Chapter 1

Application Layer

Computer
Networking: A
Top Down
Approach
6th edition
Jim Kurose, Keith Ross
Addison-Wesley
March 2012

Application Layer 2-1

outline
2.1 principles of network 2.6 P2P applications
applications 2.7 socket programming
2.2 Web and HTTP with UDP and TCP
2.3 FTP
2.4 electronic mail
 SMTP, POP3, IMAP
2.5 DNS

Application Layer 2-2

Some network apps
 e-mail  voice over IP (e.g., Skype)
 web  real-time video
 text messaging conferencing
 remote login  social networking
 P2P file sharing  search
 multi-user network games  …
 streaming stored video  …
(YouTube, Hulu, Netflix)

Application Layer 2-3

Creating a network app application
transport
network
data link

write programs that: physical

 run on (different) end systems

 communicate over network
 e.g., web server software
communicates with browser
software

no need to write software for application

network-core devices transport

network
application
data link
 network-core devices do not physical transport
network
run user applications data link
physical

 applications on end systems

allows for rapid app
development, propagation

Application Layer 2-4

Application architectures
possible structure of applications:
 client-server
 peer-to-peer (P2P)

Application Layer 2-5

 Client-server architecture
server:
 always-on host
 permanent IP address
 data centers for scaling

clients:
 communicate with server
client/server  may be intermittently
connected
 may have dynamic IP
addresses
 do not communicate directly
with each other
Application Layer 2-6
P2P architecture
 no always-on server peer-peer
 arbitrary end systems
directly communicate
 peers request service from
other peers, provide service
in return to other peers
 self scalability – new
peers can come and join
or leave the network.
 peers are intermittently
connected and change IP
addresses
 complex management

Application Layer 2-7

Processes communicating
process: program running clients, servers
within a host client process: process that
 within same host, two initiates communication
processes communicate server process: process
using inter-process that waits to be contacted
communication (defined by
OS)
 processes in different hosts
communicate by  aside: applications with P2P
exchanging messages architectures have client
processes & server
processes

Application Layer 2-8

Sockets
 process sends/receives messages to/from its socket
 a socket is the interface between the application layer and the
transport layer within a host. It is also referred to as the
Application Programming Interface (API) between the
application and the network

application application
socket controlled by
process process app developer

transport transport
network network controlled
link
by OS
link Internet
physical physical

Application Layer 2-9

Addressing processes
 to receive messages, process must have identifier
 host device has unique 32-bit IP address
 Q: does IP address of host on which process runs suffice
for identifying the process?
 A: no, many processes can be running on same host
 identifier includes both IP address and port numbers
associated with process on host.
 example port numbers:
 HTTP server: 80
 mail server: 25
 to send HTTP message to gaia.cs.umass.edu web server:
 IP address: 128.119.245.12
 port number: 80

Application Layer 2-10

What transport service does an app need?
Reliable data transfer
 some apps (e.g., file transfer, web transactions) require 100% reliable data
transfer
 other apps (e.g., audio) can tolerate some loss

Throughput
 the rate at which the sending process can deliver bits to the receiving
process.
 some apps (“bandwidth-sensitive applications”) require minimum
amount of throughput to be “ effective”
 other apps (“ elastic apps” ) make use of whatever throughput they get
timing
 some apps (e.g., Internet telephony, interactive games) require low delay to
be “ effective”
security
 encryption, data integrity, …

Application Layer 2-11

 Transport service requirements: common apps

application data loss throughput time sensitive

file transfer no loss elastic no

e-mail no loss elastic no
Web documents no loss elastic no
real-time audio/video loss-tolerant audio: 5kbps-1Mbps yes, 100’s msec
video:10kbps-5Mbps
stored audio/video loss-tolerant same as above yes, few secs
interactive games loss-tolerant few kbps up yes, 100’s msec
text messaging no loss elastic yes and no

Application Layer 2-12

Internet transport protocols services

TCP service: UDP service:

 reliable transport between  unreliable data transfer
sending and receiving between sending and
process receiving process
 flow control: sender won’t  does not provide:
overwhelm receiver
reliability, flow control,
 congestion control: throttle congestion control,
sender when network
overloaded throughput guarantee,
 does not provide: minimum security, orconnection
throughput guarantee, setup,
security
 connection-oriented: setup
required between client and
server processes
Application Layer 2-13
Internet apps: application, transport protocols

application underlying
application layer protocol transport protocol

e-mail SMTP [RFC 2821] TCP

remote terminal access Telnet [RFC 854] TCP
Web HTTP [RFC 2616] TCP
file transfer FTP [RFC 959] TCP
streaming multimedia HTTP (e.g., YouTube), TCP or UDP
RTP [RFC 1889]
Internet telephony SIP, RTP, proprietary
(e.g., Skype) TCP or UDP

