CS 3591 COMPUTER NETWORKS

COURSE OBJECTIVES:
To understand the concept of layering in networks.
To know the functions of protocols of each layer of TCP/IP protocol suite.
To visualize the end-to-end flow of information.
To learn the functions of network layer and the various routing protocols
To familiarize the functions and protocols of the Transport layer

UNIT I INTRODUCTION AND APPLICATION LAYER 10

Data Communication - Networks – Network Types – Protocol Layering – TCP/IP Protocol suite –
OSI Model – Introduction to Sockets - Application Layer protocols: HTTP – FTP – Email protocols
(SMTP - POP3 - IMAP - MIME) – DNS – SNMP

UNIT II TRANSPORT LAYER 9

Introduction - Transport-Layer Protocols: UDP – TCP: Connection Management – Flow control -
Congestion Control - Congestion avoidance (DECbit, RED) – SCTP – Quality of Service

UNIT III NETWORK LAYER 7

Switching: Packet Switching - Internet protocol - IPV4 – IP Addressing – Subnetting - IPV6, ARP,
RARP, ICMP, DHCP

UNIT IV ROUTING 7
Routing and protocols: Unicast routing - Distance Vector Routing - RIP - Link State Routing – OSPF
– Path-vector routing - BGP - Multicast Routing: DVMRP – PIM.

UNIT V DATA LINK AND PHYSICAL LAYERS 12

Data Link Layer – Framing – Flow control – Error control – Data-Link Layer Protocols – HDLC –
PPP - Media Access Control – Ethernet Basics – CSMA/CD – Virtual LAN – Wireless LAN
(802.11) - Physical Layer: Data and Signals - Performance – Transmission media- Switching –
Circuit Switching.

TOTAL:45 PERIODS

TEXT BOOKS
1. James F. Kurose, Keith W. Ross, Computer Networking, A Top-Down Approach Featuring the
Internet, Eighth Edition, Pearson Education, 2021.
2. Behrouz A. Forouzan, Data Communications and Networking with TCP/IP Protocol Suite, Sixth
Edition TMH, 2022

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 CS 3591 COMPUTER NETWORKS
UNIT I - INTRODUCTION AND PHYSICAL LAYER
Data Communication - Networks – Network Types – Protocol Layering –
TCP/IP Protocol suite –OSI Model – Introduction to Sockets -
Application Layer protocols: HTTP – FTP – Email protocols (SMTP -
POP3 - IMAP - MIME) – DNS – SNMP

INTRODUCTION TO NETWORKS
▪ A network is a set of devices (often referred to as nodes) connected by
communication links.
▪ A node can be a computer, printer, or any other device capable of sending or
receiving data generated by other nodes on the network.
▪ When we communicate, we are sharing information. This sharing can be local or
remote.

CHARACTERISTICS OF A NETWORK
The effectiveness of a network depends on three characteristics.
1. Delivery: The system must deliver data to the correct destination.
2. Accuracy: The system must deliver data accurately.
3. Timeliness: The system must deliver data in a timely manner.

COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN A NETWORK PROCESS

The five components are:

1. Message - It is the information to be communicated. Popular forms of information
include text, pictures, audio, video etc.
2. Sender - It is the device which sends the data messages. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset etc.
3. Receiver - It is the device which receives the data messages. It can be a computer,
workstation, telephone handset etc.
4. Transmission Medium - It is the physical path by which a message travels from
sender to receiver. Some examples include twisted-pair wire, coaxial cable, radio
waves etc.
5. Protocol - It is a set of rules that governs the data communications. It represents an
agreement between the communicating devices. Without a protocol, two devices
may be connected but not communicating.

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KEY ELEMENTS OF PROTOCOL
➢ Syntax: Refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which
they are presented.
➢ Semantics: Refers to the meaning of each section of bits.
➢ Timing: Refers to two characteristics. (1). When data should be sent and (2). How
fast they can be sent.

TRANSMISSION MODES
o The way in which data is transmitted from one device to another device is known
as transmission mode.
o The transmission mode is also known as the communication mode.
o Each communication channel has a direction associated with it, and transmission
media provide the direction. Therefore, the transmission mode is also known as a
directional mode.
o The transmission mode is defined in the physical layer.

Types of Transmission mode

The Transmission mode is divided into three categories:

o Simplex Mode
o Half-duplex Mode
o Full-duplex mode (Duplex Mode)

SIMPLEX MODE

o In Simplex mode, the communication is unidirectional, i.e., the data flow in one
direction.
o A device can only send the data but cannot receive it or it can receive the data but
cannot send the data.
o This transmission mode is not very popular as mainly communications require the
two-way exchange of data. The simplex mode is used in the business field as in
sales that do not require any corresponding reply.
o The radio station is a simplex channel as it transmits the signal to the listeners but
never allows them to transmit back.
o Keyboard and Monitor are the examples of the simplex mode as a keyboard can
only accept the data from the user and monitor can only be used to display the
data on the screen.
o The main advantage of the simplex mode is that the full capacity of the
communication channel can be utilized during transmission.

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Advantage of Simplex mode:
o In simplex mode, the station can utilize the entire bandwidth of the
communication channel, so that more data can be transmitted at a time.

Disadvantage of Simplex mode:

o Communication is unidirectional, so it has no inter-communication between
devices.

HALF-DUPLEX MODE

o In a Half-duplex channel, direction can be reversed, i.e., the station can transmit
and receive the data as well.
o Messages flow in both the directions, but not at the same time.
o The entire bandwidth of the communication channel is utilized in one direction at
a time.
o In half-duplex mode, it is possible to perform the error detection, and if any error
occurs, then the receiver requests the sender to retransmit the data.
o A Walkie-talkie is an example of the Half-duplex mode.
o In Walkie-talkie, one party speaks, and another party listens. After a pause, the
other speaks and first party listens. Speaking simultaneously will create the
distorted sound which cannot be understood.

Advantage of Half-duplex mode:

o In half-duplex mode, both the devices can send and receive the data and also can
utilize the entire bandwidth of the communication channel during the
transmission of data.

Disadvantage of Half-Duplex mode:

o In half-duplex mode, when one device is sending the data, then another has to
wait, this causes the delay in sending the data at the right time.

FULL-DUPLEX MODE

o In Full duplex mode, the communication is bi-directional, i.e., the data flow in
both the directions.
o Both the stations can send and receive the message simultaneously.
o Full-duplex mode has two simplex channels. One channel has traffic moving in
one direction, and another channel has traffic flowing in the opposite direction.
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 o The Full-duplex mode is the fastest mode of communication between devices.
o The most common example of the full-duplex mode is a Telephone network.
When two people are communicating with each other by a telephone line, both
can talk and listen at the same time.

Advantage of Full-duplex mode:

o Both the stations can send and receive the data at the same time.

Disadvantage of Full-duplex mode:

o If there is no dedicated path exists between the devices, then the capacity of the
communication channel is divided into two parts.

COMPARISON - SIMPLEX, HALF-DUPLEX AND FULL-DUPLEX MODE

BASIS FOR SIMPLEX HALF-DUPLEX FULL-DUPLEX

COMPARISON MODE MODE MODE

Direction of Communication is Communication is Communication

communication unidirectional. bidirectional, but is bidirectional.
one at a time.

