example of using a hostname this way would be: hostname.domain.

In short, hostname is the nickname that is given to a device connected to a computer network.

A loopback network interface sounds complicated, but is in actuality very simple. It is a virtual interface used for system management; such an interface exists but not in a real sense; it is simulated by the computer. This interface is assigned a special address that can be accessed by management over the network but lacks ties to any real device connected to the network. Applications can also use this virtual interface to send and receive packets (pieces of data) through, as opposed to using a real interface.

Back to a localhost; it is also a registered domain name. This means it is a registered name on the Internet, specifically the web, that is specially reserved for a singular purpose as a localhost, to prevent confusion.

So why use a localhost? Not only does it make connecting to local servers, such as in a Local Area Network, extremely efficient by routing traffic through the address, allowing a direct route to any service on the server, as opposed to specifying a specific route for each service. Services being programs, games, documents, databases and whatnot. But it also makes it easier to access via the web, thanks to being a dedicated, registered domain name.

Computer networking can be a confusing and baffling practice, based on how much you know. Armed with this knowledge, your work can be easier and your home computing can be more robust and easy to use.

Hostname

A name is a label that is used to distinguish one thing from another. A person's name, for instance, comprises a set of alphabetic characters that allows a person to be individually addressed. Computers are also named to differentiate one machine from another and to allow for such activities as network communication.

Computers have always needed unique addresses to talk to each other. With the advent of the Internet, the requirements for enabling computers to communicate with each other on a network included the concept of the hostname. The hostname began as a simple string of alphanumeric characters (and possibly a hyphen) and has evolved to its current definition, where hostname means a Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) that absolutely and uniquely identifies every computer hooked up to the Internet via the Domain Name Service (DNS) naming hierarchy.

The true "name" a computer needs in order to communicate on a network is actually a set of numbers. The original computers connected as the Internet used small integers as the host number. For TCP/IP, the main protocol used by the Internet, each computer has a network IP address that follows a specific set of rules to assure its uniqueness and validity. (Additionally, port numbers further specify the access points for particular services on a computer).

It has always been user friendly to associate a host name with a computer (while the computer maintained its internal numerical host number or network address). One of the initial Internet RFCs, "Standardization of Host Mnemonics" lists the table that associated host numbers with their corresponding host names for the first Internet computers. This table was kept in a file called HOST.TXT that was stored on every computer that wished to communicate.

While the original file was not so daunting at 20 entries, it became quickly apparent that this solution was not scalable or flexible enough as the number of host computers connected to the Internet exploded. In order to accommodate the problem of connecting all of the new computers being added to the Internet, a hierarchical database of host names was created called DNS. DNS associates host names with their IP addresses. A complete domain name (that is, an FQDN) includes the name of the host concatenated with its domain name. This naming convention allows for a hierarchy of domain names with the host name being the most specific (and "left-most") part.

The rules for a host name were first standardized in the original host name specification, "DoD Internet Host Table Specification". It states that the name should be a text string consisting of the letters A through Z (upper or lower case), digits 0 through 9, the minus sign (-), and the period (.). Note, the period is only allowed as the last character of the host name if it is the delimiter of the full domain name (FQDN). No spaces are permitted as part of a name. The first character must be an alphabetic character and the last character must not be a minus sign or period. It was also recommended that the host name be no longer than 24 characters in length. Subsequently, in "Requirements for Internet Hosts - Application and Support", the host name rules were updated. The first character could now be either a letter or a digit and software dealing with host names must handle names up to 63 characters in length.

In common usage today, hostname refers specifically to the FQDN that comprises the name of the host, a period, and the domain name. The domain name is composed of labels that begin with the top-level domain and are arranged right to left for the second and, possibly, third level labels. The host name and the domain labels are separated by periods. The total length of the hostname as an FQDN cannot exceed 255 character with each domain name label having a maximum length of 63 characters. For example, if a company's domain name is "example.com." and a particular computer in the company has been named "plato", the hostname for that computer will be "plato.example.com.". Note, that technically FQDNs end in a period to unambiguously define the hostname and to be sure that it is not part of a longer domain name. (although in common usage this final period is often omitted).

The exact rules for the new hostname definition that has evolved is also more rigorous than that of the related original host name specification. The DNS naming rules are explained in "Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities", "Domain Names - Implementation and Specification", and "Clarifications to the DNS Specification".

To summarize, a hostname is a Fully Qualified Domain Name that uniquely and absolutely names a computer. It is composed of the host name and the domain name. The domain name in turn is one or more domain labels that place the computer in the DNS naming hierarchy. The host name and the domain name labels are separated by periods and the total length of the hostname cannot exceed 255 characters.

Now that the syntax of the name of the host as part of the hostname is understood, how does one choose a good name for their computer? Several web sites offer suggestions and the choice is up to the system administrator whose whimsy is only limited to the fact that no two computers in one domain space can have the same host name (because the two computers would have the same hostname!).

RFC 1178, "Choosing a Name for Your Computer" contains several guidelines on how to name - and how not to name - your computers.

