Chapter 10: Application

Layer

Introduction to Networks v6.0

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 Chapter 10 - Sections & Objectives
10.0 Introduction
10.1 Application Layer Protocols
• Explain how the functions of the application layer, session layer, and
presentation layer work together to provide network services to end user
applications.
• Explain how common application layer protocols interact with end user
applications.
10.2 Well-Known Application layer Protocols and Services
• Explain how web and email protocols operate.
• Explain how the IP addressing protocols operate.
• Explain how file transfer protocols operate.
10.3 Summary

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 10.1 Application Layer
Protocols

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ISO/OSI and TCP/IP models

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Application Layer Protocols
Application, Presentation, Session
 Application Layer
• Closest to the end user.
• Application layer protocols help exchange data between programs
running on the source and destination hosts.
• The TCP/IP application layer performs the functions of the upper three
layers of the OSI model.
• Common application layer protocols include: HTTP, FTP, TFTP, DNS.

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 Presentation Layer
• Format (or present), compress and encrypt data
• The presentation layer formats data for the application layer, and it sets
standards for file formats. Common standards for video include QuickTime and
Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG).
• Common graphic image formats are: GIF, JPEG and PNG

• Graphics Interchange Format (GIF)

• Joint Photographic Experts Group
(JPEG)
• Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
format
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Session Layer
• The session layer creates and maintains dialogs between source and
destination applications.
• The session layer handles the exchange of information to initiate
dialogs, keep them active, and to restart sessions that are disrupted or
idle.

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Application Layer Protocols
TCP/IP Application Layer Protocols
• TCP/IP application protocols specify the format and control information
necessary for common Internet functions.
• Application layer protocols must be implemented in both the source and
destination devices.
• Application layer protocols implemented on the source and destination host must
be compatible to allow communication.

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Application Layer Protocols
How Application Protocols Interact with
End-User Applications
 Client-Server Model
• Clients request information while servers provide it.
• Client and server processes are considered to be in the application layer.
• The contents of the data exchange will depend of the application in use.
• Email is an example of a Client-Server interaction.

 The client initiates the exchange by

requesting data from the server.
 The server responds by sending one
or more streams of data to the client.
 Application layer protocols describe
the format of the requests and
responses between clients and
servers.

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Application Layer Protocols
How Application Protocols Interact with
End-User Applications
 Peer-to-Peer Networks
• Data is accessed without the use of a dedicated server.
• Two or more computers can be connected to a P2P network to share resources.
• Every connected end device (a peer) can function as both a server and a client.
• The roles of client and server are set on a per-request basis.

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Application Layer Protocols
How Application Protocols Interact with
End-User Applications (Cont.)
 Peer-to-Peer Applications
• Some P2P applications use a hybrid system, where resource sharing is
decentralized.
• Indexes that point to resource locations are stored in a centralized directory.
• In a hybrid system, each peer accesses an index server to get the location of a
resource stored on another peer.

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 Common P2P Applications
• Common P2P networks include: eDonkey, G2, BitTorrent.
• Many P2P applications allow users to share pieces of many files with each other at the same
time.
• A small torrent file contains information about the location of other users and tracker
computers.
• Trackers are computers keeping track of the files hosted by users.
• This technology is called BitTorrent. There are many BitTorrent clients, including BitTorrent,
uTorrent, Frostwire, and qBittorrent.

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 10.2 Well-Known
Application Layer Protocols
and Services

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 Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
Web Protocols
 Hypertext transfer Protocol and Hypertext Markup Language
 URI (Uniform Resource Identifier, RFC 2396) – Internet standard allowing resource
identification, URI - URL or URN
 URLs and URIs are the names most people associate with web addresses.
 URL (Uniform Resource Locator, localisation) is a reference to a web server.
 URL http://cisco.com/index.html has three basic parts:
ohttp (the protocol or scheme)
owww.cisco.com (the server name)
HTTP Protocol Step 1
oindex.html (the specific filename requested)

URN (Uniform Resource Name) –

uniform name format

Using DNS, the server name portion of the URL

is then translated to the associated IP address
before the server can be contacted.

URI: http://www.domena.pl:8080/katalog1/plik1?parametr1=wartosc1&parametr2=wartosc2#tekst
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 HTTP and HTTPS (port 80, 443)
• The browser sends a GET request to the server’s IP address and asks for the
index.html file (step 1).
• The server sends the requested file to the client (step 2).
• The index.html was specified in the URL and contains the HTML code for this web page.

HTTP Protocol Step 2

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HTTP and HTTPS
• The browser processes the HTML code and formats the page for the browser
window based on the code in the file.

HTTP Protocol Step 3

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HTTP and HTTPS
HTTP
o is a request/response protocol,
o has three common message types: GET (download), POST (add new
resource if we do not know destination (URL), modify and update a
existing resource), PUT (create (id derives from client) or overwrite by
new URL, DELETE),
o is not secure.
Messages can be captured.

HTTPS uses authentication and

encryption to secure data.

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Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
Email Protocols
• Email is a store-and-forward method of sending, storing, and retrieving
electronic messages.
• Email messages are stored on mail servers.
• Email clients communicate with mail servers to send and receive email.
• Mail servers communicate with other mail servers to transport messages
from one domain to another.

