Chapter 2: Application layer

 2.1 Principles of  2.6 P2P applications

network applications  2.7 Socket programming
 2.2 Web and HTTP with TCP
 2.3 FTP  2.8 Socket programming
 2.4 Electronic Mail with UDP
 SMTP, POP3, IMAP
 2.5 DNS

2: Application Layer 1
Chapter 2: Application Layer
Our goals:  learn about protocols
 conceptual, by examining popular
implementation application-level
aspects of network protocols
application protocols  HTTP
 transport-layer  FTP
service models  SMTP / POP3 / IMAP
 client-server
 DNS
 programming network
paradigm
 peer-to-peer applications
paradigm  socket API

2: Application Layer 2
Some network apps
 e-mail  voice over IP
 web  real-time video
 instant messaging conferencing
 remote login  grid computing
 P2P file sharing
 multi-user network
games
 streaming stored video
clips

2: Application Layer 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 application
transport
No need to write software network
data link

for network-core devices

application
physical
transport
network
 Network-core devices do data link
physical

not run user applications

 applications on end systems
allows for rapid app
development, propagation
2: Application Layer 4
Chapter 2: Application layer
 2.1 Principles of  2.6 P2P applications
network applications  2.7 Socket programming
 2.2 Web and HTTP with TCP
 2.3 FTP  2.8 Socket programming
 2.4 Electronic Mail with UDP
 SMTP, POP3, IMAP  2.9 Building a Web
 2.5 DNS server

2: Application Layer 5
Application architectures
 Client-server
 Peer-to-peer (P2P)
 Hybrid of client-server and P2P

2: Application Layer 6
Client-server architecture
server:
 always-on host
 permanent IP address
 server farms for scaling

clients:
 communicate with server
 may be intermittently
client/server connected
 may have dynamic IP
addresses
 do not communicate directly
with each other

2: Application Layer 7
Pure P2P architecture
 no always-on server
 arbitrary end systems
directly communicate peer-peer
 peers are intermittently
connected and change IP
addresses

Highly scalable but

difficult to manage

2: Application Layer 8
Hybrid of client-server and P2P
Skype
 voice-over-IP P2P application
 centralized server: finding address of remote
party:
 client-client connection: direct (not through
server)
Instant messaging
 chatting between two users is P2P
 centralized service: client presence
detection/location
• user registers its IP address with central
server when it comes online
• user contacts central server to find IP
addresses of buddies
2: Application Layer 9
Processes communicating
Process: program running Client process: process
within a host. that initiates
 within same host, two communication
processes communicate Server process: process
using inter-process that waits to be
communication (defined contacted
by OS).
 processes in different  Note: applications with
hosts communicate by P2P architectures have
exchanging messages client processes &
server processes

2: Application Layer 10
 Sockets
host or host or
 process sends/receives server
server
messages to/from its
socket controlled by
app developer
 socket analogous to door process process

 sending process shoves socket socket

message out door TCP with TCP with

buffers, Internet buffers,
 sending process relies on variables variables
transport infrastructure
on other side of door which
controlled
brings message to socket by OS
at receiving process
 API: (1) choice of transport protocol; (2) ability to fix
a few parameters
2: Application Layer 11
Addressing processes
 to receive messages,
process must have
identifier
 host device has unique
32-bit IP address
 Q: does IP address of
host suffice for
identifying the process?

2: Application Layer 12
Addressing processes
 to receive messages,  identifier includes both
process must have IP address and port
identifier numbers associated with
 host device has unique process on host.
32-bit IP address  Example port numbers:
 Q: does IP address of  HTTP server: 80
host on which process  Mail server: 25
runs suffice for  to send HTTP message
identifying the process? to gaia.cs.umass.edu web
 A: No, many server:
processes can be  IP address: 128.119.245.12
running on same host  Port number: 80