Send/Receive A device can only Both the devices Both the devices
send the data but can send and can send and
cannot receive it or receive the data, receive the data
it can only receive but one at a time. simultaneously.
the data but cannot
send it.

Example Radio, Keyboard, Walkie-Talkie Telephone

and monitor. network.

LINE CONFIGURATION / LINE CONNECTIVITY

Line configuration refers to the way two or more communication devices attach to a
link. A link is a communications pathway that transfers data from one device to another.
There are two possible line configurations:
i. Point to Point (PPP): Provides a dedicated Communication link between two
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 devices. It is simple to establish. The most common example for Point-to-Point
connection is a computer connected by telephone line. We can connect the two
devices by means of a pair of wires or using a microwave or satellite link.

ii. MultiPoint : It is also called Multidrop configuration. In this connection two or

more devices share a single link.There are two kinds of Multipoint Connections.

• Spatial Sharing: If several devices can share the link simultaneously,

it is called Spatially shared line configuration

• Temporal (Time) Sharing: If users must take turns using the link ,
then its called Temporally shared or Time Shared Line Configuration.

NETWORK TYPES
• A computer network is a group of computers linked to each other that enables the
computer to communicate with another computer and share their resources, data,
and applications.
• A computer network can be categorized by their size.
• A computer network is mainly of three types:
1. Local Area Network (LAN)
2. Wide Area Network (WAN)
3. Metropolitan Area Network (MAN)

LOCAL AREA NETWORK (LAN)

o Local Area Network is a group of computers connected to each other in a small
area such as building, office.
o LAN is used for connecting two or more personal computers through a
communication medium such as twisted pair, coaxial cable, etc.

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 o It is less costly as it is built with inexpensive hardware such as hubs, network
adapters, and ethernet cables.
o The data is transferred at an extremely faster rate in Local Area Network.
o LAN can be connected using a common cable or a Switch.

Advantages of LAN Disadvantages of LAN

• Resource Sharing • High Setup Cost
• Software Applications Sharing. • Privacy Violations
• Easy and Cheap Communication • Data Security Threat
• Centralized Data. • LAN Maintenance Job
• Data Security • Covers Limited Area
• Internet Sharing

WIDE AREA NETWORK (WAN)

o A Wide Area Network is a network that extends over a large geographical area
such as states or countries.
o A Wide Area Network is quite bigger network than the LAN.

o A Wide Area Network is not limited to a single location, but it spans over a large
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 geographical area through a telephone line, fibre optic cable or satellite links.
o The internet is one of the biggest WAN in the world.
o A Wide Area Network is widely used in the field of Business, government, and
education.
o WAN can be either a point-to-point WAN or Switched WAN.

Point-to-point WAN Switched WAN

Advantages of Wide Area Network: Disadvantages of Wide Area Network:

o Large Geographical area o Security issue
o Centralized data o Needs Firewall & antivirus software
o Exchange messages o High Setup cost
o Sharing of software and resources o Troubleshooting problems
o High bandwidth

METROPOLITAN AREA NETWORK (MAN)

o A metropolitan area network is a network that covers a larger geographic area by

interconnecting a different LAN to form a larger network.
o It generally covers towns and cities (50 km)
o In MAN, various LANs are connected to each other through a telephone
exchange line.
o Communication medium used for MAN are optical fibers, cables etc.
o It has a higher range than Local Area Network(LAN).It is adequate for distributed
computing applications.

INTERNETWORK
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 o An internetwork is defined as two or more computer network LANs or WAN.
o An Internetwork can be formed by joining two or more individual networks by
means of various devices such as routers, gateways and bridges.
o An interconnection between public, private, commercial, industrial, or
government computer networks can also be defined as internetworking.

Types of Internetwork
Extranet Intranet
An extranet is used for information sharing.
An intranet belongs to an organization
The access to the extranet is restricted to
which is only accessible by the
only those users who have login credentials.
organization's employee or members. The
An extranet is the lowest level of
main aim of the intranet is to share the
internetworking. It can be categorized as
information and resources among the
MAN, WAN or other computer networks.
organization employees. An intranet
An extranet cannot have a single LAN,
provides the facility to work in groups and
atleast it must haveone connection to the
for teleconferences.
external network.

PROTOCOL LAYERING

➢ In networking, a protocol defines the rules that both the sender and receiver and
all intermediate devices need to follow to be able to communicate effectively.
➢ A protocol provides a communication service that the process uses to
exchange messages.
➢ When communication is simple, we may need only one simple protocol.
➢ When the communication is complex, we may need to divide the task between
different layers, in which case we need a protocol at each layer, or protocol

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 layering.
➢ Protocol layering is that it allows us to separate the services from the
implementation.
➢ A layer needs to be able to receive a set of services from the lower layer and to give
the services to the upper layer.
➢ Any modification in one layer will not affect the other layers.

Basic Elements of Layered Architecture

➢ Service: It is a set of actions that a layer provides to the higher layer.
➢ Protocol: It defines a set of rules that a layer uses to exchange the information with
peer entity. These rules mainly concern about both the contents and order of the
messages used.
➢ Interface: It is a way through which the message is transferred from one layer to
another layer.

Features of Protocol Layering

1. It decomposes the problem of building a network into more manageable
components.
2. It provides a more modular design.

Principles of Protocol Layering

1. The first principle dictates that if we want bidirectional communication, we need
to make each layer so that it is able to perform two opposite tasks, one in each
direction.
2. The second principle that we need to follow in protocol layering is that the two
objects under each layer at both sites should be identical.

Protocol Graph
• The set of protocols that make up a network system is called a protocol graph.
• The nodes of the graph correspond to protocols, and the edges represent a
dependence relation.
• For example, the Figure below illustrates a protocol graph consists of protocols
RRP (Request/Reply Protocol) and MSP (Message Stream Protocol) implement
two different types of process-to-process channels, and both depend on the HHP
(Host-to- Host Protocol) which provides a host-to-host connectivity service

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 OSI MODEL
o OSI stands for Open System Interconnection.
o It is a reference model that describes how information from a software application
in one computer moves through a physical medium to the software application in
another computer.
o OSI consists of seven layers, and each layer performs a particular network function.
o OSI model was developed by the International Organization for Standardization
(ISO) in 1984, and it is now considered as an architectural model for the inter-
computer communications.
o OSI model divides the whole task into seven smaller and manageable tasks. Each
layer is assigned a particular task.
o Each layer is self-contained, so that task assigned to each layer can be performed
independently.

ORGANIZATION OF THE OSI LAYERS

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 FUNCTIONS OF THE OSI LAYERS
1. PHYSICAL LAYER

The physical layer coordinates the functions required to transmit a bit stream over a
physical medium.
The physical layer is concerned with the following functions:
➢ Physical characteristics of interfaces and media - The physical layer defines
the characteristics of the interface between the devices and the transmission
medium.
➢ Representation of bits - To transmit the stream of bits, it must be encoded to
signals. The physical layer defines the type of encoding.
➢ Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting the information.
➢ Data Rate or Transmission rate - The number of bits sent each second –is also
defined by the physical layer.
➢ Synchronization of bits - The sender and receiver must be synchronized at the
bit level. Their clocks must be synchronized.
➢ Line Configuration - In a point-to-point configuration, two devices are connected
together through a dedicated link. In a multipoint configuration, a link is shared
between several devices.
➢ Physical Topology - The physical topology defines how devices are connected to
make a network. Devices can be connected using a mesh, bus, star or ring topology.