A summary of sample guidelines for good host names:

• Use words/names that are rarely used.
• Use theme names.
• Use real words.
• Don't worry about reusing someone else's hostname.
• There is always room for an exception.

And some sample guidelines for not so good host names:

• Don't overload other terms already in common use.
• Don't choose a name after a project unique to that machine.
• Don't use your own name.
• Don't use long names.
• Avoid alternate spellings.
• Avoid domain names.
• Avoid domain-like names.
• Don't use antagonistic or otherwise embarrassing names.
• Don't use digits at the beginning of the name.
• Don't use non-alphanumeric characters in a name.
• Don't expect case to be preserved.

As a final note, the terms "host name" and "hostname" are often used interchangeably, so be sure to clarify when the term is being used as to whether just the name of the host or the computer's FQDN is being referenced. To see this on a Linux system, by example, the hostname command returns the FQDN while adding the -s option (i.e., hostname -s) returns just the name of the host.

MAC Address

A MAC address, or Media Access Control address, is a 48- or 64-bit address associated with a network adapter. While IP addresses are associated with software, MAC addresses are linked to the hardware of network adapters. For this reason, the MAC address is sometimes called the hardware address, the burned-in address (BIA), or the physical address. MAC addresses are expressed in hexadecimal notation in the following format: 01-23-45-67-89-AB, in the case of a 48-bit address, or 01-23-45-67-89-AB-CD-EF, in the case of a 64-bit address. Colons (:) are sometimes used instead of dashes (-).

MAC addresses are often considered permanent, but in some circumstances, they can be changed. There are two types of MAC addresses:

Universally Administered Address

The UAA, or Universally Administered Address, is the most commonly used type of MAC address. This address is assigned to the network adapter when it is manufactured. The first three octets define the manufacturer, while the second three octets vary and identify the individual adapter. All network adapter manufacturers have their own code, called the Organizationally Unique Identifier (OUI). For example, in the MAC address 00-14-22-01-23-45, the first three octets are 00-14-22. This is the OUI for Dell. Other common OUIs include 00-04-DC for Nortel, 00-40-96 for Cisco, and 00-30-BD for Belkin. Most large manufacturers of networking equipment have multiple OUIs.

Locally Administered Address

The LAA, or Locally Administered Address, is an address that changes an adapter's MAC address. The LAA is a type of administered MAC address, and it is possible to change the LAA of a network adapter to any address of allowed length. When the LAA is set, the network adapter uses the LAA as its MAC address. Otherwise, the network adapter uses the UAA as its MAC address. All devices on the same subnet must have different MAC addresses, however. MAC addresses are very useful in diagnosing network issues, such as duplicate IP addresses, so it is a good practice to allow devices to use their UAAs instead of assigning LAAs, unless there is a compelling reason to do so.

MAC addresses are useful for security purposes, as they are only rarely changed from the default. IP addresses can change dynamically, especially on networks using DHCP to assign IP addresses, so MAC addresses are often a more reliable way to identify senders and receivers of network traffic. On wireless networks, MAC address filtering is a common security measure to prevent unwanted network access. In MAC address filtering, a wireless router is configured to accept traffic from certain MAC addresses. In this way, as whitelisted devices are assigned new IP addresses through DHCP, they retain their ability to communicate on the network. Any intruder attempting to impersonate a valid user on the network by masquerading with a faked IP address will not be able to do so because the computer's MAC address will not match any of those in the whitelist. This security method is only minimally successful, however, as a determined intruder can fake a MAC address almost as easily as an IP address.

Browse anonymously using Torpark Browser – For downloading multiple files Rapidshare Hacking

I have posted about Skipping or Bypassing Rapidshare or Megaupload, hotfile waiting time.

In this post I have a new Rapidshare hacking tip for you. Well, you might be aware of Browsers like Firefox, or Internet Explorer. I would like to introduce you to a browser known as Torpark Browser, which works as a anonymous web browser. It is like a proxy browser where you can change your permanent IP Address  to dynamic IP Address. So, when ever you run this browser you get a new IP address.  Now download mutliple files at the same time. Yes you read it right, you can download multiple rapidshare files or megaupload, hotfile files at the same time. You can even skip or bypass the time limit on downloading files. The most amazing thing is IDM works with this browser.

Note: You need to close the browser window after each download coz it will reset the ip address.

download

Description of Torpark Browser:

As a way of avoiding spyware and pop-ups, Torpark successfully allows you to surf the Web anonymously, although the publisher warns of possible connection slowdowns.

The self-extracting file installs quickly, and you can run it from your hard drive, or as the publisher suggests, from a jump drive. Torpark adds to your browser’s toolbar a few unobtrusive buttons, which allow you to activate/deactivate the tool and configure its privacy settings according to your specifications. The tool effectively restricts pop-ups; blocks surreptitious installations of adware, spyware, and cookies; and hides any traces of your surfing. You can check the Torpark Tools menu while visiting a site and build a list of blocked items for the current page; from the same list box, you may add to a white list any or all of the displayed items.

