UNIT 5

The Application Layer: Electronic Mail, Architecture and Services, The User Agent, Message Formats, Message Transfer, Final
Delivery, The World Wide Web, Architectural Overview, Static Web Objects, Dynamic Web Pages and Web Applications, HTTP and
HTTPS, Web Privacy, Content Delivery, Content and Internet Traffic, Server Farms and Web Proxies, Content Delivery Networks,
Peer-To-Peer Networks, Evolution of The Internet.

Electronic Mail

Electronic mail, commonly known as email, is a method of exchanging messages over the internet. Here are the basics of
email:

1. An email address: This is a unique identifier for each user, typically in the format of name@[Link].

2. An email client: This is a software program used to send, receive and manage emails, such as Gmail, Outlook, or Apple
Mail.

3. An email server: This is a computer system responsible for storing and forwarding emails to their intended recipients.

To send an email:

1. Compose a new message in your email client.

2. Enter the recipient's email address in the "To" field.

3. Add a subject line to summarize the content of the message.

4. Write the body of the message.

5. Attach any relevant files if needed.

6. Click "Send" to deliver the message to the recipient's email server.

7. Emails can also include features such as cc (carbon copy) and bcc (blind carbon copy) to send copies of the message to
multiple recipients, and reply, reply all, and forward options to manage the conversation.

Electronic Mail (e-mail) is one of most widely used services of Internet. This service allows an Internet user to send a message in
formatted manner (mail) to the other Internet user in any part of world. Message in 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 recipient. It is just like postal mail service.

Components of E-Mail System : The basic components of an email system are : User Agent (UA), Message Transfer Agent (MTA),
Mail Box, and Spool file. These are explained as following below.

1. User Agent (UA) : The UA is normally a program which is used to send and receive mail. Sometimes, it is called as mail
reader. It accepts variety of commands for composing, receiving and replying to messages as well as for manipulation of
the mailboxes.
 2. Message Transfer Agent (MTA) : MTA is actually responsible for transfer of mail from one system to another. To send a
mail, a system must have client MTA and system MTA. It transfer mail to mailboxes of recipients if they are connected in
the same machine. It delivers mail to peer MTA if destination mailbox is in another machine. The delivery from one MTA
to another MTA is done by Simple Mail Transfer Protocol.

3.

4. Mailbox : It is a file on local hard drive to collect mails. Delivered mails are present in this file. The user can read it
delete it according to his/her requirement. To use e-mail system each user must have a mailbox . Access to mailbox is
only to owner of mailbox.

5. Spool file : This file contains mails that are to be sent. User agent appends outgoing mails in this file using SMTP. MTA
extracts pending mail from spool file for their delivery. E-mail allows one name, an alias, to represent several different e-
mail addresses. It is known as mailing list, Whenever user have to sent a message, system checks recipient's name
against alias database. If mailing list is present for defined alias, separate messages, one for each entry in the list, must
be prepared and handed to MTA. If for defined alias, there is no such mailing list is present, name itself becomes naming
address and a single message is delivered to mail transfer entity.

Services provided by E-mail system :

 Composition - The composition refer to process that creates messages and answers. For composition any kind of text
editor can be used.

 Transfer - Transfer means sending procedure of mail i.e. from the sender to recipient.
  Reporting - Reporting refers to confirmation for delivery of mail. It help user to check whether their mail is delivered, lost
or rejected.

 Displaying - It refers to present mail in form that is understand by the user.

 Disposition - This step concern with recipient that what will recipient do after receiving mail i.e save mail, delete before
reading or delete after reading.

Advantages Or Disadvantages:
Advantages of email:

1. Convenient and fast communication with individuals or groups globally.

2. Easy to store and search for past messages.

3. Ability to send and receive attachments such as documents, images, and videos.

4. Cost-effective compared to traditional mail and fax.

5. Available 24/7.

Disadvantages of email:

1. Risk of spam and phishing attacks.

2. Overwhelming amount of emails can lead to information overload.

3. Can lead to decreased face-to-face communication and loss of personal touch.

4. Potential for miscommunication due to lack of tone and body language in written messages.

5. Technical issues, such as server outages, can disrupt email service.

6. It is important to use email responsibly and effectively, for example, by keeping the subject line clear and concise, using
proper etiquette, and protecting against security threats.