Application Layer 2-14

Application-Layer Protocols
 Application-layer protocol defines:
• The types of messages exchanged, for example,
request messages and response messages
• The syntax of the various message types, such as
the fields in the message.
• The semantics of the fields, that is, the meaning of
the information in the fields
• Rules for determining when and how a process
sends messages and responds to messages

Application Layer 2-15

Web and HTTP
 HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), the Web’s
application-layer protocol, is at the heart of the
Web.
 web page consists of objects
 object can be HTML file, JPEG image, Java
applet, audio file,…
each object is addressable by a URL, e.g.

www.someschool.edu/someDept/
pic.gif
host name path name

Application Layer 2-16

HTTP overview
HTTP: hypertext transfer
protocol HT
 Web’s application layer TP
req
ues
protocol PC running HT t
Firefox browser TPr
 client/server model esp
ons
 client: browser that e
requests, receives, t
(using HTTP protocol) u es
req server
and “ displays” Web T P n se
HT s po running
objects TP
re Apache Web
T
 server: Web server H server
sends (using HTTP
protocol) objects in iphone running
response to requests Safari browser

Application Layer 2-17

HTTP overview (continued)
uses TCP: HTTP is “stateless”
 client initiates TCP  server maintains no
connection (creates socket) information about
to server, port 80 past client requests
 server accepts TCP
connection from client
 HTTP messages
(application-layer protocol
messages) exchanged
between browser (HTTP
client) and Web server
(HTTP server)
 TCP connection closed

Application Layer 2-18

HTTP connections
non-persistent HTTP persistent HTTP
 at most one object sent  multiple objects can
over TCP connection be sent over single
 connection then TCP connection
closed between client, server
 downloading multiple
objects required
multiple connections

Application Layer 2-19

Example:

Application Layer 2-20

 Non-persistent HTTP
suppose user enters URL: (contains text,
www.someSchool.edu/someDepartment/home.index references to 10
jpeg images)
1a. HTTP client initiates TCP
connection to HTTP server
(process) at 1b. HTTP server at host
www.someSchool.edu on port 80 www.someSchool.edu waiting
for TCP connection at port 80.
“ accepts” connection, notifying
2. HTTP client sends HTTP client
request message (containing
URL) into TCP connection 3. HTTP server receives request
socket. Message indicates that message, forms response
client wants object message containing requested
someDepartment/home.index object, and sends message into
its socket
time
Application Layer 2-21
 Non-persistent HTTP (cont.)
4. HTTP server closes TCP
connection.
5. HTTP client receives response
message containing html file,
displays html. Parsing html file,
finds 10 referenced jpeg objects

time
6. Steps 1-5 repeated for each of 10
jpeg objects

Application Layer 2-22

Non-persistent HTTP: response time
RTT (definition): time for a
small packet to travel from
client to server and back
HTTP response time: initiate TCP
 one RTT to initiate TCP connection
connection RTT
 one RTT for HTTP request request
file
and first few bytes of HTTP time to
response to return RTT transmit
file
 file transmission time
file
 non-persistent HTTP received
response time =
2RTT+ file transmission time time
time

Application Layer 2-23

Persistent HTTP

non-persistent HTTP persistent HTTP:

issues:  server leaves connection
 requires 2 RTTs per object open after sending
 OS overhead for each TCP response
connection  subsequent HTTP
 browsers often open messages between same
parallel TCP connections to client/server sent over
fetch referenced objects open connection
 client sends requests as
soon as it encounters a
referenced object
 as little as one RTT for all
the referenced objects

Application Layer 2-24

 HTTP request message
 two types of HTTP messages: request, response
 HTTP request message:
 ASCII (human-readable format)
carriage return character
line-feed character
request line
(GET, POST, GET /index.html HTTP/1.1 \r\n
HEAD commands) Host: www.someschool.edu \r\n
Connection:close
User-Agent: Firefox/3.6.10 \r\n
headerAccept: text/html,application/xhtml+xml\r\n
linesAccept-Language: fr \r\n