➢ Transmission Mode - The physical layer also defines the direction of

transmission between two devices: simplex, half-duplex or full-duplex.

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2. DATA LINK LAYER

It is responsible for transmitting frames from one node to the next node.
The other responsibilities of this layer are
➢ Framing - Divides the stream of bits received into data units called frames.
➢ Physical addressing – If frames are to be distributed to different systems on the
network , data link layer adds a header to the frame to define the sender and
receiver.
➢ Flow control- If the rate at which the data are absorbed by the receiver is less
than the rate produced in the sender ,the Data link layer imposes a flow ctrl
mechanism.
➢ Error control- Used for detecting and retransmitting damaged or lost frames and
to prevent duplication of frames. This is achieved through a trailer added at the end
of the frame.
➢ Medium Access control -Used to determine which device has control over the link
at any given time.

3. NETWORK LAYER

This layer is responsible for the delivery of packets from source to destination.
It determines the best path to move data from source to the destination based on the
network conditions, the priority of service, and other factors.
The other responsibilities of this layer are
➢ Logical addressing - If a packet passes the network boundary, we need another
addressing system for source and destination called logical address. This
addressing is used to identify the device on the internet.
➢ Routing – Routing is the major component of the network layer, and it determines
the best optimal path out of the multiple paths from source to the destination.

4. TRANSPORT LAYER

It is responsible for Process-to-Process delivery. That is responsible for source-to-

destination (end-to-end) delivery of the entire message, it also ensures whether the
message arrives in order or not.
The other responsibilities of this layer are
➢ Port addressing / Service Point addressing - The header includes an address
called port address / service point address. This layer gets the entire message to the
correct process on that computer.
➢ Segmentation and reassembly - The message is divided into segments and each
segment is assigned a sequence number. These numbers are arranged correctly on
the arrival side by this layer.
➢ Connection control - This can either be connectionless or connection oriented.
• The connectionless treats each segment as an individual packet and
delivers to the destination.
• The connection-oriented makes connection on the destination side before
the delivery. After the delivery the termination will be terminated.
➢ Flow control - The transport layer also responsible for flow control but it is
performed end-to-end rather than across a single link.
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 ➢ Error Control - Error control is performed end-to-end rather than across the
single link..

5. SESSION LAYER

This layer establishes, manages and terminates connections between applications.

The other responsibilities of this layer are
➢ Dialog control - Session layer acts as a dialog controller that creates a dialog
between two processes or we can say that it allows the communication between
two processes which can be either half-duplex or full-duplex.
➢ Synchronization- Session layer adds some checkpoints when transmitting the data
in a sequence. If some error occurs in the middle of the transmission of data, then
the transmission will take place again from the checkpoint. This process is known
as Synchronization and recovery.

6. PRESENTATION LAYER

It is concerned with the syntax and semantics of information exchanged between two
systems.
The other responsibilities of this layer are
➢ Translation – Different computers use different encoding system, this layer is
responsible for interoperability between these different encoding methods. It will
change the message into some common format.
➢ Encryption and decryption-It means that sender transforms the original
information to another form and sends the resulting message over the n/w. and vice
versa.
➢ Compression and expansion-Compression reduces the number of bits contained
in the information particularly in text, audio and video.

7. APPLICATION LAYER
This layer enables the user to access the network. It handles issues such as network
transparency, resource allocation, etc. This allows the user to log on to remote user.
The other responsibilities of this layer are
➢ FTAM (File Transfer, Access, Management) - Allows user to access files in a
remote host.
➢ Mail services - Provides email forwarding and storage.
➢ Directory services - Provides database sources to access information about
various sources and objects.

TCP / IP PROTOCOL SUITE

▪ The TCP/IP architecture is also called as Internet architecture.
▪ It is developed by the US Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA)
for its packet switched network (ARPANET).
▪ TCP/IP is a protocol suite used in the Internet today.
▪ It is a 4-layer model. The layers of TCP/IP are
1. Application layer
2. Transport Layer (TCP/UDP)
3. Internet Layer
4. Network Interface Layer
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APPLICATION LAYER
▪ An application layer incorporates the function of top three OSI layers. An
application layer is the topmost layer in the TCP/IP model.
▪ It is responsible for handling high-level protocols, issues of representation.
▪ This layer allows the user to interact with the application.
▪ When one application layer protocol wants to communicate with another
application layer, it forwards its data to the transport layer.
▪ Protocols such as FTP, HTTP, SMTP, POP3, etc running in the application layer
provides service to other program running on top of application layer

TRANSPORT LAYER
▪ The transport layer is responsible for the reliability, flow control, and correction
of data which is being sent over the network.
▪ The two protocols used in the transport layer are User Datagram protocol and
Transmission control protocol.
o UDP – UDP provides connectionless service and end-to-end delivery of
transmission. It is an unreliable protocol as it discovers the errors but not
specify the error.
o TCP – TCP provides a full transport layer services to applications. TCP is
a reliable protocol as it detects the error and retransmits the damaged frames.

INTERNET LAYER
▪ The internet layer is the second layer of the TCP/IP model.
▪ An internet layer is also known as the network layer.
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 ▪ The main responsibility of the internet layer is to send the packets from any
network, and they arrive at the destination irrespective of the route they take.
▪ Internet layer handle the transfer of information across multiple networks through
router and gateway .
▪ IP protocol is used in this layer, and it is the most significant part of the entire
TCP/IP suite.

NETWORK INTERFACE LAYER

▪ The network interface layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP model.
▪ This layer is the combination of the Physical layer and Data Link layer defined in

the OSI reference model.

▪ It defines how the data should be sent physically through the network.
▪ This layer is mainly responsible for the transmission of the data between two
devices on the same network.
▪ The functions carried out by this layer are encapsulating the IP datagram into
frames transmitted by the network and mapping of IP addresses into physical
addresses.
▪ The protocols used by this layer are Ethernet, token ring, FDDI, X.25, frame relay.

COMPARISON - OSI MODEL AND TCP/IP MODEL

S.No OSI MODEL TCP/IP MODEL

1 Defined before advent of internet Defined after the advent of Internet.

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 2 Service interface and protocols Service interface and protocols were not
are clearly distinguished before clearly distinguished before

3 Internetworking not supported TCP/IP supports Internet working

4 Strict layering Loosely layered

5 Protocol independent standard Protocol Dependant standard

6 Less Credible More Credible

7 All packets are reliably delivered TCP reliably delivers packets, IP does
not reliably deliver packets

SOCKETS

A socket is one endpoint of a two-way communication link between two programs running on the
network. The socket mechanism provides a means of inter-process communication (IPC) by
establishing named contact points between which the communication take place.

Like ‘Pipe’ is used to create pipes and sockets is created using ‘socket’ system call. The socket
provides bidirectional FIFO Communication facility over the network. A socket connecting to the
network is created at each end of the communication. Each socket has a specific address. This
address is composed of an IP address and a port number.

Socket are generally employed in client server applications. The server creates a socket, attaches it to
a network port address then waits for the client to contact it. The client creates a socket and then
attempts to connect to the server socket. When the connection is established, transfer of data takes
place.