ELECTRONIC MAIL
1. ARCHITECTURE AND SERVICES:

E-mail systems consist of two subsystems. They are:-

(1). User Agents, which allow people to read and send e-mail
(2). Message Transfer Agents, which move messages from source to destination
E-mail systems support 5 basic functions:-
a. Composition
b. Transfer
c. Reporting
d. Displaying
 e. Disposition

(a). Composition: It refers to the process of creating messages and answers. Any text editor is used for body of
the message. While the system itself can provide assistance with addressing and numerous header fields
attached to each message.
(b). Reporting: It has to do with telling the originator what happened to the message that is, whether it was
delivered, rejected (or) lost.
(c). Transfer: It refers to moving messages from originator to the recipient.
(d). Displaying: Incoming messages are to be displayed so that people can read their email.
(e). Disposition: It concerns what the recipient dose with the message after receiving it. Possibilities include
throwing it away before reading (or) after reading, saving it and so on.
Most systems allow users to create mailboxes to store incoming e-mail. Commands are needed to create and
destroy mailboxes, inspect the contents of mailboxes, insert and delete messages from mailboxes, and so on.
 Figure 5-4: Envelopes and messages. (a) Paper mail. (b) Electronic mail.

(1) THE USER AGENT

A user agent is normally a program (sometimes called a mail reader) that accepts a variety of commands for
composing, receiving, and replying to messages, as well as for manipulating mailboxes.

SENDING E-MAIL
To send an e-mail message, a user must provide the message, the destination address, and possibly some
other parameters. The message can be produced with a free-standing text editor, a word processing program, or
possibly with a specialized text editor built into the user agent. The destination address must be in a format that
the user agent can deal with. Many user agents expect addresses of the form user@dns-address.

READING E-MAIL
When a user agent is started up, it looks at the user's mailbox for incoming e-mail before displaying
anything on the screen. Then it may announce the number of messages in the mailbox or display a one-line
summary of each one and wait for a command.
 (2) MESSAGE FORMATS
RFC 822

Messages consist of a primitive envelope (described in RFC 821), some number of header fields, a blank line,
and then the message body. Each header field (logically) consists of a single line of ASCII text containing the
field name, a colon, and, for most fields, a value.

Figure 5-5: RFC 822 header fields related to message transport

MIME — The Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions

RFC 822 specified the headers but left the content entirely up to the users. Nowadays, on the worldwide
Internet, this approach is no longer adequate. The problems include sending and receiving
1. Messages in languages with accents (e.g., French and German).
2. Messages in non-Latin alphabets (e.g., Hebrew and Russian).
3. Messages in languages without alphabets (e.g., Chinese and Japanese).
4. Messages not containing text at all (e.g., audio or images).
A solution was proposed in RFC 1341 called MIME (Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions)

The basic idea of MIME is to continue to use the RFC 822 format, but to add structure to the message
body and define encoding rules for non-ASCII messages. By not deviating from RFC 822, MIME messages can
be sent using the existing mail programs and protocols. All that has to be changed are the sending and receiving
programs, which users can do for themselves.
 Figure 5-6: RFC 822 headers added by MIME

MESSAGE TRANSFER
The message transfer system is concerned with relaying messages from the originator to the recipient.
The simplest way to do this is to establish a transport connection from the source machine to the destination
machine and then just transfer the message.

SMTP—THE SIMPLE MAIL TRANSFER PROTOCOL

SMTP is a simple ASCII protocol. After establishing the TCP connection to port 25, the sending
machine, operating as the client, waits for the receiving machine, operating as the server, to talk first. The server
starts by sending a line of text giving its identity and telling whether it is prepared to receive mail. If it is not,
the client releases the connection and tries again later.
Even though the SMTP protocol is completely well defined, a few problems can still arise.

One problem relates to message length. Some older implementations cannot handle messages
exceeding 64 KB.

Another problem relates to timeouts. If the client and server have different timeouts, one of them may
give up while the other is still busy, unexpectedly terminating the connection.

Finally, in rare situations, infinite mailstorms can be triggered.

For example, if host 1 holds mailing list A and host 2 holds mailing list B and each list contains an entry
for the other one, then a message sent to either list could generate a never-ending amount of e-mail traffic unless
somebody checks for it.