2: Application Layer 13
App-layer protocol defines
 Types of messages Public-domain protocols:
exchanged,  defined in RFCs
 e.g., request, response  allows for
 Message syntax: interoperability
 what fields in messages &
 e.g., HTTP, SMTP
how fields are delineated
 Message semantics Proprietary protocols:
 e.g., Skype
 meaning of information in
fields
 Rules for when and how
processes send &
respond to messages
2: Application Layer 14
 What transport service does an app need?
Data loss
 some apps (e.g., audio) can
tolerate some loss
 other apps (e.g., file
transfer, telnet) require
100% reliable data
transfer
Timing
 some apps (e.g.,
Internet telephony,
interactive games)
require low delay to be
“effective”
Throughput
 some apps (e.g.,
multimedia) require
minimum amount of
throughput to be
“effective”
 other apps (“elastic apps”)
make use of whatever
throughput they get
2: Application Layer 15
 Transport service requirements of 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-10 kbps yes, 100’s msec
instant messaging no loss elastic yes and no

2: Application Layer 16
Internet transport protocols services
TCP service:
 connection-oriented: setup
required between client and
server processes
 reliable transport between
sending and receiving process
 flow control: sender won’t
overwhelm receiver
 congestion control: throttle
sender when network
overloaded
 does not provide: timing,
minimum throughput
guarantees, security
UDP service:
 unreliable data transfer
between sending and
receiving process
 does not provide:
connection setup,
reliability, flow control,
congestion control, timing,
throughput guarantee, or
security
Q: why bother? Why is
there a UDP?
2: Application Layer 17
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 (eg Youtube), TCP or UDP
RTP [RFC 1889]
Internet telephony SIP, RTP, proprietary
(e.g., Skype) typically UDP

2: Application Layer 18
Chapter 2: Application layer
 2.1 Principles of  2.6 P2P applications
network applications  2.7 Socket programming
 app architectures with TCP
 app requirements  2.8 Socket programming
 2.2 Web and HTTP
with UDP
 2.4 Electronic Mail
 SMTP, POP3, IMAP
 2.5 DNS

2: Application Layer 19
Web and HTTP
First some jargon
 Web page consists of objects
 Object can be HTML file, JPEG image, Java
applet, audio file,…
 Web page consists of base HTML-file which
includes several referenced objects
 Each object is addressable by a URL
 Example URL:

www.someschool.edu/someDept/pic.gif

host name path name

2: Application Layer 20
HTTP overview

HTTP: hypertext
transfer protocol HT
TP
r
equ
 Web’s application layer PC running HT est
TP
protocol Explorer res
pon
se
 client/server model
 client: browser that
e st
u
requests, receives, P r eq se Server
T o n
“displays” Web objects HT r es
p running
T P Apache Web
 server: Web server HT
server
sends objects in
response to requests
Mac running
Navigator

2: Application Layer 21
HTTP overview (continued)
Uses TCP:
 client initiates TCP
connection (creates socket)
to server, port 80
 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
HTTP is “stateless”
 server maintains no
information about
past client requests
aside
Protocols that maintain
“state” are complex!
 past history (state) must
be maintained
 if server/client crashes,
their views of “state” may
be inconsistent, must be
reconciled
2: Application Layer 22
HTTP connections
Nonpersistent HTTP Persistent HTTP
 At most one object is  Multiple objects can
sent over a TCP be sent over single
connection. TCP connection
between client and
server.

2: Application Layer 23
 Nonpersistent HTTP
Suppose user enters URL www.someSchool.edu/someDepartment/home.index
1a. HTTP client initiates TCP
connection to HTTP server
(process) at
www.someSchool.edu on port 80
2. HTTP client sends HTTP
request message (containing
URL) into TCP connection
socket. Message indicates
that client wants object
someDepartment/home.index
time
(contains text,
references to 10
jpeg images)
1b. HTTP server at host
www.someSchool.edu waiting
for TCP connection at port 80.
“accepts” connection,
notifying client
3. HTTP server receives request
message, forms response
message containing requested
object, and sends message
into its socket
2: Application Layer 24
 Nonpersistent 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

2: Application Layer 25
Non-Persistent HTTP: Response time
Definition of RTT: time for a
small packet to travel from
client to server and back.
Response time: initiate TCP
connection
 one RTT to initiate TCP
RTT
connection
request
 one RTT for HTTP request file
time to
and first few bytes of RTT
transmit
HTTP response to return file
file
 file transmission time received
total = 2RTT+transmit time
time time