Types of Sockets: There are two types of Sockets: the datagram socket and the stream socket.

1. Datagram Socket: This is a type of network which has connection less point for sending
and receiving packets. It is similar to mailbox. The letters (data) posted into the box are
collected and delivered (transmitted) to a letterbox (receiving socket).
2. Stream Socket: In Computer operating system, a stream socket is type of interprocess
communications socket or network socket which provides a connection-oriented,
sequenced, and unique flow of data without record boundaries with well-defined
mechanisms for creating and destroying connections and for detecting errors. It is similar
to phone. A connection is established between the phones (two ends) and a conversation
(transfer of data) takes place.

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 HTTP (HYPERTEXT TRANSFER PROTOCOL)
• The HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is used to define how the client-
server programs can be written to retrieve web pages from the Web.
• It is a protocol used to access the data on the World Wide Web (WWW).
• The HTTP protocol can be used to transfer the data in the form of plain text,
hypertext, audio, video, and so on.
• HTTP is a stateless request/response protocol that governs client/server
communication.
• An HTTP client sends a request; an HTTP server returns a response.
• The server uses the port number 80; the client uses a temporary port number.
• HTTP uses the services of TCP , a connection-oriented and reliable protocol.
HTTP is a text-oriented protocol. It contains embedded URL known as links.
• When hypertext is clicked, browser opens a new connection, retrieves file from
the server and displays the file.
• Each HTTP message has the general form
START_LINE <CRLF>
MESSAGE_HEADER <CRLF>
<CRLF> MESSAGE_BODY <CRLF>
where <CRLF> stands for carriage-return-line-feed.

Features of HTTP
o Connectionless protocol:
HTTP is a connectionless protocol. HTTP client initiates a request and
waits for a response from the server. When the server receives therequest,
the server processes the request and sends back the response to the HTTP
client after which the client disconnects the connection. The connection
between client and server exist only during the current request and
response time only.

o Media independent:
HTTP protocol is a media independent as data can be sent as long as
both the client and server know how to handle the data content. It is
required for both the client and server to specify the content type in
MIME-type header.

o Stateless:
HTTP is a stateless protocol as both the client and server know each other
only during the current request. Due to this nature of the protocol, both
the client and server do not retain the information between various
requests of the web pages.

HTTP REQUEST AND RESPONSE MESSAGES

• The HTTP protocol defines the format of the request and response messages.

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 • Request Message: The request message is sent by the client that consists of a
request line, headers, and sometimes a body.
• Response Message: The response message is sent by the server to the client
that consists of a status line, headers, and sometimes a body.

HTTP REQUEST MESSAGE

• The first line in a request message is called a request line.

• After the request line, we can have zero or more request header lines.
• The body is an optional one. It contains the comment to be sent or the file to be
published on the website when the method is PUT or POST.

Request Line
• There are three fields in this request line - Method, URL and Version.
• The Method field defines the request types.
• The URL field defines the address and name of the corresponding web page.
• The Version field gives the version of the protocol; the most current version of
HTTP is 1.1.
• Some of the Method types are

Request Header
• Each request header line sends additional information from the client to the
server.
• Each header line has a header name, a colon, a space, and a header value.
• The value field defines the values associated with each header name.
• Headers defined for request message include

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Body
• The body can be present in a request message. It is optional.
• Usually, it contains the comment to be sent or the file to be published on the
website when the method is PUT or POST.

Conditional Request
• A client can add a condition in its request.
• In this case, the server will send the requested web page if the condition is met
or inform the client otherwise.
• One of the most common conditions imposed by the client is the time and date
the web page is modified.
• The client can send the header line If-Modified-Since with the request to tell the
server that it needs the page only if it is modified after a certain point in time.

HTTP RESPONSE MESSAGE

• The first line in a request message is called a status line.

• After the request line, we can have zero or more response header lines.
• The body is an optional one. The body is present unless the response is an error
message

Status Line
• The Status line contains three fields - HTTP version , Status code, Status
phrase
• The first field defines the version of HTTP protocol, currently 1.1.
• The status code field defines the status of the request. It classifies the HTTP
result. It consists of three digits.
1xx–Informational, 2xx– Success, 3xx–Redirection,
4xx–Client error, 5xx–Server error
• The Status phrase field gives brief description about status code in text form.
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 • Some of the Status codes are

Response Header
• Each header provides additional information to the client.
• Each header line has a header name, a colon, a space, and a header value.
• Some of the response headers are:

Body
• The body contains the document to be sent from the server to the client.
• The body is present unless the response is an error message.

HTTP CONNECTIONS
• HTTP Clients and Servers exchange multiple messages over the same TCP
connection.
• If some of the objects are located on the same server, we have two choices: to
retrieve each object using a new TCP connection or to make a TCP connection
and retrieve them all.
• The first method is referred to as a non-persistent connection, the second as a
persistent connection.
• HTTP 1.0 uses non-persistent connections and HTTP 1.1 uses persistent
connections .

NON-PERSISTENT CONNECTIONS

• In a non-persistent connection, one TCP

connection is made for each
request/response.
• Only one object can be sent over a single
TCP connection
• The client opens a TCP connection and
sends a request.
• The server sends the response and closes

21
 the connection.
• The client reads the data until it
encounters an end-of-file marker.
• It then closes the connection.

PERSISTENT CONNECTIONS

• HTTP version 1.1 specifies a persistent connection

by default.
• Multiple objects can be sent over a single TCP
connection.
• In 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 if a time-out has been reached.
• Time and resources are saved using persistent
connections. Only one set of buffers and variables
needs to be set for the connection at each site.
• The round trip time for connection establishmentand
connection termination is saved.

FTP (FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL)

➢ FTP stands for File transfer protocol.
➢ FTP is a standard internet protocol provided by TCP/IP used for
transmitting the files from one host to another.
➢ It is mainly used for transferring the web page files from their creator to the
computer that acts as a server for other computers on the internet.
➢ It is also used for downloading the files to computer from other servers.
➢ Although we can transfer files using HTTP, FTP is a better choice to
transfer large files or to transfer files using different formats.

FTP OBJECTIVES
➢ It provides the sharing of files.
➢ It is used to encourage the use of remote computers.
➢ It transfers the data more reliably and efficiently.

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FTP MECHANISM

➢ The above figure shows the basic model of the FTP.

➢ The FTP client has three components:
o user interface, control process, and data transfer process.
➢ The server has two components:
o server control process and server data transfer process.

FTP CONNECTIONS
➢ There are two types of connections in FTP -
Control Connection and Data Connection.
➢ The two connections in FTP have different lifetimes.
➢ The control connection remains connected during the entire interactive FTP
session.
➢ The data connection is opened and then closed for each file transfer activity.
When a user starts an FTP session, the control connection opens.
➢ While the control connection is open, the data connection can be opened and
closed multiple times if several files are transferred.
➢ FTP uses two well-known TCP ports:
o Port 21 is used for the control connection
o Port 20 is used for the data connection.

➢ Control Connection:
o The control connection uses very simple rules for communication.
o Through control connection, we can transfer a line of command or line
of response at a time.
o The control connection is made between the control processes.
o The control connection remains connected during the entire interactive
FTP session.

