Introduction to

Application Layer
Ch: 25
Logical Connection at the
application layer
 Introduction
• The application layer provides services to the user.
• Communication is provided using a logical connection, which means
that the two application layers assume that there is an imaginary
direct connection through which they can send and receive messages.
• Providing Services
• All communication networks that started before the Internet were
designed to provide services to network users.
• The Internet was originally designed for the same purpose: to provide
service to users around the world.
• The layered architecture of the TCP/IP protocol suite, however, makes
the Internet more flexible than other communication networks such
as postal or telephone networks.
• Each layer in the suite was originally made up of one or more
protocols, but new protocols can be added or some protocols can be
removed or replaced by the Internet authorities.
• The protocols in this layer do not provide services to any other protocol in
the suite; they only receive services from the protocols in the transport
layer. This means that protocols can be removed from this layer easily.
• New protocols can be also added to this layer as long as the new protocols
can use the services provided by one of the transport-layer protocols.
• Since the application layer is the only layer that provides services to the
Internet user, the flexibility of the application layer, as described above,
allows new application protocols to be easily added to the Internet, which
has been occurring during the lifetime of the Internet.
Standard and Nonstandard Protocols
• To provide smooth operation of the Internet, the protocols used in the
first four layers of the TCP/IP suite need to be standardized and
documented. They normally become part of the package that is
included in operating systems such as Windows or UNIX.
• Standard Application-Layer Protocols
• There are several application-layer protocols that have been
standardized and documented by the Internet authority, and we
are using them in our daily interaction with the Internet.
• Each standard protocol is a pair of computer programs that interact
with the user and the transport layer to provide a specific service to
the user.
• The deep understanding of how these protocols work will also give us
some ideas about how to create new nonstandard protocols.
Standard and Nonstandard
Protocols
• Nonstandard Application-Layer Protocols
• A programmer can create a nonstandard application-
layer program if she can write two programs that
provide service to the user by interacting with the
transport layer.
• A private company can create a new customized
application protocol to communicate with all of its
offices around the world using the services provided by
the first four layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite without
using any of the standard application programs.
Application-Layer Paradigms
• It should be clear that to use the Internet we need two application
programs to interact with each other: one running on a computer
somewhere in the world, the other running on another computer
somewhere else in the world.
• Traditional Paradigm: Client-Server
• It was the most popular paradigm until a few years ago.
• In this paradigm, the service provider is an application program,
called the server process; it runs continuously, waiting for
another application program, called the client process, to make
a connection through the Internet and ask for service.
• There are normally some server processes that can provide a specific
type of service, but there are many clients that request service from
any of these server processes.
Application-Layer Paradigms
• The server process must be running all the time; the client process
is started when the client needs to receive service.
• Although the communication in the client-server paradigm is between
two application programs, the role of each program is totally
different. In other words, we cannot run a client program as a server
program or vice versa.
• One problem with this paradigm is that the concentration of the
communication load is on the shoulder of the server, which means
the server should be a powerful computer.
• Another problem is that there should be a service provider willing to
accept the cost and create a powerful server for a specific service
• Several traditional services are still using this paradigm, including WWW,
HTTP, FTP, SSH, and E-mail
Application-Layer Paradigms
• New Paradigm: Peer-to-Peer
• A new paradigm, called the peer-to-peer paradigm (often abbreviated P2P
paradigm) has emerged to respond to the needs of some new applications.
• In this paradigm, there is no need for a server process to be running all the
time and waiting for the client processes to connect.
• The responsibility is shared between peers. A computer connected to the Internet
can provide service at one time and receive service at another time. A computer
can even provide and receive services at the same time.
• The peer-to-peer paradigm is easily scalable and cost-effective.
• The main challenge has been security. The other challenge is
applicability.
• There are some new applications, such as BitTorrent, Skype, IPTV, and
Internet telephony, that use this paradigm
Application-Layer Paradigms
• Mixed Paradigm
• An application may choose to use a mixture of
the two paradigms by combining the
advantages of both. For example, a light-load
client-server communication can be used to find
the address of the peer that can offer a service.