2: Application Layer 26
Persistent HTTP
Nonpersistent HTTP issues:
 requires 2 RTTs per object
 OS overhead for each TCP
connection
 browsers often open parallel
TCP connections to fetch
referenced objects
Persistent HTTP
 server leaves connection
open after sending
response
 subsequent HTTP messages
between same
client/server sent over
open connection
 client sends requests as
soon as it encounters a
referenced object
 as little as one RTT for all
the referenced objects
2: Application Layer 27
 HTTP request message
 two types of HTTP messages: request, response
 HTTP request message:
 ASCII (human-readable format)

request line
(GET, POST, GET /somedir/page.html HTTP/1.1
HEAD commands) Host: www.someschool.edu
User-agent: Mozilla/4.0
header Connection: close
lines Accept-language:fr

Carriage return,
line feed (extra carriage return, line feed)
indicates end
of message
2: Application Layer 28
HTTP request message: general format

2: Application Layer 29
Uploading form input
Post method:
 Web page often
includes form input URL method:
 Input is uploaded to  Uses GET method
server in entity body  Input is uploaded in
URL field of request
line:

www.somesite.com/animalsearch?monkeys&banana

2: Application Layer 30
Method types
HTTP/1.0 HTTP/1.1
 GET  GET, POST, HEAD
 POST  PUT
 HEAD  uploads file in entity
body to path specified
 asks server to leave
in URL field
requested object out of
response  DELETE
 deletes file specified in
the URL field

2: Application Layer 31
HTTP response message
status line
(protocol
status code HTTP/1.1 200 OK
status phrase) Connection close
Date: Thu, 06 Aug 1998 12:00:15 GMT
header Server: Apache/1.3.0 (Unix)
lines Last-Modified: Mon, 22 Jun 1998 …...
Content-Length: 6821
Content-Type: text/html

data, e.g., data data data data data ...

requested
HTML file

2: Application Layer 32
HTTP response status codes
In first line in server->client response message.
A few sample codes:
200 OK
 request succeeded, requested object later in this message
301 Moved Permanently
 requested object moved, new location specified later in
this message (Location:)
400 Bad Request
 request message not understood by server
404 Not Found
 requested document not found on this server
505 HTTP Version Not Supported
2: Application Layer 33
 Trying out HTTP (client side) for yourself

1. Telnet to your favorite Web server:

telnet cis.poly.edu 80 Opens TCP connection to port 80
(default HTTP server port) at cis.poly.edu.
Anything typed in sent
to port 80 at cis.poly.edu

2. Type in a GET HTTP request:

GET /~ross/ HTTP/1.1 By typing this in (hit carriage
Host: cis.poly.edu return twice), you send
this minimal (but complete)
GET request to HTTP server

3. Look at response message sent by HTTP server!

2: Application Layer 34
User-server state: cookies
Example:
Many major Web sites
 Susan always access
use cookies
Internet always from PC
Four components:
 visits specific e-
1) cookie header line of
HTTP response message commerce site for first
2) cookie header line in time
HTTP request message  when initial HTTP
3) cookie file kept on
user’s host, managed by requests arrives at site,
user’s browser site creates:
4) back-end database at  unique ID
Web site
 entry in backend
database for ID

2: Application Layer 35
 Cookies: keeping “state” (cont.)
client server
ebay 8734
usual http request msg
Amazon server
cookie file usual http response creates ID
Set-cookie: 1678 1678 for user create
ebay 8734 entry
amazon 1678
usual http request msg
cookie: 1678 cookie- access
specific
one week later: usual http response msg action backend
database
access
ebay 8734 usual http request msg
amazon 1678 cookie: 1678 cookie-
spectific
usual http response msg action

2: Application Layer 36
Cookies (continued)
aside
What cookies can bring: Cookies and privacy:
 authorization  cookies permit sites to
 shopping carts learn a lot about you
 you may supply name
 recommendations
and e-mail to sites
 user session state
(Web e-mail)
How to keep “state”:
 protocol endpoints: maintain state
at sender/receiver over multiple
transactions
 cookies: http messages carry state