Application Layer 2-25

HTTP request message: general format

method sp URL sp version cr lf request

line
header field name value cr lf
header
~
~ ~
~ lines

header field name value cr lf

cr lf

~
~ entity body ~
~ body

Application Layer 2-26

Methods
 GET - Fetch a document
 POST - Execute the document, using the data in
body
 HEAD - Fetch just the header of the document
 PUT - Store a new document on the server
 DELETE - Remove a document from the server

Application Layer 2-27

HTTP response status codes

Application Layer 2-28

 HTTP response message
status line
(protocol
status code HTTP/1.1 200 OK \r\n
status phrase) Connection:close
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 2010 20:09:20 GMT \r\n
Server: Apache/2.0.52 \r\n
Last-Modified: Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:00:02 GMT
header \r\n
Content-Length: 2652 \r\n
lines
Content-Type: text/html \r\n
data data data data data ...

data, e.g.,
requested
HTML file

Application Layer 2-29

HTTP response status codes
 status code appears in 1st line in server-to-
client response message.
 some sample codes:
200 OK
 request succeeded, requested object later in this msg
301 Moved Permanently
 requested object moved, new location specified later in this msg
(Location:)
400 Bad Request
 request msg not understood by server
404 Not Found
 requested document not found on this server
505 HTTP Version Not Supported
Application Layer 2-30
User-server state: cookies
example:
many Web sites use cookies  Susan always access Internet
four components: from PC
1) cookie header line of  visits specific Amazon site

HTTP response for first time

message  Visited eBay site in past

2) cookie header line in  when initial HTTP requests

next HTTP request arrives at server, server

message creates:
3) cookie file kept on  unique ID
user’s host, managed  entry in backend database
by user’s browser for ID
4) back-end database at  HTTP response: Set-
cookie
Web site
Application Layer 2-31
 Cookies: keeping “ state” (cont.)
client server

ebay 8734
usual http request msg Amazon server
cookie file creates ID
usual http response
1678 for user create backend
ebay 8734
set-cookie: 1678 entry database
amazon 1678
usual http request msg
cookie: 1678 cookie- access
specific
usual http response msg action

one week later:

access
ebay 8734 usual http request msg
amazon 1678 cookie: 1678 cookie-
specific
usual http response msg action
Application Layer 2-32
Cookies (continued)
aside
what cookies can be used cookies and privacy:
for:  cookies permit sites to
 authorization learn a lot about you
 shopping carts  you may supply name and
 recommendations
e-mail to sites
 user session state (Web e-
mail)

Application Layer 2-33

Web caches (proxy server)
goal: satisfy client request without involving origin server
 user sets browser: Web
accesses via cache
 browser sends all HTTP proxy
HT
requests to cache TP
req server u est
HT ues P req
 object in cache: cache client TP
res
t H TT po n se
origin
pon res
returns object se HT
T P server
t
 else cache requests ues
req e
object from origin TT P o ns
p
H res
server, then returns HT TP
object to client
client origin
server

Application Layer 2-34

More about Web caching
 cache acts as both why Web caching?
client and server
 server for original
requesting client  reduce response time for
 client to origin server client request
 typically cache is
installed by ISP
(university, company,  reduce traffic on an
residential ISP) institution’s access link

Application Layer 2-35

Conditional GET
client server
 Goal: don’t send object if
cache has up-to-date
cached version HTTP request msg
object
If-modified-since: <date>
 no object transmission not
delay modified
 lower link utilization HTTP response
before
HTTP/1.0
 cache: specify date of 304 Not Modified <date>
cached copy in HTTP
request
If-modified-since:
<date> HTTP request msg
If-modified-since: <date> object
 server: response contains
modified
no object if cached copy after
HTTP response
is up-to-date: HTTP/1.0 200 OK <date>
HTTP/1.0 304 Not <data>
Modified
Application Layer 2-36
First , a proxy cache sends a request message to a web
server
GET /fruit/kiwi.gif HTTP/1.1
Host: www.exoticquecuisine.com

Second, the web server sends a response message with

the requested object to the cache:

HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Date: Sat, 8 oct 2011 15:39:29
Server: Apache/1.3.0 (unix)
Last-Modified: Wed, 7 Sep 2011 09:23:25
Content-Type: image/gif