FINAL DELIVERY
With the advent of people who access the Internet by calling their ISP over a modem, it breaks down.

One solution is to have a message transfer agent on an ISP machine accept e-mail for its customers and store it
in their mailboxes on an ISP machine. Since this agent can be on-line all the time, e-mail can be sent to it 24
hours a day.
POP3

Figure:5-7

(a) Sending and reading mail when the receiver has a permanent Internet connection and the user
agent runs on the same machine as the message transfer agent.

(b) Reading e-mail when the receiver has a dial-up connection to an ISP

POP3 begins when the user starts the mail reader. The mail reader calls up the ISP (unless there is already a
connection) and establishes a TCP connection with the message transfer agent at port 110. Once the connection
has been established, the POP3 protocol goes through three states in sequence:
1. Authorization.
2. Transactions.
3. Update.
The authorization state deals with having the user log in.

The transaction state deals with the user collecting the e-mails and marking them for deletion from the mailbox.

The update state actually causes the e-mails to be deleted.

IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol).

POP3 normally downloads all stored messages at each contact, the result is that the user's e-mail quickly gets
spread over multiple machines, more or less at random; some of them not even the user's.

This disadvantage gave rise to an alternative final delivery protocol, IMAP (Internet Message Access Protocol).
 IMAP assumes that all the e-mail will remain on the server indefinitely in multiple mailboxes. IMAP provides
extensive mechanisms for reading messages or even parts of messages, a feature useful when using a slow
modem to read the text part of a multipart message with large audio and video attachments.

WORLD WIDE WEB

WORLD WIDE WEB

The World Wide Web is an architectural framework for accessing linked documents spread out over
millions of machines all over the Internet. The initial proposal for a web of linked documents came from CERN
physicist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.

ARCHITECTURAL OVERVIEW
From the users' point of view, the Web consists of a vast, worldwide collection of documents or Web
pages. Each page may contain links to other pages anywhere in the world. Users can follow a link by clicking
on it, which then takes them to the page pointed to. This process can be repeated indefinitely.

Pages are viewed with a program called a browser, of which Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator
are two popular ones. The browser fetches the page requested, interprets the text and formatting commands on
it, and displays the page, properly formatted, on the screen.

Strings of text that are links to other pages, called hyperlinks, are often highlighted, by underlining,
displaying them in a special color, or both.

THE PARTS OF THE WEB MODEL

Here the browser is displaying a Web page on the client machine. When the user clicks on a line of text
that is linked to a page on the [Link] server, the browser follows the hyperlink by sending a message to the
[Link] server asking it for the page. When the page arrives, it is displayed. If this page contains a hyperlink
to a page on the [Link] server that is clicked on, the browser then sends a request to that machine for the page.
CLIENT SIDE
When an item is selected, the browser follows the hyperlink and fetches the page selected. Therefore, the
embedded hyperlink needs a way to name any other page on the Web. Pages are named using URLs (Uniform
Resource Locators).

The steps that occur at the client side are:

 The browser determines the URL

 The browser asks DNS for the IP address
 DNS replies with the IP address
 The browser makes a TCP connection to port 80 on the IP address
 It sends a request asking for file
 The site server sends the file
 The TCP connection is released.
 The browser fetches and displays all the text and images in the file.
 Web pages are written in standard HTML language to make it understandable by all browsers.

There are two possibilities: plug-ins and helper applications. A plug-in is a code module that the browser
fetches from a special directory on the disk and installs as an extension to itself.

The other way to extend a browser is to use a helper application. This is a complete program, running as a
separate process.

Figure 5-8. (a) A browser plug-in. (b) A helper application.

SERVER SIDE
The steps to be followed by the server side are:

1. Accept a TCP connection from a client (a browser).

2. Get the name of the file requested.
3. Get the file (from disk).
4. Return the file to the client.
5. Release the TCP connection.

PROCESSING OF REQUEST
The processing of request on the web is as follows:
1. Resolve the name of the Web page requested.
2. Authenticate the client.
3. Perform access control on the client.
4. Perform access control on the Web page.
5. Check the cache.
6. Fetch the requested page from disk.
7. Determine the MIME type to include in the response.
8. Take care of miscellaneous odds and ends.
9. Return the reply to the client.
10. Make an entry in the server log.
Figure 5-9. (a) Normal request-reply message sequence. (b) Sequence when TCP handoff is used
 Sometimes a trick, called TCP handoff, is used to get around this problem. With this trick, the TCP end
point is passed to the processing node so it can reply directly to the client.