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 ➢ Data Connection:
o The Data Connection uses very complex rules as data types may vary.
o The data connection is made between data transfer processes.
o The data connection opens when a command comes for transferring the
files and closes when the file is transferred.

FTP COMMUNICATION
➢ FTP Communication is achieved through commands and responses.
➢ FTP Commands are sent from the client to the server
➢ FTP responses are sent from the server to the client.
➢ FTP Commands are in the form of ASCII uppercase, which may or may not be
followed by an argument.
➢ Some of the most common commands are

➢ Every FTP command generates at least one response.

➢ A response has two parts: a three-digit number followed by text.
➢ The numeric part defines the code; the text part defines needed parameter.

FTP FILE TYPE

➢ FTP can transfer one of the following file types across the data connection:
24
 ASCII file, EBCDIC file, or image file.

FTP DATA STRUCTURE

➢ FTP can transfer a file across the data connection using one of the following data
structure : file structure, record structure, or page structure.
➢ The file structure format is the default one and has no structure. It is acontinuous
stream of bytes.
➢ In the record structure, the file is divided into records. This can be used only
with text files.
➢ In the page structure, the file is divided into pages, with each page having a page
number and a page header. The pages can be stored and accessed randomly or
sequentially.

FTP TRANSMISSION MODE

➢ FTP can transfer a file across the data connection using one of the following
three transmission modes: stream mode, block mode, or compressed mode.
➢ The stream mode is the default mode; data are delivered from FTP to TCP as a
continuous stream of bytes.
➢ In the block mode, data can be delivered from FTP to TCP in blocks.
➢ In the compressed mode, data can be compressed and delivered from FTP to
TCP.

FTP FILE TRANSFER

➢ File transfer occurs over the data connection under the control of the
commands sent over the control connection.
➢ File transfer in FTP means one of three things:
o retrieving a file (server to client)
o storing a file (client to server)
o directory listing (server to client).

FTP SECURITY
➢ FTP requires a password, the password is sent in plaintext which is
unencrypted. This means it can be intercepted and used by an attacker.
➢ The data transfer connection also transfers data in plaintext, which is insecure.
➢ To be secure, one can add a Secure Socket Layer between the FTP application
layer and the TCP layer.
➢ In this case FTP is called SSL-FTP.

EMAIL (SMTP, MIME, IMAP, POP3)

➢ One of the most popular Internet services is electronic mail (E-mail).
➢ Email is one of the oldest network applications.
➢ The three main components of an Email are
1. User Agent (UA)
2. Messsage Transfer Agent (MTA) – SMTP
3. Messsage Access Agent (MAA) - IMAP , POP

25
 ➢ When the sender and the receiver of an e-mail are on the same system, we need
only two User Agents and no Message Transfer Agent
➢ When the sender and the receiver of an e-mail are on different system, we need
two UA, two pairs of MTA (client and server), and two MAA (client and server).

WORKING OF EMAIL

➢ When Alice needs to send a message to Bob, she runs a UA program to prepare
the message and send it to her mail server.
➢ The mail server at her site uses a queue (spool) to store messages waiting to be
sent. The message, however, needs to be sent through the Internet from Alice’s
site to Bob’s site using an MTA.
➢ Here two message transfer agents are needed: one client and one server.
➢ The server needs to run all the time because it does not know when a client will
ask for a connection.
➢ The client can be triggered by the system when there is a message in the queue
to be sent.
➢ The user agent at the Bob site allows Bob to read the received message.
Bob later uses an MAA client to retrieve the message from an MAA server
running on the second server.

USER AGENT (UA)

➢ The first component of an electronic mail system is the user agent (UA).
26
 ➢ It provides service to the user to make the process of sending and receiving a
message easier.
➢ A user agent is a software package that composes, reads, replies to, and
forwards messages. It also handles local mailboxes on the user computers.

➢ There are two types of user agents: Command-driven and GUI-based.

Command driven
o Command driven user agents belong to the early days of electronic mail.
o A command-driven user agent normally accepts a one-character command
fromthe keyboard to perform its task.
o Some examples of command driven user agents are mail, pine, and elm.

GUI-based
o Modern user agents are GUI-based.
o They allow the user to interact with the software by using both the keyboard
and the mouse.
o They have graphical components such as icons, menu bars, and windows that
make the services easy to access.
o Some examples of GUI-based user agents are Eudora and Outlook.

MESSAGE TRANSFER AGENT (MTA)

➢ The actual mail transfer is done through message transfer agents (MTA).
➢ To send mail, a system must have the client MTA, and to receive mail, a
system must have a server MTA.
➢ The formal protocol that defines the MTA client and server in the Internet is
called Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP).

MESSAGE ACCESS AGENT (MAA)

➢ MAA is a software that pulls messages out of a mailbox.
POP3 and IMAP4 are examples of MAA.

ADDRESS FORMAT OF EMAIL

➢ E-mail address is userid @ domain where domain is hostname of the mail
server.

27
MESSAGE FORMAT OF EMAIL
➢ Email message consists of two parts namely header and body.
➢ Each header line contains type and value separated by a colon (:).
➢ Some header contents are:
o From: identifier sender of the message.
o To: mail address of the recipient(s).
o Subject: says about purpose of the message.
o Date: timestamp of when the message was transmitted.
➢ Header is separated from the body by a blank line.
➢ Body contains the actual message.

➢ Email was extended in 1993 to carry many different types of data: audio,
video, images, Word documents, and so on.
➢ This extended version is known as MIME(Multipurpose Mail Extension).

SIMPLE MAIL TRANSFER PROTOCOL (SMTP)

➢ SMTP is the standard protocol for transferring mail between hosts in the
TCP/IP protocol suite.
➢ SMTP is not concerned with the format or content of messages themselves.
➢ SMTP uses information written on the envelope of the mail (message header),
but does not look at the contents (message body) of the envelope.

28
 ➢ SMTP clients and servers have two main components
o User Agents(UA) – Prepares the message, encloses it in an envelope.
o Mail Transfer Agent (MTA) – Transfers the mail across the internet

➢ SMTP also allows the use of Relays allowing other MTAs to relay the mail.

SMTP MAIL FLOW

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 ➢ To begin, mail is created by a user-agent program in response to user input.
➢ Each created message consists of a header that includes the recipient's email
address and other information, and a message body containing the message to be
sent.
➢ These messages are then queued in some fashion and provided as input to an
SMTP Sender program.

SMTP COMMANDS AND RESPONSES

➢ The operation of SMTP consists of a series of commands and responses
exchanged between the SMTP sender and SMTP receiver.
➢ The initiative is with the SMTP sender, who establishes the TCP connection.
➢ Once the connection is established, the SMTP sender sends commands over the
connection to the receiver.
➢ The command is from an MTA client to an MTA server; the response is from
an MTA server to the MTA client.

SMTP Commands
Commands are sent from the client to the server. It consists of a keyword
followed by zero or more arguments. SMTP defines 14 commands.

SMTP Responses
Responses are sent from the server to the client.

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A response is a three digit code that may be followed by additional textualinformation.

