SMTP, DNS

Dr. Waseem Abbass

Application Layer: 2-1

E-mail
outgoing
message queue
user mailbox
user
Three major components: agent
 user agents mail user
server
 mail servers agent

 simple mail transfer protocol: SMTP SMTP mail user

server agent
SMTP
User Agent
 a.k.a. “mail reader” SMTP user
agent
mail
 composing, editing, reading mail messages server
user
 e.g., Outlook, iPhone mail client agent
user
 outgoing, incoming messages stored on agent
server
Application Layer: 2-2
E-mail: mail servers
outgoing
message queue
user mailbox
user
mail servers: agent

 mailbox contains incoming mail user

server agent
messages for user
SMTP
 message queue of outgoing (to mail
server
user
agent
be sent) mail messages SMTP
 SMTP protocol between mail SMTP user
servers to send email messages mail agent
server
• client: sending mail server user
agent
• “server”: receiving mail server user
agent

Application Layer: 2-3

E-mail: the RFC (5321)
 uses TCP to reliably transfer email message from client (mail server
initiating connection) to server, port 25
 direct transfer: sending server (acting like client) to receiving server
 three phases of transfer
• handshaking (greeting)
• transfer of messages
• closure
 command/response interaction (like HTTP)
• commands: ASCII text
• response: status code and phrase
 messages must be in 7-bit ASCI

Application Layer: 2-4

Scenario: Alice sends e-mail to Bob
1) Alice uses UA to compose e-mail 4) SMTP client sends Alice’s message
message “to” [email protected] over the TCP connection
2) Alice’s UA sends message to her 5) Bob’s mail server places
mail server; message placed in the message in Bob’s
message queue mailbox
3) client side of SMTP opens TCP 6) Bob invokes his user
connection with Bob’s mail server agent to read message

1 user mail user

mail agent
agent server server
2 3 6
4
5
Alice’s mail server Bob’s mail server
Application Layer: 2-5
Sample SMTP interaction
S: 220 hamburger.edu
C: HELO crepes.fr
S: 250 Hello crepes.fr, pleased to meet you
C: MAIL FROM: <[email protected]>
S: 250 [email protected]... Sender ok
C: RCPT TO: <[email protected]>
S: 250 [email protected] ... Recipient ok
C: DATA
S: 354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself
C: Do you like ketchup?
C: How about pickles?
C: .
S: 250 Message accepted for delivery
C: QUIT
S: 221 hamburger.edu closing connection
Application Layer: 2-6
Try SMTP interaction for yourself:
telnet <servername> 25
 see 220 reply from server
 enter HELO, MAIL FROM:, RCPT TO:, DATA, QUIT commands
above lets you send email without using e-mail client (reader)

Note: this will only work if <servername> allows telnet connections to port 25 (this is becoming
increasingly rare because of security concerns)

Application Layer: 2-7

SMTP: closing observations
comparison with HTTP:  SMTP uses persistent
 HTTP: pull connections
 SMTP: push  SMTP requires message
(header & body) to be in
 both have ASCII command/response 7-bit ASCII
interaction, status codes  SMTP server uses
CRLF.CRLF to determine
 HTTP: each object encapsulated in its end of message
own response message
 SMTP: multiple objects sent in
multipart message
Application Layer: 2-8
Mail message format
SMTP: protocol for exchanging e-mail
messages, defined in RFC 531 (like HTTP)
RFC 822 defines syntax for e-mail message
itself (like HTML)
 header lines, e.g., header
• To: blank
line
• From:
• Subject:
these lines, within the body of the email body
message area different from SMTP MAIL FROM:,
RCPT TO: commands!
 Body: the “message” , ASCII characters only
Application Layer: 2-9
 Mail access protocols
user
e-mail access user
SMTP SMTP protocol
agent agent
(e.g., IMAP,
HTTP)

sender’s e-mail receiver’s e-mail

server server

 SMTP: delivery/storage of e-mail messages to receiver’s server

 mail access protocol: retrieval from server
• IMAP: Internet Mail Access Protocol [RFC 3501]: messages stored on server, IMAP
provides retrieval, deletion, folders of stored messages on server
 HTTP: gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo!Mail, etc. provides web-based interface on
top of SMTP (to send), IMAP (or POP) to retrieve e-mail messages
Application Layer: 2-10
DNS: Domain Name System
people: many identifiers: Domain Name System:
• SSN, name, passport #  distributed database implemented in
Internet hosts, routers: hierarchy of many name servers
• IP address (32 bit) - used for  application-layer protocol: hosts,
addressing datagrams name servers communicate to resolve
• “name”, e.g., cs.umass.edu - names (address/name translation)
used by humans
• note: core Internet function,
Q: how to map between IP implemented as application-layer
address and name, and vice protocol
versa ?
• complexity at network’s “edge”

Application Layer: 2-11

DNS: services, structure
DNS services Q: Why not centralize DNS?
 hostname to IP address translation  single point of failure
 traffic volume
 host aliasing
 distant centralized database
• canonical, alias names
 maintenance
 mail server aliasing
 load distribution A: doesn‘t scale!
• replicated Web servers: many IP  Comcast DNS servers
addresses correspond to one alone: 600B DNS queries
name per day

Application Layer: 2-12