The publisher cautions that using Torpark may slow your Internet connection speed, particularly if you’re using a dial-up, but we noticed no slowdown during our tests. Torpark is free, easy to use, and suitable for all users interested in protecting their privacy while visiting Web sites.

Internet Explorer (IE) is Slow To Load

Just thought I would share with you a tip I found as my IE was starting to take a long time to load up the first page. After making sure my internet connection was fine and tyring out firefox (which had no issues loading up) I knew it had to be something else in IE. Many times there are add-ons that are installed that can cause IE to load up slowly. So here is a quick way to find out which add-ons you have and how long it takes for them to load. In Internet Explorer click on Tools then go to Managae Add-Ons. Now on the window that pops up right click on one of the columns and then go to columns and choose load time (if there is already a checkmark next to it you don’t need to do anything).

 

Now you may need to scroll over to the right but you should have a column called load time and you will now be able to see how long these add-ons are taking to load. Now you can disable the ones that are taking the longest to load or unistall the ones you don’t need.  I would suggest you do this one at a time to narrow down which one was causing IE to load slowly.  Once you narrow it down then you can either uinstall it or maybe reinstall or find an update for it.  For me it was a DVR plugin that was causing my issues and once i disabled it IE was loading much faster.

Google Redirects To Another Site

So I came across this problem the other day and thought I would say what I did to resolve this problem. The computer would load certain websites OK like yahoo, espn, and bing. But would not load Google or AOL facebook and many others. I first ran a malwarebytes scan which found a couple of things and after cleaning things up and restarting the computer, I was still unable to load the Google homepage.

After some more research I found that when I ping google.com it was coming back with a 87.139 ip address range. I checked the host file and didn’t see anything abnormal. So after checking out a few more things and further research I determined the computer had a rootkit and was redirecting all these websites to a different IP. I downloaded and ran TSSKiller.exe  which found a rootkit and was able to successfully remove it. After another restart I was able to access Google and other sites with no problem.

Hopes this helps anyone as this was a tricky one to figure out.

Internet Connection Sharing on Windows XP

Internet Connection Sharing on Windows XP

This trick shows you how to share your internet connections on multiple computers within a workgroup with Windows XP. Windows XP has a built-in feature that called "Internet Connection Sharing" (ICS) that allows home users to share their internet connections on multiple computers.
If you are not familiar with the network configurations, the easiest way to share your internet connection is to purchase a router or hub. Use this trick only if you don't have a router, or don't want to use a router, or if you just want to try out the feature.
A simple way to understand this feature is, you are making your host computer (the computer directly connects to the internet) functioning as a router for other computers.

What do you need?

• A "Host" computer that running Windows XP. This computer must have at least TWO (2) network adapters. One adapter - let's call it "Adapter #1" - connects to the internet and another, "Adapter #2", connects to a hub or directly to other computers.
• Client computer(s), which run any version of Windows. A client computer can be connected to the host computer directly by a cross-over cable or indirectly through a hub.
• This trick assumes that the host computer is connected to the internet and you are able to access the internet on this computer.

Configure the Host Computer

1. Logon the host computer as Administrator.
2. Click Start >> Control Panel.
3. Click Network and Internet Connections.
4. Click Network Connections.
5. Right-click the connection that you use to connect to the internet (the connection with Adapter #1). This connection can be either a high-speed internet connection or a dial-up connection.
6. Click Properties.
7. Click Advanced tab.
8. Under Internet Connection Sharing, select the Allow other network users to connect through this computer's Internet connection check box.
9. If you are sharing a dial-up Internet connection, select the Establish a dial-up connection whenever a computer on my network attempts to access the Internet check box if you want to permit your computer to automatically connect to the Internet.
10. Click OK. You'll reieve the following message:
    When Internet Connection Sharing is enabled, your LAN adapter will be set to use IP address 192.168.0.1. Your computer may lose connectivity with other computers on your network. If these other computers have static IP addresses, it is a good idea to set them to obtain their IP addresses automatically. Are you sure you want to enable Internet Connection Sharing?
11. Click Yes.

Configure the Client Computer(s)
To use the shared connection from the Host computer, a client computer must be configured with "Automatic IP address". The main configurations are:

1. Configure TCP/IP Automatic IP
2. Configure Internet Connection

The steps for the above two configurations are vary on different versions of Windows.
The following procedures are for Windows XP client computers.

Log on to the client computer as Administrator or as Owner. Click Start >> Control Panel. Click Network and Internet Connections. Click Network Connections. Right-click Local Area Connection, and then click Properties. Click the General tab, click Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) in the This connection uses the following items list, and then click Properties. In the Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties dialog box, click Obtain an IP address automatically (if it is not already selected), and then click OK. Click Start >> Control Panel Click Network and Internet Connections. Click Internet Options. In the Internet Properties dialog box, click the Connections tab. Click the Setup button. The New Connection Wizard starts. On the Welcome to the New Connection Wizard page, click Next. Click Connect to the Internet, and then click Next. Click Set up my connection manually, and then click Next. Click Connect using a broadband connection that is always on, and then click Next. On the Completing the New Connection Wizard page, click Finish. Exit Control Panel and test the internet. You might need to restart the computer.