SMTP OPERATIONS
Basic SMTP operation occurs in three phases:
1. Connection Setup
2. Mail Transfer
3. Connection Termination

Connection Setup
➢ An SMTP sender will attempt to set up a TCP connection with a target host
when it has one or more mail messages to deliver to that host.
➢ The sequence is quite simple:
1. The sender opens a TCP connection with the receiver.
2. Once the connection is established, the receiver identifies itself with
"Service Ready”.
3. The sender identifies itself with the HELO command.
4. The receiver accepts the sender's identification with "OK".
5. If the mail service on the destination is unavailable, the destination host
returns a "Service Not Available" reply in step 2, and the process is
terminated.

31
Mail Transfer
➢ Once a connection has been established, the SMTP sender may send one or
more messages to the SMTP receiver.
➢ There are three logical phases to the transfer of a message:
1. A MAIL command identifies the originator of the message.
2. One or more RCPT commands identify the recipients for this
message.
3. A DATA command transfers the message text.

Connection Termination
➢ The SMTP sender closes the connection in two steps.
➢ First, the sender sends a QUIT command and waits for a reply.
➢ The second step is to initiate a TCP close operation for the TCP connection.
➢ The receiver initiates its TCP close after sending its reply to the QUIT
command.

LIMITATIONS OF SMTP
➢ SMTP cannot transmit executable files or other binary objects.
➢ SMTP cannot transmit text data that includes national language characters, as
these are represented by 8-bit codes with values of 128 decimal or higher, and
SMTP is limited to 7-bit ASCII.
➢ SMTP servers may reject mail message over a certain size.
➢ SMTP gateways that translate between ASCII and the character code EBCDIC
do not use a consistent set of mappings, resulting in translation problems.

32
 ➢ Some SMTP implementations do not adhere completely to the SMTP standards
defined.
➢ Common problems include the following:
1. Deletion, addition, or recording of carriage return and linefeed.
2. Truncating or wrapping lines longer than 76 characters.
3. Removal of trailing white space (tab and space characters).
4. Padding of lines in a message to the same length.
Conversion of tab characters into multiple-space characters

MULTIPURPOSE INTERNET MAIL EXTENSION (MIME)

➢ SMTP provides a basic email service, while MIME adds multimedia capability to
SMTP.
➢ MIME is an extension to SMTP and is used to overcome the problems and limitations
of SMTP.
➢ Email system was designed to send messages only in ASCII format.
• Languages such as French, Chinese, etc., are not supported.
• Image, audio and video files cannot be sent.
➢ MIME adds the following features to email service:

•Be able to send multiple attachments with a single message;

•Unlimited message length;
•Use of character sets other than ASCII code;
•Use of rich text (layouts, fonts, colors, etc)
•Binary attachments (executables, images, audio or video files, etc.), which
may be divided if needed.
➢ MIME is a protocol that converts non-ASCII data to 7-bit NVT(Network
Virtual Terminal) ASCII and vice-versa.

MIME HEADERS
➢ Using headers, MIME describes the type of message content and the encoding
used.
➢ Headers defined in MIME are:
• MIME-Version- current version, i.e., 1.1
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 • Content-Type - message type (text/html, image/jpeg, application/pdf)
• Content-Transfer-Encoding - message encoding scheme (eg base64).
• Content-Id - unique identifier for the message.
• Content-Description - describes type of the message body.

MIME CONTENT TYPES

➢ There are seven different major types of content and a total of 14 subtypes.
➢ In general, a content type declares the general type of data, and the subtype
specifies a particular format for that type of data.
➢ MIME also defines a multipart type that says how a message carrying more
than one data type is structured.
➢ This is like a programming language that defines both base types (e.g., integers
and floats) and compound types (e.g., structures and arrays).
➢ One possible multipart subtype is mixed, which says that the message contains
a set of independent data pieces in a specified order.
➢ Each piece then has its own header line that describes the type of that piece.
➢ The table below lists the MIME content types:

ENCODING FORMATS OF MIME

➢ MIME uses various encoding formats to convert binary data into the ASCII
34
 character set.
➢ To transfer binary data, MIME offers five encoding formats which can be used
in the header transfer-encoding:
• 7-bit : 7-bit text format (for messages without accented characters);
• 8-bit : 8-bit text format;
• quoted-printable : Quoted-Printable format, recommended for messages
which use a 7-bit alphabet (such as when there are accent marks);
• base-64 : Base 64, for sending binary files as attachments;
• binary : binary format; not recommended.
➢ Since MIME is very open, it can use third-party encoding formats such as:
• BinHex : A proprietary format belonging to Apple
• Uuencode : for UNIX-to-UNIX encoding
• Xencode : for binary-to-text encoding

MESSAGE TRANSFER IN MIME

➢ MTA is a mail daemon (sendmail) active on hosts having mailbox, used to send
an email.
➢ Mail passes through a sequence of gateways before it reaches the recipient mail
server.
➢ Each gateway stores and forwards the mail using Simple mail transfer protocol
(SMTP).
➢ SMTP defines communication between MTAs over TCP on port 25.
➢ In an SMTP session, sending MTA is client and receiver is server. In each
exchange:
➢ Client posts a command (HELO, MAIL, RCPT, DATA, QUIT, VRFY, etc.)
➢ Server responds with a code (250, 550, 354, 221, 251 etc) and an explanation.
➢ Client is identified using HELO command and verified by the server
➢ Client forwards message to server, if server is willing to accept.
➢ Message is terminated by a line with only single period (.) in it.
➢ Eventually client terminates the connection.

IMAP (INTERNET MAIL ACCESS PROTOCOL)

➢ IMAP is an Application Layer Internet protocol that allows an e-mail client to
access e-mail on a remote mail server.
➢ It is a method of accessing electronic mail messages that are kept on a possibly
shared mail server.
➢ IMAP is a more capable wire protocol.
➢ IMAP is similar to SMTP in many ways.
35
 ➢ IMAP is a client/server protocol running over TCP on port 143.
➢ IMAP allows multiple clients simultaneously connected to the same mailbox,
and through flags stored on the server, different clients accessing the same
mailbox at the same or different times can detect state changes made by other
clients.
➢ In other words, it permits a "client" email program to access remote message
stores as if they were local.
➢ For example, email stored on an IMAP server can be manipulated from a desktop
computer at home, a workstation at the office, and a notebook computer while
travelling, without the need to transfer messages or files back and forth between
these computers.
➢ IMAP can support email serving in three modes:

▪ Offline
▪ Online
Users may connect to the server, look at what email is available,
and access it online. This looks to the user very much like having
local spool files, but they’re on the mail server.
▪ Disconnected operation
A mail client connects to the server, can make a “cache” copy of
selected messages, and disconnects from the server. The user can
then work on the messages offline, and connect to the server later
and resynchronize the server status with the cache.

OPERATION OF IMAP
➢ The mail transfer begins with the client authenticating the user and identifying
the mailbox they want to access.
➢ Client Commands
LOGIN, AUTHENTICATE, SELECT, EXAMINE, CLOSE, and LOGOUT
➢ Server Responses
OK, NO (no permission), BAD (incorrect command),
➢ When user wishes to FETCH a message, server responds in MIME format.
➢ Message attributes such as size are also exchanged.
36
 ➢ Flags are used by client to report user actions.
SEEN, ANSWERED, DELETED, RECENT

IMAP4
➢ The latest version is IMAP4. IMAP4 is more powerful and more complex.
➢ IMAP4 provides the following extra functions:
• A user can check the e-mail header prior to downloading.
• A user can search the contents of the e-mail for a specific string of
characters prior to downloading.
• A user can partially download e-mail. This is especially useful if bandwidth
is limited and the e-mail contains multimedia with high bandwidth
requirements.
• A user can create, delete, or rename mailboxes on the mail server.
• A user can create a hierarchy of mailboxes in a folder for e-mail storage.

