APPLICATION LAYER

The application layer in TCP/IP is equivalent to combined

session, presentation and application layers in the OSI model.
The application layer deals with the real work of users.
Even in application layer there is a need for support of the
protocols to allow the real applications function properly.
The services are
1.Offering security to the message by using cryptography.
2.Authentication of the genuine users.
3.DNS-domain name system
4.Sending and receiving e-mails.
5.www-maintaining the internet.
6.File transfer access and management.
7.Provides distributed database and access for global
information.
 DNS DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM
In internet, the hosts are uniquely identified with their
IP address.
But people prefer names instead of numeric addresses.
We need a system that maps a name to address and vice versa.
Since internet is huge, this mapping cannot be done with
single host file.
Domain name system (DNS) provides such kind of mapping
in internet.
A name space defines a set of possible names.
It can be either flat or hierarchical.
A flat name is a sequence of characters without structure.
In hierarchical name space, each name is made of several
parts.
The first part can define the nature of organization,
The second part can define the name
The third part can define department and so on.
Ex:-Laqshya.edu.in
Domain name space
A domain name space was designed to have hierarchical name
space in which the names are defined in an inverted tree
structure with the root at the top.
1.It has only 128 levels.
2.Each node in the tree has a label, which is a string with
maximum of 63 characters.
3.Root label is a null string.
Children of a node should have a different label to provide
uniqueness to domain names.
A domain name is a sequence of labels separated by dot(.).
Domain names and labels
The domain names always read from the node upto the root.
Hence the last label is the label of the root (null).
If a label is terminated by a null string then it is called fully
qualified domain name (FQDN) that contains the full name
of a host.
Ex:- challenger.atc.fhda.edu.
The name must be end with a null label, but because null
means nothing, the label ends with a dot(.).
If a label is not terminated by a null string, then it is called as
partially qualified domain name (PQDN).
It starts from the node, but it does not reach the root.
It is used when the name to be resolved belongs to the same
site as the client.
Ex:- www
Cs.hmme
FQDN and PQDN
Domain
A domain is a sub tree of the domain name space.
The name of the domain is the domain name of the node at the
top of the subtree.
A domain may itself be divided into domain (sub domains).
DISTRIBUTION OF NAME SPACE
The information contained in the domain name space must be
stored.
Since huge amount of information need to be stored, it must
be distributed among many computers DNS servers to avoid
inaccessibility and unreliability.
1.Name servers:-
It is a program that can be accessed over the internet, clients
send queries to the name servers and the name servers respond
with requested information.
The response may be a final answer for client or it contains a
pointer to another server.
Thus, the DNS is being represented by a hierarchy of name
servers.
Hierarchy of name servers
Zone:-
Zone is a server that is responsible for, or has authority over a
portion of hierarchy of domains.
The server makes a database called a zone file and keeps all
the information for every node under that domain.
Root server:-
A root server is a server whose zone consists of the whole tree.
A root server usually does not store any information about
domains but delegates its authority to other servers, keeping
reference to those servers.
Primary server:-
A primary server is a server that stores a file about the zone
for which it is an authority.
It is responsible for creating, maintaining and updating the
zone file. It stores the zone file on the local disk.
Zones and domains
Secondary server:-
It transfers the complete information about a zone from
another server and stores the file on its local disk.

A primary server loads all information from the disk file;

the secondary server loads all information from the primary
server.
When the secondary downloads information from the
primary, it is called zone transfer.
 DNS IN THE INTERNET
DNS is a protocol that can be used in different platforms.
In the Internet, the domain name space (tree) is divided into
three different sections:
Generic domains,
Country domains,
Inverse domain.
Generic domain:-
The generic domain define registered hosts according to their
generic behavior that are represented using three character
labels in their first level.
DNS IN THE INTERNET
Generic domains
Generic domain labels
Country domain:-
It uses two characters country abbreviations in the first level.
The second level label can be organized or national
designations.
Inverse domain:-
It is used to map an address to a name.
The query to the inverse DNS server is called as pointer or
inverse query that contains only the IP address.
The inverse domain is added to the domain name space with
the first level node called arpa and the second level in-addr
followed by the IP address.
Ex:- 121.45.34.132.in-addr-arpa.
Inverse domain
RESOLUTION:-
Mapping a name to an address or an address to a name is
called name address resolution.
1.Resolver:- a node to map an address to name or name to
address is names as resolver (client).
The resolver accesses the closer DNS server with a mapping
request.
If the server has the information, it satisfies the resolver,
otherwise, it refers to other servers.
After receiving the response from the server, it interprets
whether it is a real solution or error and delivers the result.
2. Mapping names to address:-
Most of the time, the resolver gives a domain name to the
server and asks for the corresponding address.
The server checks the generic domain or country domain as
said above and gets the information if it has, refers to other
servers otherwise.
3. Mapping address to names:-
A client can send an IP address to a server for a domain
name.
To answer this pointer query, DNS uses the inverse domain if
the resolver receives the IP address 132.34.45.121, it first
inverts the address and then add two labels before sending.
The domain name is 121.45.34.132.in-addr.arpa.
4. Recursive resolution:-
The resolver expects the server to supply the final answers.
If the server is the authority for the domain, it checks the
database and responds.
Otherwise, it send request to another server.
This process will continue until the query is resolved, and the
response travels back until it finally reaches the requesting
client. This is called as recursive resolution.
Recursive resolution
5. Iterative resolution:-