URLs— UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATORS

When the Web was first created, it was immediately apparent that having one page point to another Web
page required mechanisms for naming and locating pages. In particular, three questions had to be answered
before a selected page could be displayed:

1. What is the page called?

2. Where is the page located?

3. How can the page be accessed?

If every page were somehow assigned a unique name, there would not be any ambiguity in identifying
pages. Nevertheless, the problem would not be solved.

Consider a parallel between people and pages. In the United States, almost everyone has a social
security number, which is a unique identifier, as no two people are supposed to have the same one.
Nevertheless, if you are armed only with a social security number, there is no way to find the owner's address,
and certainly no way to tell whether you should write to the person in English, Spanish, or Chinese. The Web
has basically the same problems.

The solution chosen identifies pages in a way that solves all three problems at once. Each page is
assigned a URL (Uniform Resource Locator) that effectively serves as the page's worldwide name.

URLs have three parts: the protocol (also known as the scheme), the DNS name of the machine on
which the page is located, and a local name uniquely indicating the specific page (usually just a file name on the
machine where it resides). As an example, the Web site for the author's department contains several videos
about the university and the city of Amsterdam. The URL for the video page is

[Link]

This URL consists of three parts: the protocol (http), the DNS name of the host ([Link]), and the
file name (video/[Link]), with certain punctuation separating the pieces. The file name is a path relative
to the default Web directory at [Link].
STATIC WEB DOCUMENTS
 The basis of the Web is transferring Web pages from server to client. In the simplest form, Web pages
are static. They are just files sitting on some server waiting to be retrived.
 In this context, even a video is a static web page because it is just a file.
 In this section we will look at static web page in details. In the next one, we will examine dynamic
content.

HTML—The HyperText Markup Language:

 HTML allows users to produce Web pages that include text, graphics, video, pointers toother Web
pages, and more.
 HTML is a markup language, or language for describing how documents are to be formatted.
 Markup languages thus contain explicit commands for formatting. For example, in HTML, <b>means
start boldface mode, and </b> means leave boldface mode.
 Writing a browser is then straightforward: the browser simply has to understand the markup commands.
 Embedding all the markup commands within each HTML file and standardizing them makes it possible
for any Web browser to read and reformat any Web page.
 While it is certainly possible to write documents like this with any plain text editor, and many people
do, it is also possible to use word processors or special HTML editors that do most of the work.
 A Web page consists of a head and a body, each enclosed by<html>and </html>tags.
 The head is bracketed by the <head>and </head>tags and the body is bracketed by the<body>and
</body>tags. The strings inside the tags are called directives.
 Most, but not all, HTML tags have this format. That is, they use <something>to mark the beginning of
something and </something>to mark its end.
 Tags can be in either lowercase or uppercase. Thus, <head>and <HEAD>mean the same thing, but
lower case is best for compatibility.
 Some tags have (named) parameters, called attributes. For example, the<img>tag is used for including
an image inline with the text. It has two attributes, src and alt. The first attribute gives the URL for the
image.
 The list of special characters is given in the standard. All of them begin with an ampersand and end
with a semicolon.
 For example, &nbsp; produces a space, &egrave; produces e` and &eacute; producese´. Since <,
>, and & have special meanings, they can be expressed onlywith their escape sequences, &lt;,
&gt;, and &amp;.
 The main item in the head is the title, delimited by <title>and </title>.The title itself is not displayed on
the page. Some browsers use it to label the page’s window.
 Several headings are used in each heading is generated by an <hn>tag, where n is a digit in the range 1
to 6. Thus, <h1>is the most important heading ;<h6>is the least important one.
  <h1>headings are large and boldface with at least one blank line above and below. In contrast,
<h2>headings are in a smaller font with less space above and below.
 The tags <b> and <i> are used to enter boldface and italics mode. The <p> tag starts a paragraph. the
</p> tag that exists to mark the end of a paragraph

