Welcome to:

Computer Science 457

Networking and the Internet
Fall 2011
Dan Massey

Chapter 1: Foundations
Networking is a very broad topic
How does a wireless card talk to a base station?
How does a message get from ColoState to Amazon?
How does an application (web browser, IM, P2P) work?
What about reliability, resource constraints, security?

First Goal: Learn Big Picture and Terminology

What are the basic network components?
What are network layers?
What is a protocol?

A Sample Application
Use web browser to lookup www.cnn.com
My Laptop Running web
browser

Web Server
www.cnn.com

Internet
Internet

My laptop and the web server are both End Systems = Hosts
End systems can also include PDAs, sensors, cell phones, and
generally any device using the network to communicate
End systems are located at the network edge and connected to the
network using communication links

Clients and Servers

Simple Example: Use web browser to lookup www.cnn.com
My Laptop Running web
browser

Web Server
www.cnn.com

Internet
Internet

End systems may be classified as client, a server, both, or neither.

Client - runs some program that requests services:
web browser requests a page, email reader requests messages,
ftp program requests files, etc.
Server - runs some program that listens for requests and provides services
web server, email server, ftp server, etc.
Client vs. server depends on what programs the end system is running.

Networks
Point-to-Point

Multiple Access

Wireless

Switched Networks
A network can be defined recursively as...
Two or more nodes
connected by a link,
or

Two or more
networks connected
by two or more
nodes

Logical Network View

fixed size pipe from her to him

perfect for voice
reliable conversations (QoS) Quality of Service
provisioning, good engineering
dumb end points, smart network
evolved for 100 years (analog to digital)

Back in the Old Days...

(before packet switching)

the wire

the router
(Aunt Mable)

1920s telephony: circuits---a physical wire

from one end to the other

Then Came TDM...

Time Division Multiplexing
mux

demux

but keeps the idea of a

fixed pipe (circuit) the right
size for a telephone conversation

And FDM and CDM...

Frequency Division Multiplexing

a a a a a a a a a a a

Code Division Multiplexing

Packet Switching
Interleave packets from different sources
Efficient: resources used on demand
Statistical multiplexing
Multiple applications, bursty traffic

What is a Packet?
Self-contained set of bits
Includes a header and (in most cases)
user data (payload)
Header: needed by the network contains control information needed to
deliver the packet to the destination
User data: can be anything network
does not care

Example: IP Packet
4-bit
8-bit Type of
4-bit
Header
Version Length Service (TOS)

16-bit Total Length (Bytes)

16-bit Identification

3-bit
13-bit Fragment Offset
Flags

8-bit Time to
Live (TTL)

8-bit Protocol

16-bit Header Checksum

32-bit Source IP Address

32-bit Destination IP Address
Options (if any)

Payload

20-byte
header

Packet Switching
(Internet is just ONE network to use it)

differences:
packets as low-level component
multiple kinds of traffic
smart edges, dumb network

but:
QoS is much harder
end-points are more expensive

Statistical Multiplexing Gain

Problem: Link is 1 Mbps; users require 0.1
mbps when transmitting; users active only
10% of the time. How many users can we
support?
Answer:
Circuit switching: can support 10 users.
Packet switching: with 35 users, probability
that >=10 are transmitting at the same time =
0.0004.

Networking with Layers

Sub-divide the problem
Each layer relies on services from layer below
Each layer exports services to layer above

Interface between layers defines interaction

Hides implementation details
Layers can change without disturbing other layers

The Internet Hourglass Design

Application Layer
Protocol Layer
Transport Layer
Network Layer
Link Layer
Data Communication
Physical Layer
[Deering98]

IP Suite: End Hosts vs. Routers

host

host
HTTP message

HTTP

TCP segment

TCP
router
IP

Ethernet
interface

HTTP

IP packet

Ethernet
interface

IP

TCP
router

IP packet

SONET
interface

SONET
interface

IP

IP packet

Ethernet
interface

IP

Ethernet
interface

Characteristics of Packet
Switching
Store and forward
Packets are self contained units
Can use alternate paths - reordering

Contention
Congestion
Delay

Putting the Network Together

The network is composed of:
Hosts or endpoints (PCs, PDAs, cellphones, laptops, etc.)
Routers (specialized machines that
route packets)
The distinction is often blurred (caches,
content servers, etc.)

Host Configuration
Host configuration needs:
a physical network cable (Ethernet, etc.)
an IP address (often automatic with DHCP)
a network mask
a gateway
a DNS server (and other servers)

An ISP
ISP needs:

a (big?) block of addresses

connections to one or more other ISPs, peerings
multiple routers, probably at exchange points
servers for your users: mail, web, etc.
servers for you: monitoring, etc.
competent network admins (recommended)
an AUP (Acceptable Use Policy)
a lawyer

Idealized Network Structure

Backbones, Tier 1
(national, global)
Regional, Tier2

Campus LANs,
Business

How Do Computers Find Each

Other?
Computer1

Computer 2

Internet

What Are the Different Kinds

of Addresses?
Have domain name (e.g., www.colostate.edu)
Global, human readable name

DNS translates name to IP address (e.g.

128.82.103.106)
Global, understood by all networks

Finally, we need local net address

e.g., Ethernet (08-00-2c-19-dc-45)
Local, works only on a particular type of link

Domain Naming System

(DNS)
Local
DNS server

Computer 1
Whats the IP address for www.colostate.edu?
It is 128.82.103.106

DNS address manually configured into OS

Finding Ethernet Address:

Address Resolution (ARP)
Broadcast: who knows the
Ethernet address for 128.82.138.2?
(gateway address)
Ethernet

Broadcast: I do, it is
08-00-2c-19-dc-45
Ethernet

Sending a Packet Through the

Internet
Routers send packet
to next closest point
H

R
R

H
H

H: Hosts
R: Routers

How Do the Routers Know

Where to Send Data?
Forwarding tables at each router
populated by routing protocols.
Original Internet: manually updated.
Routing protocols update tables based
on cost.
Exchange tables with neighbors or
everyone.
Use neighbor leading to shortest path.