ApplicationLayer

Unit-V-Notes
Application Layer –Domain name system: The DNS Name Space, Domain Resource Records, Name
Servers, ElectronicMail: Architecture Services, SMTP,SNMP.the WorldWide Web: Architectural Overview,
HTTP,Streamingaudioandvideo:digitalaudio,digitalvideo,streamingstoredmedia,streaminglive media, real
time conferencing.

The application layer in the

OSI model is the closest layer
to the end user which
means that the application layer
and end user can interact
directly with the software
application. The application
layer programs are based on
client and servers.
The Application layer includes
the following functions:
•Identifying communication
partners: The application layer
identifies the
availability of communication
partners for an application
with data to
transmit.
•Determining resource
availability: The application
layer determines
whether sufficient network
resources are available for
the requested
communication.
•Synchronizing
communication: All the
communications occur between
the
applications requires
cooperation which is managed
by an application layer.
Services of Application Layers
oNetwork Virtual terminal: An
application layer allows a user
to log on to a
remote host. To do so, the
application creates a software
emulation of a
terminal at the remote host.
The user's computer talks to
the software
terminal, which in turn, talks
to the host. The remote host
thinks that it is
communicating with one of its
own terminals, so it allows the
user to log on.
oFile Transfer, Access, and
Management (FTAM): An
application allows
a user to access files in a
remote computer, to retrieve
files from a computer
and to manage files in a
remote computer. FTAM
defines a hierarchical
virtual file in terms of file
structure, file attributes and the
kind of operations
performed on the files and their
attributes.
oAddressing: To obtain
communication between client
and server, there is a
need for addressing. When a
client made a request to the
server, the request
contains the server address and
its own address. The server
response to the
client request, the request
contains the destination
address, i.e., client address.
To achieve this kind of
addressing, DNS is used.
oMail Services: An application
layer provides Email
forwarding and storage.
oDirectory Services: An
application contains a
distributed database that
provides access for global
information about various
objects and services.
oAuthentication: It
authenticates the sender or
receiver's message or both.

Network Application
Architecture
Application architecture is
different from the network
architecture. The network
architecture is fixed and
provides a set of services to
applications. The application
INTRODUCTION :
The application layer in the OSI model is the closest layer to the end user which
meansthattheapplicationlayerandendusercaninteractdirectlywiththesoftware application. The application layer programs
are based on client and servers.
TheApplicationlayerincludesthefollowingfunctions:
Identifyingcommunicationpartners:The application layer identifies the availability of communication partners for an
application with data to transmit.
Determiningresourceavailability:The application layer determines whether sufficient network resources are available
for the requested communication.
Synchronizingcommunication:Allthecommunicationsoccurbetweenthe applications requires cooperation whichis
managed byan applicationlayer.
ServicesofApplicationLayers
NetworkVirtualterminal:Anapplicationlayerallowsausertologontoa remote host. To do so, the application creates a
software emulation of a terminal at the remote host. The user's computer talks to the software terminal, which in turn,
talks to the host. The remote host thinks that it is communicatingwithoneofitsownterminals,soitallowstheusertologon.
FileTransfer,Access,andManagement(FTAM): An application allows a userto accessfilesin a remote computer,to
retrieve files from a computer and to manage files in a remote computer. FTAM defines a hierarchical
virtualfileintermsoffilestructure,fileattributesandthekindofoperations performed on the files and their attributes.
Addressing:To obtain communication between client and server, there is a need for addressing. When a client made
arequest to the server, the request contains the server address and its own address. The server response to the
clientrequest,therequestcontainsthedestinationaddress,i.e.,clientaddress. To achieve this kind of addressing, DNS is used.
MailServices:AnapplicationlayerprovidesEmailforwardingandstorage.
DirectoryServices: Anapplicationcontainsadistributeddatabasethat provides access for global information about various
objects and services.
Authentication:Itauthenticatesthesenderorreceiver'smessageorboth.