When the client ask for mapping request to the server, if it is

an authority, it sends the answer.
If not, it returns the IP address of the query to the client
without forwarding to the next server.
Client has to search for the next server.
This process continues till the client gets the information.
This is known as the iterative resolution.
Iterative resolution
6. caching:-

When a server asks for a mapping from another server and

receives the response, it stores the information in its cache
memory before sending request to the server, it gives the
information from its cache.
To avoid outdated mapping information to the client, server
should have TTL(time to live).
DNS messages
DNS has two types of message having same format
1.Query message consists of header and the question record.
2.Response message consists of header, question record,
answer record, authenticate record and additional records.
HEADER
Both query and response message has the same header format
with some field set to zero for the query message.
Identification
To match the response with query.
Flags:-
Collection of sub fields that define type of message, the type
of answer requested, the type of desired resolution and so on.
Number of question records:-
Number of queries in question section.
Number of answer records:-
Number of answer records in answer section. Its values is zero
for query message.
Number of authoritative records:-
Number of authoritative records in response message which is
zero for query message.
Number of additional records: additional section of response
messages.
Question section
Consists of one or more question records.
Answer section:-
Consists of one or more resource records. It includes answer
from the server to the client.
Authoritative section:-
It gives information about one or more authoritative servers
for the query.
Additional information section:-
Authoritative server, IP address of the same etc.,
REMOTE LOGGING
Users may want to run application program at a remote site
and the users want to run the server at the remote site.
Allow the user to log on to a remote computer.
After logging on , a user can use the services available on the
remote computer and transfer the results back to the local
computer.

TELNET:-
TELNET is an abbreviation for Terminal network.
It is a general purpose client server application program.
Local and remote log-in
Time sharing:-
TELNET was designed at a time when most operating
systems, such as UNIX, were operating in a time sharing
environment.
It supports to multiple users.
Logging:-
In a timesharing environment, users are part of the system
with some right to access resources.
Each authorized user has an identification and probably a
password.
To access the system, the users logs into the system with a
user id.
The system also includes password checking to prevent an
unauthorized user from accessing the resources.
 ELECTRONIC MAIL

One of the most popular Internet services is electronic

mail (e-mail).

The designers of the Internet probably never imagined the

popularity of this application program.

Its architecture consists of several components.

 First scenario in electronic mail

When the sender and the receiver of an e-mail

are on the same system, we need only two user agents.
 Second scenario in electronic mail

When the sender and the receiver of an e-mail

are on different systems, we need two UAs and a pair
of MTAs (client and server).
 Third scenario in electronic mail

When the sender is connected to the mail server via a LAN or a WAN,
we need two UAs and two pairs of MTAs (client and server).
Fourth scenario in electronic mail
Push versus pull in electronic email
Services of user agent
 SIMPLE MAIL TRANSFER PROTOCOL SMTP
The actual mail transfer is done through message transfer
agents.
To send mail, a system have the client MTA, and to receive a
mail, a system must have a server MTA.
The formal protocol that defines the MTA client and server in
the internet is called the SMTP.
It is used in the sender and sender’s mail server and between
the two mail servers.
It has the commands and responses.
SMTP uses commands and responses to transfer messages
between an MTA client and an MTA server.
Commands are sent from the client to the server.
It consists of a keyword followed by zero or more arguments.
Responses are sent from the server to the client.
A response digit code that may be followed by additional
textual information.
SMTP range
Commands and responses
Command format
Commands
Responses
Responses (continued)
 Example