Application Layer 2-37

 After some time
Cache performs an up to date check

GET /fruit/kiwi.gif HTTP/1.1

Host: www.exoticquecuisine.com
If-modified-Since: Wed, 8 aug 2012 09:25:22

Application Layer 2-38

FTP: the file transfer protocol
file transfer
FTP FTP FTP
user client server
interface
user
at host remote file
local file system
system

 transfer file to/from remote host

 client/server model
 client: side that initiates transfer (either to/from remote)
 server: remote host
 ftp server: port 21

Application Layer 2-39

FTP: separate control, data connections
TCP control connection,
 FTP client contacts FTP server server port 21
at port 21, using TCP
 client authorized over control TCP data connection,
connection FTP server port 20 FTP
client server
 client browses remote
directory, sends commands
over control connection  server opens another TCP
data connection to transfer
 when server receives file another file
transfer command, server
opens 2nd TCP data connection  control connection: “out of
(for file) to client band”
 after transferring one file,  FTP server maintains “ state
server closes data connection ” : current directory, earlier
authentication

Application Layer 2-40

FTP commands, responses
sample commands: sample return codes
 sent as ASCII text over  status code and phrase (as
control channel in HTTP)
 USER username  331 Username OK,
 PASS password password required
 LIST return list of file in
 125 data
current directory connection
already open;
 RETR filename transfer starting
retrieves (gets) file  425 Can’t open
 STOR filename stores data connection
(puts) file onto remote  452 Error writing
host file

Application Layer 2-41

Electronic mail outgoing
message queue
user mailbox
Three major components: user
agent
 user agents
 mail servers mail user
server agent
 simple mail transfer
protocol: SMTP SMTP mail user
server agent
User Agent SMTP
 a.k.a. “ mail reader” SMTP user
agent
 composing, editing, reading mail
mail messages server
user
 e.g., Outlook, Thunderbird, agent
iPhone mail client user
 outgoing, incoming agent
messages stored on server
Application Layer 2-42
Electronic mail: mail servers
mail servers: user
agent
 mailbox contains incoming
messages for user mail user
server agent
 message queue of outgoing
(to be sent) mail messages SMTP mail user
 SMTP protocol between server agent
mail servers to send email SMTP
messages user
 client: sending mail SMTP agent
mail
server server
user
 “ server” : receiving mail agent
server
user
agent

Application Layer 2-43

Electronic Mail: SMTP [RFC 2821]
 uses TCP to reliably transfer email message from
client to server, port 25
 direct transfer: sending server to receiving server
 three phases of transfer
 handshaking (greeting)
 transfer of messages
 closure
 command/response interaction (like HTTP, FTP)
 commands: ASCII text
 response: status code and phrase
 messages must be in 7-bit ASCI

Application Layer 2-44

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

1 user mail user

mail agent
agent server server
2 3 6
4
5
Alice’s mail server Bob’s mail server
Application Layer 2-45
Sample SMTP interaction
S: 220 hamburger.edu
C: HELO crepes.fr
S: 250 Hello crepes.fr, pleased to meet you
C: MAIL FROM: <[email protected]>
S: 250 [email protected]... Sender ok
C: RCPT TO: <[email protected]>
S: 250 [email protected] ... Recipient ok
C: DATA
S: 354 Enter mail, end with "." on a line by itself
C: Do you like ketchup?
C: How about pickles?
C: .
S: 250 Message accepted for delivery
C: QUIT
S: 221 hamburger.edu closing connection

Application Layer 2-46

SMTP: final words
 SMTP uses persistent comparison with HTTP:
connections
HTTP SMTP
 SMTP requires message
(header & body) to be in
7-bit ASCII Pull protocol Push protocol
 SMTP server uses
CRLF.CRLF to determine
Requires 7 bit No
end of message
Ascii format Restriction

Refernce All objects

objects are are sent in
included in one response
response

Application Layer 2-47

Mail message format
SMTP: protocol for
exchanging email msgs header
blank
RFC 822: standard for text line
message format:
 header lines, e.g.,
 To: body
 From:
 Subject:
different from SMTP
MAIL FROM, RCPT
TO: commands!
 Body: the “ message”
 ASCII characters only

Application Layer 2-48

Mail access protocols
user
mail user
SMTP SMTP access
agent agent
protocol
(e.g., POP,
IMAP)

sender’s mail receiver’s mail

server server

 SMTP: delivery/storage to receiver’s server

 mail access protocol: retrieval from server
 POP: Post Office Protocol [RFC 1939]: authorization,
download
 IMAP: Internet Mail Access Protocol [RFC 1730]: more
features, including manipulation of stored msgs on server
 HTTP: gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc.