The application layer in the

OSI model is the closest layer
to the end user which
means that the application layer
and end user can interact
directly with the software
application. The application
layer programs are based on
client and servers.
The Application layer includes
the following functions:
•Identifying communication
partners: The application layer
identifies the
availability of communication
partners for an application
with data to
transmit.
•Determining resource
availability: The application
layer determines
whether sufficient network
resources are available for
the requested
communication.
•Synchronizing
communication: All the
communications occur between
the
applications requires
cooperation which is managed
by an application layer.
Services of Application Layers
oNetwork Virtual terminal: An
application layer allows a user
to log on to a
remote host. To do so, the
application creates a software
emulation of a
terminal at the remote host.
The user's computer talks to
the software
terminal, which in turn, talks
to the host. The remote host
thinks that it is
communicating with one of its
own terminals, so it allows the
user to log on.
oFile Transfer, Access, and
Management (FTAM): An
application allows
a user to access files in a
remote computer, to retrieve
files from a computer
and to manage files in a
remote computer. FTAM
defines a hierarchical
virtual file in terms of file
structure, file attributes and the
kind of operations
performed on the files and their
attributes.
oAddressing: To obtain
communication between client
and server, there is a
need for addressing. When a
client made a request to the
server, the request
contains the server address and
its own address. The server
response to the
client request, the request
contains the destination
address, i.e., client address.
To achieve this kind of
addressing, DNS is used.
oMail Services: An application
layer provides Email
forwarding and storage.
oDirectory Services: An
application contains a
distributed database that
provides access for global
information about various
objects and services.
oAuthentication: It
authenticates the sender or
receiver's message or both.

Network Application
Architecture
Application architecture is
different from the network
architecture. The network
architecture is fixed and
provides a set of services to
applications. The application
architecture, on the other hand,
is designed by the application
developer and defines
how the application should be
structured over the various end
system
5.1. Domainnamesystem:
• DNSstandsforDomainNameSystem.
• DNSisadirectoryservicethatprovidesamappingbetweenthenameofahostonthenetwork and its
 numerical address.
• DNSisrequiredforthefunctioningoftheinternet.
• Eachnodeinatreehasadomainname,andafulldomainnameisa sequenceofsymbols specified
by dots.
• DNS is a service that translates the domain name into IP addresses. This allows the users of
networkstoutilizeuser-friendlynameswhenlookingforotherhostsinsteadofrememberingthe IP
addresses.
• For example, suppose the FTP site at EduSoft had an IP address of 132.147.165.50, most people
wouldreachthissitebyspecifyingftp.EduSoft.com.Therefore,thedomainnameismorereliable than IP
address.
TypesofDomainNameSystem.:
1. Genericdomain:.com:(commercial).edu(educational) .mil(military) .org(non profit organization)
.net(similartocommercial)allthesearegenericdomain.

2. Countrydomain:.in(India).us(unitedstates).uk

3. Inverse domain: if we want to know what is the domain name of the website. Ip to domain name
mapping. So DNS can provide both the mapping for example to find the ip addresses ofgeeksforgeeks.org
then we have to type nslookup www.geeksforgeeks.org
Hierarchy of NameServers

• Root name servers – It is contacted by name servers that can not resolve the name. It contacts
authoritative name server if name mapping is not known. It then gets the mapping and return the
IP address to the host.

• Top level server – It is responsible for com, org, edu etc and all top level country domains like
uk, fr, ca, in etc. They have info about authoritative domain servers and know names and IP
addresses of each authoritative name server for the second level domains.

• Authoritative name serversThis is organization’s DNS server, providing authoritative

hostName toIP mappingfor organization servers. It can be maintainedbyorganization or service
provider. In order to reach cse.dtu.in we have to ask the root DNS server, then it will point out to
the top level domain server and then to authoritative domain name server which actually contains
the IP address. So the authoritative domain server will return the associative ip address.

Working of DNS
 DNS is a client/server network communication protocol. DNS clients send requests to the server while
DNS servers send responses to the client.
 Client requests contain a name which is converted into an IP address known as a forward DNS lookups
while requests containing an IP address which is converted into a name known as reverse DNS
lookups.
 DNS implements a distributed database to store the name of all the hosts available on the internet.
 If a client like a web browser sends a request containing a hostname, then a piece ofsoftware such as
 DNS resolver sends a request to the DNS server to obtain the IP addressof a hostname. If DNS server
does not contain the IP address associated with a hostname,then it forwards the request to another DNS
server. If IP address has arrived at theresolver, which in turn completes the request over the internet
protocol
5.1.1 TheDnsNameSpace
Internet is divided it several hundred top level domains, where each domain covers many
hosts.Eachdomainispartitionedintosubdomains,thesearefurtherpartitionedandsoon.ThusD
NSisimplementedusingatreeinwhicheachnoderepresentsonepossiblelabelofupto63characte
rs.
The root of the tree is a special node with new label as shown in fig. Any comparison of
labelconsidersuppercaseandlower-casecharactersthesamei.e.,Domainnamesarecaseinsensitive.
Theleaves ofthetreerepresentacompany/organizationandcontainthousandsofhosts.
Each domain is named by the path from it to the unnamed root. The components in thename are
separated by periods (dots), that is domain name of any node in the tree is the list oflabelsstartingatthenode,
workinguptotherootusingtheperiod (dot)separatethelabels.
The domain names that ends with a period is called an absolute domain name or
fullyqualifieddomainname(FQDN).Anexample isvax.ugc,central.edu.
If domain does not end with a period, it is assumed that the name needs to be completed.
How thename is completed on the DNS software being used. If the incomplete names consist
of two ormorelabels,itmightbeconsidered tobecomplete.Otherwise,localaddition
mightbeaddedtotherightofthename.Thename vaxmightbecompleted
byaddingthelocalsuffix.ugc.central.edu.
The right most label in the name corresponds to the level of the tree closest to the root(lowest), and
left-most to the level farthest from the root(highest).The tree is divided into threedomains:
generic,countryand reverseas shownin fig.

