WEEK - 3
Introduction to the Transport & Application Layers
Transport Layer :
Transport layer handles multiplexing and demultiplexing through ports.
Port : A 16 bit number that’s used to direct traffic to specific services running on a
networked computer. Ports are normally denoted with a colon after the IP addresses.
Eg : 10.1.1.100:80 - Here 80 is the port where remaining things are IP. Both IP and Port are
collectively called as Socket Address/ socket number.
Source Port : A high- numbered port chosen from a special section of ports known
as ephemeral ports.
Destination port : The port of the service the traffic is intended for.
Note : Traditional port for HTTP is port 80 where port 21 for FTP
Connection oriented & Connectionless protocols :
Connection oriented protocol (TCP):
Establishes a connection, and uses this to ensure that all data has been properly
transmitted.
Connectionless protocol (UDP):
UDP doesn’t rely on connections & it doesn’t even support the concept of
acknowledgement. Mostly UDP is used in the cases like video streaming, broadcast etc.,
WEEK - 3
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
TCP is a connection oriented protocol used in wide applications. It follows a special
process called Handshake to establish / terminate the connections.
TCP CONTROL FLAGS :
● URG (Urgent)
● ACK (Acknowledge - Sending/ receiving an alert message)
● PSH (Push - Push the data to the buffer)
● RST (Reset)
● SYN (Synchronize - It means Let’s catchup)
● FIN (Finish - It means the transmitting computer doesn’t have any more data
to send and the connection be closed.)
HANDSHAKE :
A way for two devices to ensure that they are speaking the same protocol and will be
able to understand each other.
THREE WAY HANDSHAKING (Connection Establishment) :
Consider Two systems Computer A & Computer B. To start the process off,
Computer A, sends a TCP segment to Computer B with a SYN flag set. This is Computer
A’s way of saying “Let’s establish a connection and look at my sequence number field.
So, we know where this conversation starts”.
Computer B then responds with a TCP segment where both SYN & ACK flags are
set. This is Computer B of saying “Let’s establish a connection and I acknowledge your
sequence number” .
Then Computer A responds again with just the ACK flag set. Just say “I
acknowledge your acknowledgement. Let’s start sending data”.
This is known to be three way handshaking. Once the three way handshaking is
done, TCP connection is established. Now Computer A is free to send whatever data it
wants to Computer B & vice versa.
FOUR WAY HANDSHAKING (Connection Termination)
If two systems want to close their connection they need to carry out four way
handshaking.
Consider the same two systems, Computer A & Computer B , If Computer B wants
to close the connection means it will send a FIN flag set to Computer A. By saying like
“Computer A shall we close our connection and I wish to close our connection”
Computer A accepts the flag set and sends ACK & FIN flag set to Computer B. By
saying “Okie, let’s wind up our connection”. Note : Here ACK & FIN flag set will be sent to
Computer B as individual TCP segments.
Finally, Computer B sends the T
CP segment with the ACK flag set by saying “Okie
thanks for your connection and acknowledgement”.
WEEK - 3
This is known to be four-way handshaking. Once the four-way handshaking is
done,TCP connection is terminated.
TCP SOCKET STATES :
Socket : The instantiation of an end-point in a potential TCP connection. There are 7
states in TCP connections.
● LISTEN - A TCP socket is ready & listening for incoming connections.
● SYN_SENT - A synchronization request has been sent, but the connection
hasn’t been established yet.
● SYN_RECEIVED - A socket previously in a LISTEN state has received a
synchronization request and sent a SYN/ACK back.
● ESTABLISHED - The TCP connection is in working order and both sides are
free to send each other data.
● FIN_WAIT - A FIN has been sent, but the corresponding ACK from the other
end hasn’t been received yet,
● CLOSE_WAIT - Connection is closed, but the application receiving sockets
are not closed.
● CLOSED - Complete close.
Application Layer
Application layer is generally of two things: Web browsers & Web servers. M
ost
Web browsers are called Client and Web servers are called Servers.
● Examples for Web browsers are Chrome, Firefox, IE, Safari etc.,.
● ExamplesExamples for Web Servers are Microsoft IIS, Apacke , nginx etc.,
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