Tag Description

<html>…</html> Declares the web page to be written in

<head>…</head> HTML.
<title>…</title> Delimits the page’s head.
<body>…</body> Defines the title.
<h n>…</h n> Delimits the page’s body.
<b> … </b> Delimits a level n heading.
<i> … </i> Set … in boldface.
<center>…</center> Set … in italic.
<ul> … </ul> Center … on the page horizontally.
<ol> … </ol> Brackets an unordered list.
<li> … </li> Brackets a numbered list.
<br> Brackets an item in an ordered or
<p> numbered list.
<hr> Forces a line break here.
<img src=””> Starts a paragraph.
<a Inserts a horizontal
href=”…”>….</a> rule. Displays an image
here. Defines a
hyperlink.

XML and XSL:

 XML and XSL is (eXtensible Markup Language) and (eXtensible Style Language).
 HTML, with or without forms, does not provide any structure to web pages.
 It also mixes the content with the formatting, as e-commerce and other applications become
more common, there is an increasing need for structuring pages and separating the content
from the formatting.
 The W#C has developed an enhancement to HTML to allow web pages to be structured for
automated processing.
 It defines a structure called book_list, which is a list of books. Each book has three fields, the
title, author, and year of publication.
 In this example, each of the three fields is an indivisible entity, but it is also permitted to futher
subdivide the fields.
 The author fields could have been done as follows to give a finer-grained control over searching
and formatting.
  Example:
<author>
<first_name>Andrew</first_name>
<last_name>Tanenbaum</last_name>
</author>
 Each field can be subdivided into subfields and sub subfields arbitrarily deep.
 The file is a style sheet that tells how to display the page, it is design view in the xml file.

XHTML: (The eXtended HyperText Markup Language)

HTML keeps evolving to meet new demands. Many people in the industry feel that in the future, the
majority of web-enabled device will not be PCs, but wireless, handheld PDA-type device.

 These devices have limited memory for large browser full of heuristics that try to somehow deal with
syntactically incorrect web pages.
 There are 6 major difference in HTML and XHML:

 XHTML pages and browser must strictly conform to the standard. No more shodly web pages.
 All tags and attributes must be in lower case, tags like <HTML> are not valid in XHTML.
 Closing tags are required, even for </p>. for tags that have no natural closing tag. Such as
<br>,<hr> and <img>,a slash must preced the closing”>”.
Eg:<img src=”[Link]”/>
 Attribute must be contained within quotation marks.
Eg: <img src=”[Link]”
height=500/>
The 500 has to be enclosed in quotation marks, just like the name of the JPEG file, even though
500 is just a number.
 Tags must be nest properly. In the past, proper nesting was not required as long as final
state achieved was correct. Tags closed in the inverse order that they were opened.

Eg: <center><b>vacation pictures</center></b>.

 Every document must specify its document type. For a discussion of all the changes, major and
minor, see [Link].

DYNAMIC WEB DOCUMENTS

Dynamic web documents are created at both client and server sides.
SERVER-SIDE GENERATION

The server side generation involves the following steps:

 User fills in form.

 Form sent back
 Handed to CGI
 CGI queries database.
 Record found
 CGI builds page
 Page returned
 Page displayed

CLIENT-SIDE GENERATION

CGI, PHP, JSP, and ASP scripts solve the problem of handling forms and interactions with databases on
the server. They can all accept incoming information from forms, look up information in one or more databases,
and generate HTML pages with the results.

Usually the server side scripting is done with PHP and client side scripting is javascript. Complete web
pages can be generated on the fly by various scripts on the server machine. Once they are received by the
browser, they are treated as normal HTML pages and displayed.

Dynamic content generation is also possible on the client side. Web pages can be written in XML and
then converted to HTML according to XSL file. Javascript programs can perform arbitrary computations.

Finally plugins and helper applications can be used to display content in a variety of formats.
web browser. In static web pages, Pages will remain the same until someone changes it manually.

What are Dynamic Web Pages?

Dynamic Web Pages are written in languages such as CGI, AJAX, ASP, [Link], etc. In dynamic web
pages, the Content of pages is different for different visitors. It takes more time to load than the
static web page. Dynamic web pages are used where the information is changed frequently, for
example, stock prices, weather information, etc.