5.1.2 DOMAIN RESOURCE RECORDS

Every domain in the DNS tree maintains a set of Resource Records, which are connected to
it.For a leaf node i.e., single host, the most common resource record is its IP address. When
aresolver gives a name to DNS, it gets back called as resource records associated with
thatname.
Theoriginal functionofaDNSistomapdomain namesontotheresourcerecords.
Aresourcerecordis afive tuple, inASCII texttheyare representedasDomain-

name Time-tolive type classvalue.

• Thedomain-nametellsthedomaintowhichthisrecordbelongs.Thisistheprimary
searchkeyusedtosatisfyqueries.
• The time-to live field gives information regarding the stability of the record. A large valuesuch as
86-400(number of seconds in one day) indicates that the information is highlystable. The small
value such as 60(1 minute) indicates thatthe information is highlyvolatile.
• The type of field tells what kind of record it is, some of the type records are listed in table5.3.
 S.No Type Meaning Value
1. SoA StartofAuthority Parameterforthiszone32bi
2. A IPaddressofahostMail tinteger
3. Mx ExchangeName Priority
4. NS ServerCanonical NameoftheserverforthisdomainDomai
5. CNAME namePointer nName
6. PTRTX Text Alias for an IP
7. T addressUninterpretedASCI
I text

1. The SOA record provides name of the primary source of information about (a) nameservers zone
(b) e-mail address of its administration (c) various flags and (d) various timeouts.
2. The record A, holds a 32 bit IP address of the host. If a host connects two or
morenetworks,eachcaseithasonetypeof aresourcerecordpernetworkconnection.
3. The MX record specifies the name of domain prepared to accept e-mail for the
specifieddomain.Itallowsthehostthatisnotontheinternettoreceivee-mailfrominternetsites.
4. NSrecordspecifiesNameserver.
5. CNAMErecordspecifiesallowsthealiasestobecreated.
6. PTRisaregularDNSdatatypewhoseinterpretationdependsonthecontextonwhichitisfound.
7. TheTXTrecordallowsdomainstoidentifythemselvesinarbitrarywayi.e.,itisforuserconvenience.

5.1.3 NAME SERVERS

In theory at least, a single name server could contain the entire DNS database and respond to all queries
about it. In practice, this server would be so overloaded as to be useless. Furthermore, if it ever went down, the
entire Internet would be crippled. To avoid the problems associated with having only a single source of
information, the DNS name space is divided into nonoverlapping zones. One possible way to divide the name
space of Fig. 7-1 is shown in Fig. 7-5. Each circled zone contains some part of the tree.
The process of looking up a name and finding an address is called name resolution. When a resolver has a query about a
domain name, it passes the query to a local name server. If the domain being sought falls under the jurisdiction of the
name server, such as top.cs.vu.nl falling under cs.vu.nl, it returns the authoritative resource records. An authoritative
record is one that comes from the authority that manages the record and is thus always correct. Authoritative records are
in contrast to cached records, which may be out of date. What happens when the domain is remote, such as when
flits.cs.vu.nl wants to find the IP address of robot.cs.washington.edu at UW (University of Washington)? In this case,
and if there is no cached information about the domain available locally, the name server begins a remote query. This
query follows the process shown in Fig. 7-6. Step 1 shows the query that is sent to the local name server. The query
contains the domain name sought, the type (A), and the class(IN).