2: Application Layer 37
 Web caches (proxy server)
Goal: satisfy client request without involving origin server

 user sets browser: Web origin

server
accesses via cache
 browser sends all HTTP Proxy
HT
requests to cache TP
req server q uest
H u P re
T
client TP e st T T o n se
 object in cache: cache res H
r es
p
pon P
returns object se H TT
e st
 else cache requests r eq
u
object from origin server, T P o nse
HT p
r es
then returns object to T TP
client H

client
origin
server

2: Application Layer 38
More about Web caching
 cache acts as both Why Web caching?
client and server  reduce response time
 typically cache is for client request
installed by ISP  reduce traffic on an
(university, company, institution’s access
residential ISP) link.
 Internet dense with
caches: enables “poor”
content providers to
effectively deliver
content (but so does
P2P file sharing)
2: Application Layer 39
Caching example
origin
Assumptions servers
 average object size = 100,000
bits public
Internet
 avg. request rate from
institution’s browsers to origin
servers = 15/sec
 delay from institutional router to 1.5 Mbps
any origin server and back to access link
router = 2 sec
institutional
Consequences network
10 Mbps LAN
 utilization on LAN = 15%
 utilization on access link = 100%
 total delay = Internet delay + access
delay + LAN delay institutional
= 2 sec + minutes + milliseconds cache

2: Application Layer 40
Caching example (cont)
origin
possible solution servers
 increase bandwidth of access
public
link to, say, 10 Mbps Internet
consequence
 utilization on LAN = 15%
 utilization on access link = 15% 10 Mbps
 Total delay = Internet delay + access link
access delay + LAN delay institutional
= 2 sec + msecs + msecs network
10 Mbps LAN
 often a costly upgrade

institutional
cache

2: Application Layer 41
Caching example (cont)
origin
possible solution: install servers
cache public
 suppose hit rate is 0.4 Internet
consequence
 40% requests will be
satisfied almost immediately
 60% requests satisfied by 1.5 Mbps
access link
origin server
 utilization of access link institutional
reduced to 60%, resulting in network
10 Mbps LAN
negligible delays (say 10
msec)
 total avg delay = Internet
delay + access delay + LAN institutional
delay = .6*(2.01) secs + . cache
4*milliseconds < 1.4 secs

2: Application Layer 42
 Conditional GET

 Goal: don’t send object if cache server

cache has up-to-date cached HTTP request msg
version If-modified-since:
object
 cache: specify date of <date>
not
cached copy in HTTP request modified
HTTP response
If-modified-since: HTTP/1.0
<date> 304 Not Modified
 server: response contains no
object if cached copy is up-
HTTP request msg
to-date: If-modified-since:
HTTP/1.0 304 Not <date> object
Modified modified
HTTP response
HTTP/1.0 200 OK
<data>
2: Application Layer 43
Chapter 2: Application layer
 2.1 Principles of  2.6 P2P applications
network applications  2.7 Socket programming
 2.2 Web and HTTP with TCP
 2.3 FTP  2.8 Socket programming
 2.4 Electronic Mail with UDP
 SMTP, POP3, IMAP  2.9 Building a Web
 2.5 DNS server

2: Application Layer 44
FTP: the file transfer protocol

FTP file transfer

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: RFC 959
 ftp server: port 21

