Secure Communication

Protocols
Network Revision
 The Main Concepts to understand Networking
• Data communications between remote parties can be achieved through a process called networking

• involving the connection of computers, media, and networking devices.

• Networks exist so that data may be sent from one place to another-the basic concept of data communications

• Protocols and standards are vital to the implementation of data communications and networking.

• Protocols refer to the rules; a standard is a protocol that has been adopted by vendors and manufacturers.

• Network models serve to organize, unify, and control the hardware and software components of data
communications and networking.
 Protocol Hierarchies
• To reduce their design complexity, most networks are organized as a stack of layers or levels, each one built upon
the one below it.

• The purpose of each layer is to offer certain services to the higher layers while shielding those layers from the
details of how the offered services are actually implemented

• When layer n on one machine carries on a conversation with layer n on another machine, the rules and
conventions used in this conversation are collectively known as the layer n protocol.

• Basically, a protocol is an agreement between the communicating parties on how communication is to proceed.

• The entities comprising the corresponding layers on different machines are called peers.

• The peers may be software processes, hardware devices, or even human beings.
• In other words, it is the peers that communicate by using the protocol to talk to each other.
 Protocol Hierarchies

• Layers, protocols, and interfaces.

 Protocol Hierarchies
• In other words, it is the peers that communicate by using the protocol to talk to each other.

• In reality, no data are directly transferred from layer n on one machine to layer n on another
machine.

• A set of layers and protocols is called a network architecture.

• The specification of an architecture must contain enough information to allow an implementer

to write the program or build the hardware for each layer so that it will correctly obey the
appropriate protocol.

• A list of the protocols used by a certain system, one protocol per layer, is called a protocol
stack.
 The Relationship of Services to Protocols
• Services and protocols are distinct concepts.

• The service defines what operations the layer is prepared to perform on behalf of its users, but
it says nothing at all about how these operations are implemented.
• A service relates to an interface between two layers, with the lower layer being the service
provider and the upper layer being the service user.

• A protocol, in contrast, is a set of rules governing the format and meaning of the packets, or
messages that are exchanged by the peer entities within a layer.

• Entities use protocols to implement their service definitions.

• They are free to change their protocols at will, provided they do not change the service visible
to their users.
• In this way, the service and the protocol are completely decoupled.

• This is a key concept that any network designer should understand well
 PROTOCOLS

• Communication between two devices needs to follow some protocol.

• In computer networks, communication occurs between entities in different systems.
• Two entities (anything capable of sending or receiving information) can’t simply send bit
streams to each other and expect to be understood.
• So, the entities must agree on a protocol.
• A protocol is a set of rules that govern data communications.
• A protocol defines what is communicated, how it is communicated, and when it is
communicated

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 The key elements of a protocol are syntax,
semantics, and timing.
• Syntax. The term syntax refers to the structure or format of the data, meaning the order in which they are
presented.
For example, a simple protocol might expect the first 8 bits of data to be the address of the sender, the
second 8 bits to be the address of the receiver, and the rest of the stream to be the message itself.

• Semantics. The word semantics refers to the meaning of each section of bits.
How is a particular pattern to be interpreted, and what action is to be taken based on that interpretation?
For example, does an address identify the route to be taken or the final destination of the message?

• Timing. The term timing refers to two characteristics: when data should be sent and how fast they can be
sent.
For example, if a sender produces data at 100 Mbps but the receiver can process data at only 1 Mbps, the
transmission will overload the receiver and some data will be lost.
 Figure 2.15 Summary of layers

2.9
 Figure 2.11 Reliable process-to-process delivery of a message

2.14
 Figure 2.16 TCP/IP and OSI model

2.15
 Figure 2.18 Relationship of layers and addresses in TCP/IP

2.16
 Figure 2.21 Port addresses

2.17
 Figure 2.3 The interaction between layers in the OSI model

2.18
Don’t Confuse the Models

7 Application
6 Presentation Application
5 Session LAYER

4 Transport Transport
3 Network LAYER
Internet LAYER
2 Data Link Network
1 Physical Access LAYER
The Network Access Layer
The network access layer is also called the host-to-
network layer. It the layer that is concerned with all of the
issues that an IP packet requires to actually make a
physical link to the network media. It includes LAN and
WAN details, and all the details contained in the OSI
physical and data-link layers. NOTE: ARP & RARP work
at both the Internet and Network Access Layers.
The Internet Layer
The purpose of the Internet layer is to
select the best path through the network for
packets to travel. The main protocol that
functions at this layer is the Internet
Protocol (IP). Best path determination and
packet switching occur at this layer.
The Transport Layer

The transport layer provides transport services from

the source host to the destination host. It constitutes
a logical connection between these endpoints of the
network. Transport protocols segment and
reassemble upper-layer applications into the same
data stream between endpoints.
The transport layer data stream provides end-to-end
transport services.
TCP

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a connection-oriented Layer 4

protocol that provides reliable full-duplex data transmission.

TCP is part of the TCP/IP protocol stack. In a connection-oriented

environment, a connection is established between both ends before the
transfer of information can begin.
TCP is responsible for breaking messages into segments, reassembling
them at the destination station, resending anything that is not received,
and reassembling messages from the segments.TCP supplies a virtual
circuit between end-user applications.

The protocols that use TCP include:

• FTP (File Transfer Protocol)
• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
• SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol)
• Telnet
TCP Segment Format
UDP

User Datagram Protocol (UDP) is the connectionless transport protocol

in the TCP/IP protocol stack.

UDP is a simple protocol that exchanges datagrams, without

acknowledgments or guaranteed delivery. Error processing and
retransmission must be handled by higher layer protocols.

UDP uses no windowing or acknowledgments so reliability, if needed, is

provided by application layer protocols. UDP is designed for applications
that do not need to put sequences of segments together.

The protocols that use UDP include:

• TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol)
• SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol)
• DHCP (Dynamic Host Control Protocol)
• DNS (Domain Name System)
UDP Segment Format
Well Known Port Numbers

The following port numbers should be memorized:

NOTE:
The curriculum forgot to mention one of the most important port numbers.
Port 80 is used for HTTP or WWW protocols. (Essentially access to the internet.)
The Application Layer
The application
layer of the
TCP/IP model
handles high-
level protocols,
issues of
representation,
encoding, and
dialog control.
Comparing TCP/IP & OSI Models

NOTE: TCP/IP transport layer using UDP does not always guarantee
reliable delivery of packets as the transport layer in the OSI model does.
• Network Protocol
A network protocol is a predefined set of messaging rules and message structures that the communicating
entities in a computer network must follow.
IP Datagram
Datagram

• A packet in the IP layer is called a

datagram.
• A variable-length packet consisting of
two parts:
• Header - 20 to 60 bytes in length contains
information essential to routing and
delivery
• Data

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(IP format)the syntax and semantics of a
packet’s bits.
• Version number: These 4 bits specify the IP protocol version of the
datagram
• Header length (HLEN):4-bit field defines the total length of the datagram
header.
• Type of service: which defined how the datagram should be handled.
• Total length: A 16-bit field that defines the total length (H+D) of the IP
datagram in bytes.
• Time to live: Datagram has limited lifetime in its travel through an Internet.
• Protocol: 8-bit field defines the higher-level protocol that uses the services
of the IP layer.