5.2Electronic Mail:
 1.Architecture and services
2.The user agent
3.Message formats
4.Message transfer
5.Final delivery

1.Architecture and services:

In this section, we will provide an overview of how email systems are organized
and what they can do. The architecture of the email system is shown in Fig. 7-7. It consists of two kinds of subsystems:
the user agents, which allow people to read and send email, and the message transfer agents, which move the messages
from the source to the destination. We will also refer to message transfer agents informally as mail servers.

The user agent is a program that provides a graphical interface, or sometimes a text- and command-based
interface that lets users interact with the email system. It includes a means to compose messages and replies to messages,
display incoming messages, and organize messages by filing, searching, and discarding them. The act of sending new
messages into the mail system for delivery is called mail submission.

The message transfer agents are typically system processes. They run in the background on mail server machines
and are intended to be always available. Their job is to automatically move email through the system from the originator
to the recipient with SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol). This is the message transfer step
TheUser Agent:
Message Formats:

Electronic Mail (e-mail) is one of the most widely used services of the Internet. This
service allows an Internet user to send a message in a formatted manner (mail) to other
Internet users in any part of the world. Message in the mail not only contain text, but it also
contains images, audio and videos data. The person who is sending mail is
called sender and person who receives mail is called the recipient. It is just like postal
mail service.

Format of E-mail :
An e-mail consists of three parts that are as follows :
1. Envelope
2. Header
3. Body
These are explained as following below.
1. Envelope :
The envelope part encapsulates the message. It contains all information that is required for
sending any e-mail such as destination address, priority and security level. The envelope is
used by MTAs for routing message.

2. Header :
The header consists of a series of lines. Each header field consists of a single line of ASCII
text specifying field name, colon and value. The main header fields related to message
transport are :
1. To: It specifies the DNS address of the primary recipient(s).
2. Cc : It refers to carbon copy. It specifies address of secondary recipient(s).
3. BCC: It refers to blind carbon copy. It is very similar to Cc. The only difference between
Cc and Bcc is that it allow user to send copy to the third party without primary and
secondary recipient knowing about this.
4. From : It specifies name of person who wrote message.
5. Sender : It specifies e-mail address of person who has sent message.
6. Received : It refers to identity of sender’s, data and also time message was received. It
also contains the information which is used to find bugs in routing system.
7. Return-Path: It is added by the message transfer agent. This part is used to specify
how to get back to the sender.
3. Body:- The body of a message contains text that is the actual content/message that
needs to be sent, such as “Employees who are eligible for the new health care program
should contact their supervisors by next Friday if they want to switch.” The message body
also may include signatures or automatically generated text that is inserted by the sender’s
email system.
The above-discussed field is represented in tabular form as follows :
 Header Meaning

To: E-mail address of primary receipt(s).

Cc: E-mail address of secondary receipt(s).

Bcc: E-mail address for blind carbon copies.

From: Person or people who have created a message.

Sender: E-mail address of the actual sender.

Received: It is used to specify how to get back to the sender.

It can be used to identify a path back to the

Return-Path
sender.
In addition to above-discussed fields, the header may also contain a variety of other fields
which are as follows :

Header Meaning

Date: Date and time when the message was sent.

Reply-To: It contains e-mail address to which replies should be sent.

It refers to the unique number for referencing this message

Message-Id:
later.

In-Reply-To: Message-Id of a message to which this is as a reply.

References: It contains other relevant message-ids.

Keywords: User-chosen keywords.

Subject: It contains short summary of message for one-line display.

5.3.SMTP(SimpleMailTransferProtocol):
5.4:WorldWide Web

• Architecturaloverview
 • Static webpages
• Dynamicwebpages,webapplications
• Thehypertext transferprotocol
• Themobileweb
• Web search
The WWW today is a distributed client/server service, in which a client using a
browser can access a service using a server. However, the service provided is
distributed over many locations called sites.Client (Browser) A variety of vendors
offer commercial browsers that interpret and display a Web document, and all use
nearly the same architecture. Each browser usually consists of three parts: a
controller, client protocol, and interpreters.
ArchitectureofWWW:

5.5.HTTP—TheHyperTextTransferProtocol:
HTTP is a simple request-response protocol that normally runs over TCP. It
specifies what messages clients may send to servers and what responses they get
back in return. The request and response headers are given in ASCII, just like in
SMTP. The contents are given in a MIME-like format, also like in SMTP. This
simple model was partly responsible for the early success of the Web because it
made development and deployment straightforward.
5.6Digital audio
5.7. Digitalvideo
Digitalvideoisanelectronicrepresentationofmovingvisualimagesintheformof
encodeddigital data This is in contrast toanalog video, which represents moving
visualimagesintheformof analogsignals.Digitalvideocomprisesaseries of digital
images displayed in rapid succession.
1. INTRODUCTION
Wecandivideaudioandvideoservicesintothreebroadcategories:streamingstoredaudio/video,
streaming live audio/video, and interactive audio/video. Streaming means a user canlisten(or
watch)thefileafterthedownloadinghas started.