$ telnet mail.adelphia.net 25
Trying 68.168.78.100 . . .
Connected to mail.adelphia.net (68.168.78.100).
Example (continued)
Example (continued)
Message access agent POP3 and IMAP4
Two message access protocols are available POP and IMAP
POP is the Post office protocol version 3.
Internet mail access protocol version 4.
POP is simple and limited functionality.
POP3 begins when the user agents opens a TCP connection to
the mail server.
When the TCP connection is established, POP3 progresses
through three phases.
1.Authorization:- the User agent sends a username and a
password to authenticate the user downloading the mail.
2.Transaction:- the user agent receives messages.
3.Update:- after the client has issued quite command delete
the messages that are marked.
Mail agent connects as client to a POP3 server on the SMTP
host.
1.User sends login and password to authenticate session.
2.User client sends commands to retrieve a copy of one or
more messages and to delete messages from the permanent
mailbox.
3.SMTP server and POP3 server must synchronize access to
mailbox.
POP3 and IMAP4
The exchange of commands and responses in POP3
IMAP (internet message access protocol):-
IMAP is an internet protocol that allows a client to manipulate
E-mail messages that are stored on a mail server.
IMAP is similar to POP.
It allows clients to manipulate a remote access folder
(mailbox) in the same way they would manipulate local
mailboxes.
POP3 does not allow the user to partially check the contents of
the mail before downloading.
It has some additional functions
1.A user can check the e-mail header prior downloading.
2.A user can search the contents of the e-mail for a specific
string of characters prior to downloading.
3.A user can create, delete or rename mailboxes on the mail
server.
 FILE TRANSFER

Transferring files from one computer to another is one

of the most common tasks expected from a networking or
internetworking environment.
The greatest volume of data exchange in the Internet
today is due to file transfer.
It establishes two connections between the client and the
server.
One is for data transfer and the other is for the control
information.
Only one line of command or line of response is transferred at
a time.
The client has three components.
1.User interface
2.Control process
3.Data transfer process
The server has the two components
1.The control process
2. Data transfer process
The control connection is maintained during the entire FTP
session.
The data connection is first opened, file is transferred and data
connection is closed.
In data connection the data structure is used.
FTP can use one of the following
1.File structure
2.Record structure
3.Page structure
File has no structure and it is a continuous stream of bytes.
In the record the file is divided into record.
In page structure, a file is divided into pages which can be
stored randomly or sequentially.
Transmission mode:-
FTP uses the one of the following modes of transfer a file,
Stream mode
Block mode
Compressed mode
Stream mode is the data is delivered in the form of
continuous stream of bytes.
Block mode is the data can be delivered in the form of blocks.
Compressed mode is the data can be compressed.
Using the data connection
 ARCHITECTURE

The WWW today is a distributed client/server service, in

which a client using a browser can access a service using a
server.
However, the service provided is distributed over many
locations called sites.
Architecture of WWW
Browser
URL(uniform resource locator)

A URL provides a standard hierarchical way of identifying and

locating internet resources on WWW. To identify a particular
document.
http://www.universal.com/books.html
Protocol:http
Host: www.universal.com
Port: books.html
 WEB DOCUMENTS

The documents in the WWW can be grouped into three

broad categories: static, dynamic, and active.
The category is based on the time at which the contents
of the document are determined.
Static document
Effect of boldface tags
Dynamic document using CGI(common gateway interface)

CGI is a technology that creates and handles dynamic documents.

Dynamic documents are created by a web server whenever browsers
request the document.
When a request arrives, the web server runs an application program that
creates the dynamic document.
 Dynamic document using server-site script

Dynamic documents
are sometimes referred
to as server-site
dynamic documents.
Active document using Java applet
Active document using client-site script

Active documents are sometimes referred to as client-site

dynamic documents.
HTTP

The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a protocol

used mainly to access data on the World Wide Web.
The information is exchanged in the form of plaintext,
hypertext, audio, video and so on.
REQUEST AND RESPONSE MESSAGES
REQUEST AND STATUS LINE
The first line in a request message is called a request line, the
first line in the response message is called the status line.
Request type is used in the request message.
The request type is categorized into methods.
Version is the version of the http.
Status code is used in the response messages.
Status phrase is used in the response message. It explains the
status code in the text form.
Request and status lines
Methods
Status codes
Status codes (continued)
 PERSISTENT VERSUS NON PERSISTENT
CONNECTION
In a non persistent connection, one TCP connection is made
for each request/response.
1.The client opens a TCP connection and sends a request.
2.The server sends the response and closes the connection.
3.The client reads the data until it encounters and end of file
marker, it then closes the connection.
Persistent connection:-
By default the http is a persistent connection.
The server leaves the connection open for more requests after
sending a response.
The server can close the connection at the request of a client or
it a time out has been reached.
 NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
The functions performed by a network management system
can be divided into the five categories.
1.Configuration management
2.Fault management
3.Performance management
4.Security management
5.Accounting management
Functions of a network management system
1. Configuration management
System must know at any time the status of each entity and its
relation to other entities.
So it is divided into the reconfiguration and documentation.
Reconfiguration means the adjusting the network components
and features.
Covers all the changes to the hardware, software and user
account configurations.
Software reconfiguration is covers all changes to the software.
User account reconfiguration is not simply adding users and
deleting users on a system
Documentation is the hardware, software and user accounts.
Hardware documentation is the maps and specifications.
Maps track each piece of hardware and its connection to the
network.