Application Layer 2-49

POP3 protocol
S: +OK POP3 server ready
C: user bob
authorization phase S: +OK
 client commands: C: pass hungry
S: +OK user successfully logged on
 user: declare username
 pass: password C: list
 server responses S: 1 498
 +OK S: 2 912
 -ERR S: .
C: retr 1
transaction phase, client: S: <message 1 contents>
 list: list message numbers S: .
 retr: retrieve message by number C: dele 1
 dele: delete C: retr 2
 Quit S: <message 1 contents>
S: .
C: dele 2
 Update phase C: quit
S: +OK POP3 server signing off
Application Layer 2-50
POP3 (more) and IMAP
more about POP3 IMAP
 previous example uses  keeps all messages in one
POP3 “ download and place: at server
delete” mode  allows user to organize
 Bob cannot re-read e- messages in folders
mail if he changes  keeps user state across
client sessions:
 POP3 “ download-and-  names of folders and
keep” : copies of messages mappings between
on different clients message IDs and folder
 POP3 is stateless across name
sessions

Application Layer 2-51

DNS: domain name system
people: many identifiers: Domain Name System:
 SSN, name, passport #  distributed database
Internet hosts, routers: implemented in hierarchy of
 IP address (32 bit) - many name servers
used for addressing  application-layer protocol:
datagrams hosts, name servers
 “ name” , e.g., communicate to resolve
www.yahoo.com - names (address/name
used by humans translation)
 note: core Internet function,
Q: how to map between IP
implemented as application-
address and name, and
layer protocol
vice versa ?
 complexity at network’s
“ edge”
Application Layer 2-52
DNS: a distributed, hierarchical database
Root DNS Servers

… …

com DNS servers org DNS servers edu DNS servers

pbs.org poly.edu umass.edu

yahoo.com amazon.com
DNS servers DNS serversDNS servers
DNS servers DNS servers

client wants IP for www.amazon.com; 1st approx:

 client queries root server to find com DNS server
 client queries .com DNS server to get amazon.com DNS server
 client queries amazon.com DNS server to get IP address for
www.amazon.com

Application Layer 2-53

TLD, authoritative servers
top-level domain (TLD) servers:
 responsible for com, org, net, edu, aero, jobs, museums,
and all top-level country domains, e.g.: uk, fr, ca, jp
 Network Solutions maintains servers for .com TLD
 Educause for .edu TLD
authoritative DNS servers:
 organization’s own DNS server(s), providing authoritative
hostname to IP mappings for organization’s named hosts
 can be maintained by organization or service provider

Application Layer 2-54

Local DNS name server
 does not strictly belong to hierarchy
 each ISP (residential ISP, company, university)
has one
 also called “ default name server”
 when host makes DNS query, query is sent to its
local DNS server
 has local cache of recent name-to-address translation
pairs (but may be out of date!)
 acts as proxy, forwards query into hierarchy

Application Layer 2-55

DNS: services, structure
DNS services why not centralize DNS?
 hostname to IP address  single point of failure
translation  traffic volume
 host aliasing  distant centralized database
 canonical, alias names  maintenance
 mail server aliasing
 load distribution A: doesn’t scale!
 replicated Web
servers: many IP
addresses correspond
to one name

Application Layer 2-56

DNS name root DNS server
resolution example
2
 host at cis.poly.edu 3
TLD DNS server
wants IP address for 4
gaia.cs.umass.edu
5

local DNS server

iterated query: dns.poly.edu
 contacted server replies 7 6
1 8
with name of server to
contact
authoritative DNS server
 “ I don’t know this dns.cs.umass.edu
name, but ask this requesting host
cis.poly.edu
server”
gaia.cs.umass.edu

Application Layer 2-57

DNS name root DNS server
resolution example
2 3
recursive query: 7
6
 puts burden of name TLD DNS
server
resolution on
contacted name local DNS server
server dns.poly.edu 5 4

 heavy load at upper 1 8

levels of hierarchy?
authoritative DNS server
dns.cs.umass.edu
requesting host
cis.poly.edu

gaia.cs.umass.edu

Application Layer 2-58

DNS: caching, updating records
 once (any) name server learns mapping, it caches
mapping
 cache entries timeout (disappear) after some time (TTL)
 TLD servers typically cached in local name servers
• thus root name servers not often visited
 cached entries may be out-of-date (best effort
name-to-address translation!)
 if name host changes IP address, may not be known
Internet-wide until all TTLs expire
 update/notify mechanisms proposed IETF
standards

