Module-2

Internetworking Concept
and Architecture Model
 Application Level Interconnection
• Heterogeneous systems relies on application gateways.

• Application gateways hide the underlying differences and provide the

appearance of uniformity.

• For example, each vendor designed their own email system. The vendor chose
a format for storing email, conventions for identifying a recipient, and a
method for transferring an email message from the sender to the recipient.

• When a connection between email systems was needed, an application

gateway was used. The gateway software runs on a computer that connects to
both email systems
Application Level Interconnection
 Application Level Interconnection
• The application gateway must understand the details of the network connections and the
message protocols as well as the format of email messages used on the two email systems.

• When user 1 sends an email message to user 2, user 1’s email is configured to send the
message to the application gateway. The application gateway must translate the message and
the email address to the form used by email system 2, and then forward the message to user 2.

• Using application programs to hide network details may seem quite reasonable. Because
everything can be handled by an application, no special hardware is needed.

• Furthermore, the original email systems on the users’ computers remain unchanged. In fact,
neither the users nor the email software on the users’ computers can tell that the other user has
a different email system.
 Limitations of Application Level Interconnection
• Unfortunately, the application gateway approach is both cumbersome and limited.

• An application gateway can only handle one specific application. For example, even
if an email gateway is in place, the gateway cannot be used to transfer files, connect
chat sessions, or forward text messages.

• Differences in functionality prevent interoperation. For example, if email system 1

permits a sender to attach a file to a message, but email system 2 does not, an
application gateway will not be able to transfer messages that include files.

• The frequency of upgrades. Whenever either vendor changes their email software,
the gateway must be updated to handle the change. Thus, application gateways must
be updated frequently.
 Limitations of Application Level Interconnection

• Users who are experienced with networking understand that once the size grows sufficient for a

world-wide communication system and multiple vendors each create their own application

software, it will be impossible to maintain a set of application gateways that interconnect all

networks.

• Step-at-a-time communication paradigm in which a message is sent to the first application

gateway which translates and sends it to the second, and so on.

• Successful communication requires correct operation of all application gateways along the

path. If any of them fail to perform the translation correctly, the message will not be delivered.

• Furthermore, the source and destination may remain unable to detect or control the problem.
 Network-Level Interconnection
• The alternative to using application-level gateways is a system based on network
level interconnection.

• A system that transfers packets from their original source to their ultimate destination
without using intermediate application programs.

• Switching packets instead of files or large messages has several advantages.

• The Scheme maps directly onto the underlying network hardware.

• Permits intermediate computers to handle network traffic without understanding the

applications that are sending or receiving messages.
 Network-Level Interconnection

• Keeps the entire system flexible, making it possible to build general purpose communication

facilities that are not limited to specific uses.

• The scheme allows network managers to add or change network technologies while

application programs remain unchanged

• The key to designing universal network-level interconnection can be found in an abstract communication

system concept known as internetworking.

• It detaches the notions of communication from the details of network technologies and hides low-level

details from users and applications.

• It drives all software design decisions and explains how to handle physical addresses and routes.
 Network-Level Interconnection
• Two fundamental observations about the design of communication systems:

No single network hardware technology can satisfy all constraints.

• It is economic as well as technical.

• Inexpensive LAN technologies that provide high-speed communication only

cover short distances. Wide area networks that span long distances cannot supply

local communication cheaply.

• It is possible to achieve any two of high speed, long distance, and low cost.
 Network-Level Interconnection
Users desire universal interconnection.

• It is self-evident. An arbitrary user would like to be able to

communicate with an arbitrary endpoint, either another user or a

computer system.

• As a consequence, the communication system that is not constrained

by the boundaries of physical networks.

 Goals of Network-Level Interconnection
• The goal is to build a unified, cooperative interconnection of networks that
supports a universal communication service.

• New software, inserted between the technology-dependent communication

mechanisms and application programs, will hide all low-level details and
make the collection of networks appear to be a single, large network.

• Such an interconnection scheme is called an internetwork or an internet.

• The idea of building an internet follows a standard pattern of system design

 Properties Of The Internet
• One of the first principles in design focuses on encapsulation:

• Hiding the underlying internet architecture from users, and permit

communication without requiring knowledge of the internet’s structure.

• The users need not to

• Understand the details of underlying networks or hardware

interconnections to use the internet.

• A network interconnection topology.

 Properties Of The Internet
• Adding a new network to the internet should not mean connecting to a
centralized switching point, nor should it mean adding direct
physical connections between the new network and all existing
networks.

• Able to send data across intermediate networks even though they are
not directly connected to the source or destination computers.

• All computers in the internet to share a universal set of machine

identifiers
 Properties Of The Internet
• Notion of a unified internet also includes the idea of network and computer
independence.

• The set of operations used to establish communication or to transfer data to remain

independent of the underlying network technologies and the destination computer.

• A user should not need to know about networks or remote computers when invoking an
application.

• A programmer should not have to understand the network interconnection topology or the
type of a remote computer when creating applications that communicate over our internet.
 Internet Architecture
• Physically, two networks cannot be plugged together directly.

• Instead, they can only be connected by a computer system that has the hardware needed to
connect to each network.

• A physical attachment does not provide the interconnection however, because such a
connection does not guarantee that a computer will cooperate with other machines that wish to
communicate.

• To have a viable internet, special computers need to transfer packets from one network to
another.

• Computers that interconnect two networks and pass packets from one to the other are called
internet routers or IP routers.
 Internet Architecture

In the figure, router R connects to both network 1 and network 2.

• For R to act as a router, it must capture packets on network 1 that are bound for
machines on network 2 and transfer them.
• Similarly, R must capture packets on network 2 that are destined for machines on
network 1 and transfer them.
 Internet Architecture

• Each network can be a LAN or a WAN,

• Each may have many computers attached or a few computers attached.

• The use of clouds emphasizes an important difference between routers

and bridges

• A bridge can only connect two networks that use the same technology,

• Whereas a router can connect arbitrary networks.

Interconnection Of Multiple Networks With IP Routers

In the above figure,

• The router R1 must transfer from network 1 to network 2 all packets destined for computers on either network 2 or
network 3.
• Similarly, router R2 must transfer packets from network 3 that are destined for either network 2 or network 1. The
important point is that a router must handle packets for networks to which the router does not attach.
• In a large internet composed of many networks, the router’s task of making decisions about where to send packets
becomes more complex.
• The idea of a router seems simple, but it is important because it provides a way to interconnect networks, not just
computers.
Interconnection Of Multiple Networks With IP Routers
TCP/IP internet, special
Routers use the destination
computer systems called
network, not the destination
IP routers provide
computer, when forwarding a
interconnections among
packet.
physical networks

• Each router know how to forward packets toward their destination, are large machines with enough
primary or secondary memory to hold information about every computer in the internet to which they
attach.

• In fact, routers used with TCP/IP internets can be modest computers similar to a desktop PC.

• They do not need especially large disk storage nor do they need a huge main memory.

• Packet forwarding is based on networks, the amount of information that a router needs to keep is
proportional to the number of networks in the internet, not the number of computers.