Application Layer Protocol

The application layer is the topmost layer of the OSI and TCP/IP models. The
application layer in the TCP/IP model is created by combining the top three layers: the
application layer, the presentation layer, and the session layer.

An application layer is an abstraction layer that specifies the shared communications

protocols and interface methods that host in network use. It is the layer closest to the
end user, implying that both the application layer and the end user can interact with the
software application directly.

Application Layer Protocols

The application layer protocols used to make communication between sender and
receiver faster, more efficient, reliable, and secure. These protocols will be discussed
further below.

• SMTP
• TELNET
• FTP
• MIME
• POP
• HTTP
• DNS
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP)

One of the most popular application layer protocols for network services is electronic
mail (e-mail). The TCP/IP protocol that supports electronic mail on the Internet is called
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

SMTP transfers messages from senders' mail servers to the recipients' mail servers
using TCP connections. In SMTP, users are based on e-mail addresses. SMTP
provides services for mail exchange between users on the same or different computers.

Following the client/server model:

• SMTP has two sides: a client-side, which executes on a sender's mail server, and a
server-side, which executes on the recipient's mail server.
• Both the client and server sides of SMTP run on every mail server.
• When a mail server sends mail (to other mail servers), it acts as an SMTP client.
• When a mail server receives mail (from other mail servers), it acts as an SMTP server.

Terminal Network(TELNET)

TELNET is an application layer protocol in which a client-server application allows a

user to log onto a remote machine and lets the user access any application program on
a remote computer. TELNET uses the NVT (Network Virtual Terminal) system to
encode characters on the local system.
On the server (remote) machine, NVT decodes the characters to a form acceptable to
the remote machine. TELNET is a protocol that provides a general, bi-directional, eight-
bit byte-oriented communications facility. Many application protocols are built upon the
TELNET protocol. Telnet services are used on PORT 23.

File Transfer Protocol(FTP)

FTP is the standard mechanism provided by TCP/IP for copying a file from one host to
another. FTP differs from other client-server applications because it establishes 2
connections between hosts. Two connections are Data Connection and Control
Connection.

Data Connection uses PORT 20, and control connection uses PORT 21. FTP is built on
a client-server architecture and uses separate control and data connections between
the client and the server. One connection is used for data transfer, the other for control
information (commands and responses). The FTP is data reliably and efficiently.

Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME)

The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an extension of SMTP that allows
the transfer of multimedia messages. If binary data is included in a message, MIME
headers are used to inform the receiving mail agent that is as follows:

• Content-Transfer-Encoding: The header alerts the receiving user agent that the
message body has been ASCII encoded and the type of encoding used.
• Content-Type: The header informs the receiving mail agent about the type of data in the
message.

Post Office Protocol(POP)

POP(Post Office Protocol) is also called the POP3 protocol. This is a protocol used by a
mail server in conjunction with SMTP to receive and holds mail for hosts.POP3 mail
server receives e-mails and filters them into the appropriate user folders.

When a user connects to the mail server to retrieve his mail, the messages are
downloaded from the mail server to the user's hard disk.

Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP)

Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP) is used mainly to access World Wide Web (www)
data. The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is the Web's main application-layer
protocol, although current browsers can access other types of servers. A repository of
information spread all over the world and linked together.
The HTTP protocol transfers data in plain text, hypertext, audio, video, etc. HTTP
utilizes TCP connections to send client requests and server replies. It is a synchronous
protocol that works by making both persistent and non-persistent connections.

Domain Name System(DNS)

In Domain Name System(DNS), TCP/IP protocol uses the IP address that uniquely
identifies a host's connection to the Internet to identify an entity. DNS is a hierarchical
system based on a distributed database that uses a hierarchy of Name Servers to
resolve Internet host names into the corresponding IP addresses required for packet
routing by issuing a DNS query to a name server.

DNS in the Internet: DNS is a protocol that can be used on different platforms.

Domain name space is divided into three categories.

• Generic Domain: The generic domain defines registered hosts according to their generic
behavior. Each node in the tree defines a domain which is an index to the domain name
space database.

• Country Domain: The country domain section follows the same format as the generic
domain but uses 2 characters of country abbreviations (e.g., the US for the United
States) instead of 3 characters.
• Inverse Domain: The inverse domain maps an address to a name.

Overview of Services
Application Layer Protocol Examples
Examples of application layer protocols include the X.400 Message Handling Service
Protocol allowing email transfer between compatible systems.

• The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNTP) provides remote host management.
• Use the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) for the message or text communications.
• To accept and store mail for hosts, a mail server employs the POP (Post Office Protocol)
protocol in conjunction with SMTP.