Application Layer 2-59

DNS records
DNS: distributed db storing resource records (RR)
RR format: (name, value, type, ttl)

type=A type=CNAME
 name is hostname  name is alias name for some
 value is IP address “ canonical” (the real) name
type=NS  www.ibm.com is really
 name is domain (e.g., servereast.backup2.ibm.com
foo.com)  value is canonical name
 value is hostname of
authoritative name
server for this domain

Application Layer 2-60

DNS protocol, messages
 query and reply messages, both with same message format
2 bytes 2 bytes

msg header identification flags

 identification: 16 bit # for # questions # answer RRs

query, reply to query uses
# authority RRs # additional RRs
same #
 flags: questions (variable # of questions)
 query or reply
 recursion answers (variable # of RRs)
 reply is authoritative
authority (variable # of RRs)

additional info (variable # of RRs)

Application Layer 2-61

DNS protocol, messages

2 bytes 2 bytes

identification flags

# questions # answer RRs

# authority RRs # additional RRs

name, type fields

questions (variable # of questions)
for a query
RRs in response answers (variable # of RRs)
to query
records for authority (variable # of RRs)
authoritative servers
additional “ helpful” additional info (variable # of RRs)
info that may be used
Application Layer 2-62
Inserting records into DNS
 example: new startup “ Network Utopia”
 register name networkuptopia.com at DNS registrar
(e.g., Network Solutions)
 provide names, IP addresses of authoritative name server
(primary and secondary)
 registrar inserts two RRs into .com TLD server:
(networkutopia.com, dns1.networkutopia.com, NS)
(dns1.networkutopia.com, 212.212.212.1, A)
 create authoritative server type A record for
www.networkuptopia.com

Application Layer 2-63

Pure P2P architecture
 no always-on server
 arbitrary end systems
directly communicate
 peers are intermittently
connected and change IP
addresses

examples:
 file distribution
(BitTorrent)
 Streaming (KanKan)
 VoIP (Skype)

Application Layer 2-64

File distribution: client-server vs P2P
Question: how much time to distribute file (size F) from one server to N
peers?
 peer upload/download capacity is limited resource

us: server upload

capacity

u1 di: peer i download

file, size F us d1 u2 capacity
d2
server
di
uN network (with abundant
bandwidth) ui
dN
ui: peer i upload
capacity

Application Layer 2-65

File distribution time: client-server
 server transmission: must
sequentially send (upload) N F
us
file copies:
di
 time to send one copy: F/us
network
 time to send N copies: NF/us ui

 client: each client must

download file copy
 dmin = min client download rate
 min client download time: F/dmin

time to distribute F
to N clients using
Dc-s > max{NF/us,,F/dmin}
client-server approach

increases linearly in N
Application Layer 2-66
File distribution time: P2P
 server transmission: must
upload at least one copy F
us
 time to send one copy: F/us
di
 client: each client must
network
download file copy ui
 min client download time: F/dmin
 clients: as aggregate must download NF bits
 max upload rate (limting max download rate) is u + u
s i

time to distribute F
DP2P
to N clients using > max{F/us,,F/dmin,,NF/(us + ui)}
P2P approach

increases linearly in N …
… but so does this, as each peer brings service capacity
Application Layer 2-67
 Client-server vs. P2P: example
client upload rate = u, F/u = 1 hour, us = 10u, dmin ≥ us

3.5
P2P
Minimum Distribution Time

3
Client-Server
2.5

1.5

0.5

0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35

Application Layer 2-68

P2P file distribution: BitTorrent
 file divided into 256Kb chunks
 peers in torrent send/receive file chunks

tracker: tracks peers torrent: group of peers

participating in torrent exchanging chunks of a
file

Alice arrives …
… obtains list
of peers from tracker
… and begins exchanging
file chunks with peers in torrent

Application Layer 2-69

P2P file distribution: BitTorrent
 peer joining torrent:
 has no chunks, but will
accumulate them over time
from other peers
 registers with tracker to get
list of peers, connects to
subset of peers (“ neighbors” )

 while downloading, peer uploads chunks to other peers

 peer may change peers with whom it exchanges chunks
 churn: peers may come and go
 once peer has entire file, it may (selfishly) leave or
(altruistically) remain in torrent