2: Application Layer 45
FTP: separate control, data connections
TCP control connection
 FTP client contacts FTP server port 21
at port 21, TCP is transport
protocol TCP data connection
 client authorized over control FTP port 20 FTP
connection client server
 client browses remote  server opens another TCP
directory by sending commands
data connection to transfer
over control connection.
another file.
 when server receives file  control connection: “out of
transfer command, server
band”
opens 2nd TCP connection (for
 FTP server maintains “state”:
file) to client
current directory, earlier
 after transferring one file,
authentication
server closes data connection.
2: Application Layer 46
FTP commands, responses
Sample commands:
 sent as ASCII text over
control channel
 USER username
 PASS password
 LIST return list of file in
current directory
 RETR filename retrieves
(gets) file
 STOR filename stores
(puts) file onto remote
host
Sample return codes
 status code and phrase (as
in HTTP)
 331 Username OK,
password required
 125 data connection
already open;
transfer starting
 425 Can’t open data
connection
 452 Error writing
file
2: Application Layer 47
Chapter 2: Application layer
 2.1 Principles of  2.6 P2P applications
network applications  2.7 Socket programming
 2.2 Web and HTTP with TCP
 2.3 FTP  2.8 Socket programming
 2.4 Electronic Mail with UDP
 SMTP, POP3, IMAP
 2.5 DNS

2: Application Layer 48
Electronic Mail outgoing
message queue
user mailbox
user
Three major components: agent
 user agents mail
user
 mail servers server
agent
 simple mail transfer protocol:
SMTP mail
SMTP
server user

User Agent SMTP agent

 a.k.a. “mail reader”

SMTP
 composing, editing, reading mail user
agent
mail messages server
 e.g., Eudora, Outlook, elm,
user
Mozilla Thunderbird
agent
 outgoing, incoming messages user
stored on server agent

2: Application Layer 49
Electronic Mail: mail servers
user
Mail Servers agent
 mailbox contains incoming
mail
user
messages for user server
agent
 message queue of outgoing
SMTP
(to be sent) mail messages mail
server user
 SMTP protocol between mail
servers to send email
SMTP agent

messages SMTP
 client: sending mail mail user
agent
server server
 “server”: receiving mail
user
server agent
user
agent

2: Application Layer 50
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
 commands: ASCII text
 response: status code and phrase

 messages must be in 7-bit ASCII

2: Application Layer 51
Scenario: Alice sends message to Bob
1) Alice uses UA to compose
message and “to”
bob@someschool.edu
2) Alice’s UA sends message
to her mail server; message
placed in message queue
3) Client side of SMTP opens
TCP connection with Bob’s
mail server
4) SMTP client sends Alice’s
message over the TCP
connection
5) Bob’s mail server places the
message in Bob’s mailbox
6) Bob invokes his user agent
to read message

1 mail
mail
server user
user server
2 agent
agent 3 6
4 5

2: Application Layer 52
Sample SMTP interaction
S: 220 hamburger.edu
C: HELO crepes.fr
S: 250 Hello crepes.fr, pleased to meet you
C: MAIL FROM: <alice@crepes.fr>
S: 250 alice@crepes.fr... Sender ok
C: RCPT TO: <bob@hamburger.edu>
S: 250 bob@hamburger.edu ... 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

2: Application Layer 53
SMTP: final words
 SMTP uses persistent
connections
 SMTP requires message
(header & body) to be in 7-
bit ASCII
 SMTP server uses
CRLF.CRLF to determine
end of message
Comparison with HTTP:
 HTTP: pull
 SMTP: push
 both have ASCII
command/response
interaction, status codes
 HTTP: each object
encapsulated in its own
response msg
 SMTP: multiple objects
sent in multipart msg
2: Application Layer 54
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

commands!
 body
 the “message”, ASCII
characters only

2: Application Layer 55
 Message format: multimedia extensions
 Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME):
multimedia mail extension, RFC 2045, 2056
 additional lines in msg header declare MIME content
type
From: alice@crepes.fr
MIME version To: bob@hamburger.edu
Subject: Picture of yummy crepe.
method used MIME-Version: 1.0
to encode data Content-Transfer-Encoding: base64
Content-Type: image/jpeg
multimedia data
type, subtype, base64 encoded data .....
parameter declaration .........................
......base64 encoded data
encoded data

2: Application Layer 56
Mail access protocols
SMTP SMTP access user
user
agent protocol agent

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 (agent <-->server) and download
 IMAP: Internet Mail Access Protocol [RFC 1730]
• more features (more complex)
• manipulation of stored msgs on server
 HTTP: gmail, Hotmail, Yahoo! Mail, etc.