ADVANTAGES OF IMAP
➢ With IMAP, the primary storage is on the server, not on the local machine.
37
➢ Email being put away for storage can be foldered on local disk, or can be
foldered on the IMAP server.
➢ The protocol allows full user of remote folders, including a remote folder
hierarchy and multiple inboxes.
➢ It keeps track of explicit status of messages, and allows for user-defined status.
➢ Supports new mail notification explicitly.
➢ Extensible for non-email data, like netnews, document storage, etc.
➢ Selective fetching of individual MIME body parts.
➢ Server-based search to minimize data transfer.
➢ Servers may have extensions that can be negotiated.

POST OFFICE PROTOCOL (POP3)

➢ Post Office Protocol (POP3) is an application-layer Internet standard protocol

used by local e-mail clients to retrieve e-mail from a remote server over a TCP/IP
connection.
➢ There are two versions of POP.
• The first, called POP2, became a standard in the mid-80's and requires
SMTP to send messages.
• The current version, POP3, can be used with or without SMTP. POP3
uses TCP/IP port 110.
➢ POP is a much simpler protocol, making implementation easier.
➢ POP supports offline access to the messages, thus requires less internet usage
time
➢ POP does not allow search facility.
➢ In order to access the messages, it is necessary to download them.
➢ It allows only one mailbox to be created on server.
➢ It is not suitable for accessing non mail data.
➢ POP mail moves the message from the email server onto the local computer,
although there is usually an option to leave the messages on the email server as
well.
➢ POP treats the mailbox as one store, and has no concept of folders.
➢ POP works in two modes namely, delete and keep mode.
• In delete mode, mail is deleted from the mailbox after retrieval. The delete
mode is normally used when the user is working at their permanent computer
and can save and organize the received mail after reading or replying.
• In keep mode, mail after reading is kept in mailbox for later retrieval. The
keep mode is normally used when the user accesses her mail away from their
primary computer.

38
➢ POP3 client is installed on the recipient computer and POP server on the mail
server.
➢ Client opens a connection to the server using TCP on port 110.
➢ Client sends username and password to access mailbox and to retrieve
messages.

39
POP3 Commands
POP commands are generally abbreviated into codes of three or four letters
The following describes some of the POP commands:
1. UID - This command opens the connection
2. STAT - It is used to display number of messages currently in the mailbox
3. LIST - It is used to get the summary of messages
4. RETR -This command helps to select a mailbox to access the messages
5. DELE - It is used to delete a message
6. RSET - It is used to reset the session to its initial state
7. QUIT - It is used to log off the session

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN POP AND IMAP

SNo. POP IMAP

1 Generally used to support single Designed to handle multiple clients.

client.
2 Messages are accessed offline. Messages are accessed online
although it also supports offline mode.
3 POP does not allow search facility. IMAP offers ability to search emails.
4 All the messages have to be It allows selective transfer of messages to
downloaded. the client.
5 Only one mailbox can be created on Multiple mailboxes can be created on the
the server. server.
6 Not suitable for accessing non-mail Suitable for accessing non-mail data i.e.
data. attachment.

7 POP commands are generally IMAP commands are not abbreviated,

abbreviated into codes of three or four they are full. Eg. STATUS.
letters. Eg. STAT.
8 It requires minimum use of server Clients are totally dependent on server.
resources.
9 Mails once downloaded cannot be Allows mails to be accessed from
accessed from some other location. multiple locations.
10 The e-mails are not downloaded Users can view the headings and sender
automatically. of e-mails and then decide to download.
11 POP requires less internet usage time. IMAP requires more internet usage time.

Advantages of IMAP over POP

➢ IMAP is more powerful and more complex than POP.
➢ User can check the e-mail header prior to downloading.
➢ User can search e-mail for a specific string of characters prior to downloading.
➢ User can download partially, very useful in case of limited bandwidth.
User can create, delete, or rename mailboxes on the mail server.

40
 DOMAIN NAME SYSTEM(DNS)

➢ Domain Name System was designed in 1984.

➢ DNS is used for name-to-address mapping.
➢ The DNS provides the protocol which allows clients and servers tocommunicate
with each other.
➢ Eg: Host name like www.yahoo.com is translated into numerical IP addresses
like 207.174.77.131
➢ Domain Name System (DNS) is a distributed database used by TCP/IP
applications to map between hostnames and IP addresses and to provide
electronic mail routing information.
➢ Each site maintains its own database of information and runs a server program
that other systems across the Internet can query.
WORKING OF DNS

The following six steps shows the working of a DNS. It maps the host name to an IP
address:
1. The user passes the host name to the file transfer client.
2. The file transfer client passes the host name to the DNS client.
3. Each computer, after being booted, knows the address of one DNS server. The
DNS client sends a message to a DNS server with a query that gives the file
transfer server name using the known IP address of the DNS server.
4. The DNS server responds with the IP address of the desired file transfer server.
5. The DNS server passes the IP address to the file transfer client.
6. The file transfer client now uses the received IP address to access the file transfer
server.

NAME SPACE
➢ To be unambiguous, the names assigned to machines must be carefully selected
from a name space with complete control over the binding between the names
and IP address.
➢ The names must be unique because the addresses are unique.
➢ A name space that maps each address to a unique name can be organized in
two ways: flat (or) hierarchical.

41
Flat Name Space
• In a flat name space, a name is assigned to an address.
• A name in this space is a sequence of characters without structure.
• The main disadvantage of a flat name space is that it cannot be used in a
large system such as Internet because it must be centrally controlled to
avoid ambiguity and duplication.

Hierarchical Name Space

• In a hierarchical name space, each name is made of several parts.
• The first part can define the organization, the second part can define the name,
the third part can define departments, and so on.
• In this case, the authority to assign and control the name spaces can be
decentralized.
• A central authority can assign the part of the name that defines the nature of the
organization and the name.
• The responsibility for the rest of the name can be given to the organization
itself. Suffixes can be added to the name to define host or resources.
• The management of the organization need not worry that the prefix chosen for
a host is taken by another organization because even if part of an address is the
same, the whole address is different.
• The names are unique without the need to be assigned by a central authority.
• The central authority controls only part of the name, not the whole name.

DOMAIN NAME SPACE

➢ To have a hierarchical name space, a domain name space was designed. In this
design, the names are defined in an inverted-tree structure with the root at the
top.
➢ Each node in the tree has a label, which is a string with a maximum of 63
characters.
➢ The root label is a null string.
➢ DNS requires that children of a node have different labels, which guarantees
the uniqueness of the domain names.

➢ Each node in the tree has a label, which is a string with a maximum of 63
characters.
➢ The root label is a null string (empty string). DNS requires that children of a node
(nodes that branch from the same node) have different labels, which guarantees
42
 the uniqueness of the domain names.