Application Layer 2-70

BitTorrent: requesting, sending file chunks

requesting chunks: sending chunks: tit-for-tat

 at any given time, different  Alice sends chunks to those four
peers have different subsets peers currently sending her
of file chunks chunks at highest rate
 periodically, Alice asks  other peers are choked by Alice
each peer for list of chunks (do not receive chunks from her)
that they have  re-evaluate top 4 every10 secs

 Alice requests missing  every 30 secs: randomly select

chunks from peers, rarest another peer, starts sending
first chunks
 “ optimistically unchoke” this peer
 newly chosen peer may join top 4

Application Layer 2-71

BitTorrent: tit-for-tat
(1) Alice “ optimistically unchokes” Bob
(2) Alice becomes one of Bob’s top-four providers; Bob reciprocates
(3) Bob becomes one of Alice’s top-four providers

higher upload rate: find better

trading partners, get file faster !

Application Layer 2-72

Distributed Hash Table (DHT)
 Hash table

 DHT paradigm

 Circular DHT and overlay networks

 Peer churn
Simple Database
Simple database with(key, value) pairs:
• key: human name; value: social security #
Key Value
John Washington 132-54-3570
Diana Louise Jones 761-55-3791
Xiaoming Liu 385-41-0902
Rakesh Gopal 441-89-1956
Linda Cohen 217-66-5609
……. ………
Lisa Kobayashi 177-23-0199

• key: movie title; value: IP address

Hash Table
• More convenient to store and search on
numerical representation of key
• key = hash(original key)
Original Key Key Value
John Washington 8962458 132-54-3570
Diana Louise Jones 7800356 761-55-3791
Xiaoming Liu 1567109 385-41-0902
Rakesh Gopal 2360012 441-89-1956
Linda Cohen 5430938 217-66-5609
……. ………
Lisa Kobayashi 9290124 177-23-0199
Distributed Hash Table (DHT)
 Distribute (key, value) pairs over millions of peers
 pairs are evenly distributed over peers
 Any peer can query database with a key
 database returns value for the key
 To resolve query, small number of messages exchanged among
peers
 Each peer only knows about a small number of other
peers
 Robust to peers coming and going (churn)
Assign key-value pairs to peers
 rule: assign key-value pair to the peer that has the
closest ID.
 convention: closest is the immediate successor of
the key.
 e.g., ID space {0,1,2,3,…,63}
 suppose 8 peers: 1,12,13,25,32,40,48,60
 If key = 51, then assigned to peer 60
 If key = 60, then assigned to peer 60
 If key = 61, then assigned to peer 1
 Circular DHT
• each peer only aware of
immediate successor and
predecessor.

12
60

13
48
25
40
32 “overlay network”
 Resolving a query

1 What is the value

associated with key 53 ?
value 12
60

13
48
O(N) messages 25
on avgerage to resolve
query, when there 40
32
are N peers
Circular DHT with shortcuts
1 What is the value for
value
key 53
12
60

13
48
25
40
32
• each peer keeps track of IP addresses of predecessor,
successor, short cuts.
• reduced from 6 to 3 messages.
• possible to design shortcuts with O(log N) neighbors, O(log N)
messages in query
Peer churn handling peer churn:
1
peers may come and go (churn)
each peer knows address of its
3 two successors
15
each peer periodically pings its
4 two successors to check aliveness
if immediate successor leaves,
12
5 choose next successor as new
immediate successor
10
8
example: peer 5 abruptly leaves
Peer churn handling peer churn:
1
peers may come and go (churn)
each peer knows address of its
15 3 two successors
each peer periodically pings its
4 two successors to check aliveness
if immediate successor leaves,
12
choose next successor as new
immediate successor
10
8
example: peer 5 abruptly leaves
peer 4 detects peer 5’s departure; makes 8 its immediate
successor
 4 asks 8 who its immediate successor is; makes 8’s
immediate successor its second successor.
Socket programming
goal: learn how to build client/server applications that
communicate using sockets
socket: door between application process and end-end-
transport protocol

application application
socket controlled by
process process app developer

transport transport
network network controlled
link
by OS
link Internet
physical physical

Application Layer 2-83

 Socket programming
Two socket types for two transport services:
 UDP: unreliable datagram
 TCP: reliable, byte stream-oriented