2: Application Layer 57
Chapter 2: Application layer
 2.1 Principles of  2.6 P2P applications
network applications  2.7 Socket programming
 2.2 Web and HTTP with TCP
 2.3 FTP  2.8 Socket programming
 2.4 Electronic Mail with UDP
 SMTP, POP3, IMAP  2.9 Building a Web
 2.5 DNS server

2: Application Layer 58
DNS: Domain Name System

People: many identifiers: Domain Name System:

 SSN, name, passport #  distributed database
Internet hosts, routers: implemented in hierarchy of
many name servers
 IP address (32 bit) -  application-layer protocol
used for addressing
host, routers, name servers to
datagrams
communicate to resolve names
 “name”, e.g., (address/name translation)
ww.yahoo.com - used by
 note: core Internet
humans
function, implemented as
Q: map between IP application-layer protocol
addresses and name ?  complexity at network’s
“edge”

2: Application Layer 59
 DNS
DNS services
 hostname to IP
address translation
 host aliasing
 Canonical, alias names
 mail server aliasing
 load distribution
 replicated Web servers:
set of IP addresses for
one canonical name
Why not centralize DNS?
 single point of failure
 traffic volume
 distant centralized
database
 maintenance
doesn’t scale!
2: Application Layer 60
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 a 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
2: Application Layer 61
 DNS: Root name servers
 contacted by local name server that can not resolve name
 root name server:
 contacts authoritative name server if name mapping not known
 gets mapping
 returns mapping to local name server
a Verisign, Dulles, VA
c Cogent, Herndon, VA (also LA)
d U Maryland College Park, MD k RIPE London (also 16 other locations)
g US DoD Vienna, VA
h ARL Aberdeen, MD i Autonomica, Stockholm (plus
j Verisign, ( 21 locations) 28 other locations)
e NASA Mt View, CA m WIDE Tokyo (also Seoul,
f Internet Software C. Palo Alto, Paris, SF)
CA (and 36 other locations)

13 root name
servers worldwide
b USC-ISI Marina del Rey, CA
l ICANN Los Angeles, CA

2: Application Layer 62
TLD and Authoritative Servers
 Top-level domain (TLD) servers:
 responsible for com, org, net, edu, etc, and all
top-level country domains uk, fr, ca, jp.
 Network Solutions maintains servers for com TLD
 Educause for edu TLD
 Authoritative DNS servers:
 organization’s DNS servers, providing
authoritative hostname to IP mappings for
organization’s servers (e.g., Web, mail).
 can be maintained by organization or service
provider

2: Application Layer 63
Local 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
 acts as proxy, forwards query into hierarchy

2: Application Layer 64
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

iterated query: local DNS server

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

gaia.cs.umass.edu

2: Application Layer 65
DNS name
resolution example root DNS server

recursive query: 2 3
 puts burden of name
7 6
resolution on
TLD DNS server
contacted name
server
 heavy load? local DNS server
dns.poly.edu 5 4

1 8

authoritative DNS server

dns.cs.umass.edu
requesting host
cis.poly.edu

gaia.cs.umass.edu

2: Application Layer 66
DNS: caching and updating records
 once (any) name server learns mapping, it caches
mapping
 cache entries timeout (disappear) after some
time
 TLD servers typically cached in local name
servers
• Thus root name servers not often visited
 update/notify mechanisms under design by IETF
 RFC 2136
 http://www.ietf.org/html.charters/dnsind-charter.html

2: Application Layer 67
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. foo.com)
servereast.backup2.ibm.com
 value is hostname of
 value is canonical name
authoritative name server
 Type=MX
for this domain
 value is name of mailserver
associated with name

2: Application Layer 68
DNS protocol, messages
DNS protocol : query and reply messages, both with same message format

msg header
 identification: 16 bit #
for query, reply to query
uses same #
 flags:
 query or reply
 recursion desired
 recursion available
 reply is authoritative

2: Application Layer 69
DNS protocol, messages

Name, type fields

for a query

RRs in response
to query

records for
authoritative servers

additional “helpful”
info that may be used

2: Application Layer 70