• Email relies on three separate protocols for

operation:
SMTP (sending)
POP (retrieving) and IMAP (retrieving).

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SMTP Operation
• SMTP message formats require a message header and body.
• The header must have a properly formatted recipient email address and
a sender address.
• An SMTP client sends an email by connecting to a SMTP server on port 25.
• The server receives the message and stores it in a local mailbox or relays the
message to another mail server.
• Users use email clients to retrieve messages stored on the server.

IMAP and POP are two protocols commonly

used by email clients to retrieve messages.

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Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
POP Operation
• Messages are downloaded from the server to the client.
• Email clients direct their POP requests to mail servers on port TCP 110.
• POP allows for email messages to be downloaded to the client’s device
(computer or phone) and removed from the server.
• A downloaded message resides on the device that triggered the
download.

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IMAP Operation
• IMAP is another protocol used to retrieve email messages (port 143).
• Allows for messages to be displayed to the user rather than downloaded.
• The original messages reside on the server until manually deleted by the user
(on the client device).
• Users view copies of the messages in their email client software.

Support folder hierarchy to organize and store mail.

Users can create a folder hierarchy on
the server to organize and store mail. That file
structure is displayed on the
email client.

When a user decides to delete a message, the

server synchronizes that action and deletes the
message from the server.

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Email port numbers in the practice

Service Port Port SSL

587
SMTP 465
25 (deprecated) 
POP3 110 995
IMAP 143 993

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Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
IP Addressing Services
 Domain Name Service
• IP addresses are not easy to memorize.
• Domain names make server addresses more user-friendly.
• Computers still need the actual numeric address before they can communicate.
• The DNS protocol allows for the dynamic translation of a domain name into the
associated IP address.

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DNS
 The DNS protocol allows for the dynamic
translation of a domain name into the correct
IP address.
 The DNS protocol communications using
a single format called a message.
 TCP and UDP port 53

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DNS Message Format
 DNS supports different types of records. Some of these record types are:
o A - An end device IPv4 address
o NS - An authoritative name server
o AAAA - An end device IPv6 address
o MX - A mail exchange record
 DNS servers will first look at its own records to resolve the name. If the server is
unable to resolve the name using its locally stored records, it relays the query to
other servers.
 The response is then forwarded to
the requesting client.
 The DNS Client service on Windows
PCs also stores previously resolved
names in memory.
 ipconfig /displaydns displays all of
the cached DNS entries on Windows.

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Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
IP Addressing Services (Cont.)
 DNS Hierarchy
• The DNS protocol uses a hierarchical system.
• The naming structure is broken down into small, manageable
zones.
• Each DNS server is only responsible for managing name-to-
IP mappings for a small portion of the DNS structure.
• Requests for zones not stored in a specific DNS server are
forwarded to other servers for translation.
• Top-level domains represent either the type of domain or the
country of origin.
Examples of top-level domains are .com, .org, .au and .co
 The nslookup Command
• Use nslookup to place DNS queries.
• Useful for DNS troubleshooting.

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nslookup

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Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
IP Addressing Services (Cont.)
 Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol
• Computers need network IP information to communicate over a network.
• IP information include host and gateway addresses, mask, and DNS server.
• DHCP allows for automated and scalable distribution of IP information.
• DHCP-distributed addresses are leased for a set period of time.
• Addresses are returned to the pool for reuse when no longer in use.
• DHCP supports IPv4 and DHCPv6 supports IPv6.

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 DHCP Operation
• The client broadcasts a DHCPDISCOVER.
• A DHCP server replies with DHCPOFFER.
• The client sends a DHCPREQUEST message to the server it wants to use (in case of
multiple offers).
• A client may also request an address previously been allocated by the server.
• The server returns a DHCPACK
to confirm the lease has been finalized.

DHCP UDP
IPv4 client src port 68 and dest port 67
IPv6 client sends requests to dest port 547
and server sends to dest port 546

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 Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
File Sharing Services
 File Transfer Protocol
• FTP was developed to allow the transfer of files over
the network.
• An FTP client is an application that runs on a client
computer used to push and pull data from an FTP
server.
• FTP requires two connections between the client and
the server: one connection for commands and replies
and another connection for the actual file transfer.
• The client initiates and establishes the first
connection to the server for control
traffic on TCP port 21.
• The client then establishes the second connection to
the server for the actual
data transfer on TCP port 20.
• The client can download (pull) data from the server
or upload (push) data to the server.

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Well-Known Application Layer Protocols and Services
File Sharing Services (Cont.)
 SMB is a client/server file sharing protocol.
 All SMB messages share a common format.
 SMB file-sharing and print services have become the mainstay of
Windows networking.
 Microsoft products now support
TCP/IP protocols to directly support
SMB resource sharing.
 After the connection is established,
the user of the client can access the resources
on the server as if the resource is local to the
client host.
 The Mac, LINUX, and UNIX operating systems
have their own implementation of SMB.

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 10.3 Summary

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Chapter Summary
Summary
 Explain the operation of the application layer in providing support to end-user applications.
 Explain how well-known TCP/IP application layer protocols and services operate.

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