Domain Name
• Each node in the tree has a label called as domain name.
• A full domain name is a sequence of labels separated by dots (.)
• The domain names are always read from the node up to the root.
• The last label is the label of the root (null).
• This means that a full domain name always ends in a null label, which
means the last character is a dot because the null string is nothing.
• If a label is terminated by a null string, it is called a fully qualified domain
name (FQDN).
• If a label is not terminated by a null string, it is called a partially qualified
domain name (PQDN).

Domain
• A domain is a subtree of the domain name space.
• The name of the domain is the domain name of the node at the top of the sub-
tree.
• A domain may itself be divided into domains.

43
DISTRIBUTION OF NAME SPACE
➢ The information contained in the domain name space must be stored.
➢ But it is very inefficient and also not reliable to have just one computer store
such a huge amount of information.
➢ It is inefficient because responding to requests from all over the world, places a
heavy load on the system.
➢ It is not reliable because any failure makes the data inaccessible.
➢ The solution to these problems is to distribute the information among many
computers called DNS servers.

HIERARCHY OF NAME SERVERS

➢ The way to distribute information among DNS servers is to divide the whole
space into many domains based on the first level.
➢ Let the root stand-alone and create as many domains as there are first level
nodes.
➢ Because a domain created this way could be very large,
➢ DNS allows domains to be divided further into smaller domains.
➢ Thus, we have a hierarchy of servers in the same way that we have a
hierarchyof names.

44
ZONE
➢ What a server is responsible for, or has authority over, is called a zone.
➢ The server makes a database called a zone file and keeps all the information for
every node under that domain.
➢ If a server accepts responsibility for a domain and does not divide the domains
into smaller domains, the domain and zone refer to the same thing.
➢ But if a server divides its domain into sub domains and delegates parts of its
authority to other servers, domain and zone refer to different things.
➢ The information about the nodes in the sub domains is stored in the servers at the
lower levels, with the original server keeping some sort of references to these
lower-level servers.
➢ But still, the original server does not free itself from responsibility totally.
➢ It still has a zone, but the detailed information is kept by the lower level
servers.

ROOT SERVER
➢ A root sever 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 references to those servers.
➢ Currently there are more than 13 root servers, each covering the whole domain
name space.
➢ The servers are distributed all around the world.

PRIMARY AND SECONDARY SERVERS

➢ DNS defines two types of servers: primary and secondary.
➢ A Primary Server is a server that stores a file about the zone for which it is an
authority.
• Primary Servers are responsible for creating, maintaining, and updating
the zone file.
• Primary Server stores the zone file on a local disc.
➢ A secondary server is a server that transfers the complete information about a
zone from another server (Primary or Secondary) and stores the file on its local
disc.
➢ If updating is required, it must be done by the primary server, which sends the
updated version to the secondary.

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 ➢ A primary server loads all information from the disk file; the secondary server
loads all information from the primary server.

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, and Inverse domain.

Generic Domains
➢ The generic domains define 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.
➢ The first level in the generic domains section allows seven possible three
character levels.
➢ These levels describe the organization types as listed in following table.

Country Domains
➢ The country domains section follows the same format as the generic domains
but uses two characters for country abbreviations
➢ E.g.; in for India, us for United States etc) in place of the three character
organizational abbreviation at the first level.
➢ Second level labels can be organizational, or they can be more specific,
national designation.
➢ India for example, uses state abbreviations as a subdivision of the country
domain us. (e.g., ca.in.)

Inverse Domains
➢ Mapping an address to a name is called Inverse domain.

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 ➢ The client can send an IP address to a server to be mapped to a
domain name and it is called PTR(Pointer) query.
To answer queries of this kind, DNS uses the inverse domain.

SNMP (SIMPLE NETWORK MANAGEMENT PROTOCOL)

➢ The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a
framework formanaging devices in an internet using the TCP/IP
protocol suite.
➢ SNMP is an application layer protocol that monitors and
manages routers,distributed over a network.
➢ It provides a set of operations for monitoring and managing the internet.
➢ SNMP uses services of UDP on two well-known ports: 161
(Agent) and 162(manager).
➢ SNMP uses the concept of manager and agent.

SNMP MANAGER
• A manager is a host that runs the SNMP client program
• The manager has access to the values in the database kept by the agent.
• A manager checks the agent by requesting the information
that reflects thebehavior of the agent.
• A manager also forces the agent to perform a certain function
by resettingvalues in the agent database.
• For example, a router can store in appropriate variables the
number of packetsreceived and forwarded.
• The manager can fetch and compare the values of these two
variables to see ifthe router is congested or not.

SNMP AGENT
• The agent is a router that runs the SNMP server program.

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 • The agent is used to keep the information in a database while the
manager is used to access the values in the database.
• For example, a router can store the appropriate variables such as a
number of packets received and forwarded while the manager can
compare these variables to determine whether the router is
congested or not.
• Agents can also contribute to the management process.
• A server program on the agent checks the environment, if
something goes wrong, the agent sends a warning message to the
manager.

SNMP MANAGEMENT COMPONENTS

• Management of the internet is achieved through simple interaction
between a manager and agent.
• Management is achieved through the use of two protocols:

o Structure of Management Information (SMI)

o Management Information Base (MIB).

Structure of Management Information (SMI)

• To use SNMP, we need rules for naming objects.
• SMI is a protocol that defines these rules.
• SMI is a guideline for SNMP
• It emphasizes three attributes to handle an object: name, data
type, andencoding method.
• Its functions are:
❖ To name objects.
❖ To define the type of data that can be stored in an object.
❖ To show how to encode data for transmission over the network.

Management Information Base (MIB)

The Management Information Base (MIB) is the second component used in
networkmanagement.
• Each agent has its own MIB, which is a collection of objects to be
managed.
• MIB classifies objects under groups.

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MIB Variables
MIB variables are of two types namely simple and table.
• Simple variables are accessed using group-id followed by variable-id and 0
• Tables are ordered as column-row rules, i.e., column by
column from top tobottom. Only leaf elements are accessible in a
table type.

SNMP MESSAGES/PDU
SNMP is request/reply protocol that supports various operations
using PDUs.SNMP defines eight types of protocol data units
(or PDUs):
GetRequest, GetNext-Request, GetBulkRequest, SetRequest,
Response, Trap,InformRequest, and
Report

GetRequest
▪ The GetRequest PDU is sent from the manager (client) to the
agent (server) toretrieve the value of a variable or a set of
variables.

GetNextRequest
▪ The GetNextRequest PDU is sent from the manager to the agent
to retrieve thevalue of a variable.

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GetBulkRequest
▪ The GetBulkRequest PDU is sent from the manager to the agent to
retrieve a large amount of data. It can be used instead of multiple
GetRequest and GetNextRequest PDUs.

SetRequest
▪ The SetRequest PDU is sent from the manager to the agent to
set (store) avalue in a variable.

Response
▪ The Response PDU is sent from an agent to a manager in response
to GetRequest or GetNextRequest. It contains the value(s) of the
variable(s) requested by the manager.

Trap
▪ The Trap PDU is sent from the agent to the manager to report an
event. For example, if the agent is rebooted, it informs the manager
and reports the time ofrebooting.

InformRequest
▪ The InformRequest PDU is sent from one manager to another
remote manager to get the value of some variables from agents
under the control of the remote manager. The remote manager
responds with a Response PDU.

Report
▪ The Report PDU is designed to report some types of errors between
managers.

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