In the first category, streaming stored audio/video, the files are compressed and stored on
aserver. A client downloads the files through the Internet. This is sometimes referred to as on-
demandaudio/video. In the second category, streaming live audio/video refers to the broadcasting of
radioand TV programs through the Internet. In the third category, interactive audio/video refers to
the useof the Internet for interactive audio/video applications. A good example of this application is
InternettelephonyandInternetteleconferencing.

2. STREAMINGSTOREDAUDIO/VIDEO
Downloading these types of files from a server can be different from downloading other types offiles.
2.1. FirstApproach:UsingaWebServer
A compressed audio/video file can be downloaded as a text file. The client (browser) can use theservices of
HTTP and send a GET message to download the file. The Web server can send thecompressed file to the
browser. The browser can then use a help application, normally called a mediaplayer, to playthefile. Thefileneeds
to download completelybeforeit can beplayed.

2.2. SecondApproach:UsingaWebServerwithMetafile
In another approach, the media player is directly connected to the Web server for downloading
theaudio/video file. The Web server stores two files: the actual audio/video file and a metafile that
holdsinformationabout the audio/video file.
1. TheHTTPclient accessesthe Webserver usingtheGET message.
2. Theinformation about themetafilecomes in theresponse.
3. Themetafileispassed tothemediaplayer.
4. Themediaplayer uses theURLinthemetafiletoaccess theaudio/video file.
5. TheWeb serverresponds.
2.3. ThirdApproach:UsingaMediaServer
The problem with the second approach is that the browser and the media player both use
theservices of HTTP. HTTP is designed to run over TCP. This is appropriate for retrieving the metafile,
butnot for retrieving the audio/video file. The reason is that TCP retransmits a lost or damaged
segment,which is counter to the philosophy of streaming. We need to dismiss TCP and its error
control; weneed to use UDP. However, HTTP, which accesses the Web server, and the Web server itself
aredesignedforTCP;weneedanotherserver,amediaserver.

1. TheHTTPclient accessestheWebserverusinga GETmessage.

2. Theinformation about themetafilecomes in theresponse.
3. Themetafileispassed tothemediaplayer.
4. ThemediaplayerusestheURLinthemetafiletoaccessthemediaservertodownloadthefile.Downloadin
gcan takeplacebyanyprotocol thatuses UDP.
5. Themediaserver responds.

2.4. FourthApproach:UsingaMediaServerandRTSP
TheReal-
TimeStreamingProtocol(RTSP)isacontrolprotocoldesignedtoaddmorefunctionalitiestothestreamingprocess.Usin
gRTSP,wecancontroltheplayingofaudio/video.Figure5showsamedia serverandRTSP.
1. TheHTTPclientaccessestheWebserverusinga GETmessage.
2. Theinformation about themetafilecomes in theresponse.
3. Themetafileispassed tothemediaplayer.
4. Themediaplayersends a SETUPmessagetocreateaconnectionwith the mediaserver.
5. Themediaserver responds.
6. Themediaplayersends a PLAYmessageto start playing(downloading).
7. Theaudio/video fileis downloadedusinganotherprotocol thatruns over UDP.
8. TheconnectionisbrokenusingtheTEARDOWN message.
9. Themediaserver responds.
1. STREAMINGLIVEMEDIA :
Streaming live audio/video is similar to the broadcasting of audio and video by radio and TVstations. Instead
of broadcasting to the air, the stations broadcast through the Internet. There areseveral similarities between
streaming stored audio/video and streaming live audio/video. They areboth sensitive to delay; neither can accept
retransmission. However, there is a difference. In the firstapplication,thecommunicationisunicastandon-
demand.Inthesecond,thecommunicationismulticastandlive.LivestreamingisbettersuitedtothemulticastservicesofIPa
ndtheuseofprotocols suchas UDPandRTP.
Examples:InternetRadio,InternetTelevision(ITV),Internetprotocoltelevision(IPTV)
5.8. Real-TimeConferencing:

Real-time communications (RTC) is any mode of telecommunicationsin which all users can
exchange information instantly or with negligible latencyor transmission delays. In this context,
the term real-time is synonymous with live.