Application Example:
1. Client reads a line of characters (data) from its
keyboard and sends the data to the server.
2. The server receives the data and converts
characters to uppercase.
3. The server sends the modified data to the client.
4. The client receives the modified data and displays
the line on its screen.
Application Layer 2-84
Socket programming with UDP
UDP: no “ connection” between client & server
 no handshaking before sending data
 sender explicitly attaches IP destination address and
port # to each packet
 rcvr extracts sender IP address and port# from
received packet
UDP: transmitted data may be lost or received
out-of-order
Application viewpoint:
 UDP provides unreliable transfer of groups of bytes (
“ datagrams” ) between client and server

Application Layer 2-85

Client/server socket interaction: UDP

server (running on serverIP) client

create socket:
create socket, port= x: clientSocket =
serverSocket = socket(AF_INET,SOCK_DGRAM)
socket(AF_INET,SOCK_DGRAM)
Create datagram with server IP and
port=x; send datagram via
read datagram from clientSocket
serverSocket

write reply to
serverSocket read datagram from
specifying clientSocket
client address,
port number close
clientSocket

Application 2-86
 Example app: UDP client
Python UDPClient
include Python’s socket
library from socket import *
serverName = ‘hostname’
serverPort = 12000
create UDP socket for
server
clientSocket = socket(socket.AF_INET,
get user keyboard socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
input
message = raw_input(’Input lowercase sentence:’)
Attach server name, port to
message; send into socket clientSocket.sendto(message,(serverName, serverPort))
read reply characters from modifiedMessage, serverAddress =
socket into string
clientSocket.recvfrom(2048)
print out received string print modifiedMessage
and close socket
clientSocket.close()
Application Layer 2-87
 Example app: UDP server
Python UDPServer
from socket import *
serverPort = 12000
create UDP socket serverSocket = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_DGRAM)
bind socket to local port
number 12000 serverSocket.bind(('', serverPort))
print “The server is ready to receive”
loop forever
while 1:
Read from UDP socket into
message, getting client’s
message, clientAddress = serverSocket.recvfrom(2048)
address (client IP and port) modifiedMessage = message.upper()
send upper case string serverSocket.sendto(modifiedMessage, clientAddress)
back to this client

Application Layer 2-88

Socket programming with TCP
client must contact server  when contacted by client,
 server process must first be server TCP creates new socket
running for server process to
 server must have created communicate with that
socket (door) that welcomes particular client
client’s contact  allows server to talk with
multiple clients
client contacts server by:  source port numbers used
 Creating TCP socket, to distinguish clients
specifying IP address, port (more in Chap 3)
number of server process
 when client creates socket: application viewpoint:
client TCP establishes TCP provides reliable, in-order
connection to server TCP byte-stream transfer (“ pipe” )
between client and server

Application Layer 2-89

Client/server socket interaction: TCP
server (running on hostid) client
create socket,
port=x, for incoming
request:
serverSocket = socket()

wait for incoming create socket,

connection request
TCP connect to hostid, port=x
connectionSocket = connection setup clientSocket = socket()
serverSocket.accept()

send request using

read request from clientSocket
connectionSocket

write reply to
connectionSocket read reply from
clientSocket
close
connectionSocket close
clientSocket

Application Layer 2-90

 Example app: TCP client
Python TCPClient
from socket import *
serverName = ’servername’
create TCP socket for serverPort = 12000
server, remote port 12000
clientSocket = socket(AF_INET, SOCK_STREAM)
clientSocket.connect((serverName,serverPort))
sentence = raw_input(‘Input lowercase sentence:’)
No need to attach server
name, port clientSocket.send(sentence)
modifiedSentence = clientSocket.recv(1024)
print ‘From Server:’, modifiedSentence
clientSocket.close()

Application Layer 2-91

 Example app: TCP server
Python TCPServer
from socket import *
create TCP welcoming serverPort = 12000
socket serverSocket = socket(AF_INET,SOCK_STREAM)
serverSocket.bind((‘’,serverPort))
server begins listening for
incoming TCP requests serverSocket.listen(1)
print ‘The server is ready to receive’
loop forever
while 1:
server waits on accept()
for incoming requests, new
connectionSocket, addr = serverSocket.accept()
socket created on return

read bytes from socket (but

sentence = connectionSocket.recv(1024)
not address as in UDP) capitalizedSentence = sentence.upper()
close connection to this connectionSocket.send(capitalizedSentence)
client (but not welcoming
socket) connectionSocket.close()
Application Layer 2-92