Difference Between Static and Dynamic Web Pages

Static Web Page Dynamic Web Page

In static web pages, Pages will remain same In dynamic web pages, Content of pages are
until someone changes it manually. different for different visitors.
Static Web Page Dynamic Web Page

Static Web Pages are simple in terms of

Dynamic web pages are complicated.
complexity.

In static web pages, Information are change In dynamic web page, Information are change
rarely. frequently.

Static Web Page takes less time for loading

Dynamic web page takes more time for loading.
than dynamic web page.

In Static Web Pages, database is not used. In dynamic web pages, database is used.

Static web pages are written in languages Dynamic web pages are written in languages
such as: HTML, JavaScript, CSS, etc. such as: CGI, AJAX, ASP, [Link], etc.

Static web pages does not contain any Dynamic web pages contains application
application program . program for different services.

Static web pages require less work and cost in Dynamic web pages require comparatively more
designing them. work and cost in designing them.
Difference Between HTTP and HTTPS

HTTPS is just HTTP with encryption. The primary distinction between these two names is that HTTPS
is more secure than HTTP since it uses TLS (SSL) encryption for all HTTP requests and responses, even
the standard ones.

HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

Being a stateless application-layer protocol, HTTP does not retain session information between
requests, which limits its ability to handle complex client-server interactions without additional
mechanisms like cookies or sessions.
  HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is a protocol used which transfer hypertext over the Web.

 Due to its simplicity, HTTP has been the most widely used protocol for data transfer over the
Web, but the data (i.e,. hypertext) exchanged using HTTP isn’t as secure as we would like it
to be.

 In fact, hyper-text exchanged using HTTP goes as plain text i.e., anyone between the browser
and server can read it relatively easily if one intercepts this exchange of data.

 The acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol is HTTP.

 The web server delivers the desired data to the user in the form of web pages when the user
initiates an HTTP request through their browser. Above the TCP layer lies an application layer
protocol called HTTP. It has given web browsers and servers certain standard principles that
they can use to talk to one another.

 Because each transaction on the HTTP protocol is carried out independently of the others
and without reference to the history, the connection between the web browser and the
server ends after the transaction is finished. This makes HTTP a stateless protocol.

Advantages of HTTP

 Because fewer connections are running at once, it delivers reduced CPU and memory
utilization.

 It allows requests and answers to be pipelined via HTTP.

 Because there are fewer TCP connections, it provides less network congestion.

 During the first stage of connection establishment, handshakes are exchanged. Because
there is no handshaking, it provides lower latency for subsequent requests.

 Without terminating the TCP connection, it reports problems.

Disadvantages of HTTP

 It is applicable to point-to-point connections.

  It isn't mobile-friendly.

 It sends more data than needed.

 It doesn't provide trustworthy exchange (in the absence of retry mechanism).

 When the client receives all the data it requires, the connection is not terminated. Therefore,
the server won't be accessible during this time.

HTTP vs HTTPS

Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS)

HTTPS ensures end-to-end encryption and authentication by leveraging TLS/SSL, safeguarding data
from eavesdropping and tampering during transmission.
  Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is an extended version of the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP). It is used for secure communication.

 In HTTPS, the communication protocol is encrypted using Transport Layer Security.

 HTTPS stands for Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure.

 While HTTPS guarantees data security, the HTTP protocol does not provide data security.

 As a result, HTTPS can be defined as a secure variant of the HTTP protocol. Data can be
transferred using this protocol in an encrypted format.

 In most cases, the HTTPS protocol must be used while entering bank account information.

 The HTTPS protocol is mostly utilised in situations when entering login credentials is
necessary. Modern browsers like Chrome distinguish between the HTTP and HTTPS protocols
based on distinct markings.

 HTTPS employs an encryption mechanism called Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), also known as
Transport Layer Security, to enable encryption.

Advantages of HTTPS

 Provides in-transit data security.

 Shields your website from data breaches, phishing, and MITM attacks.

 Increases the visitors' trust to your website.

 Eliminates the "NOT Secure" alerts.

 Assist you in raising your website's ranking.

Disadvantages of HTTPS

 When switching to HTTPS, an SSL certificate needs to be bought. Even though website hosts
often give SSL certificates, these should be renewed annually by paying a charge.

 Encrypting and decrypting data across HTTPS connections requires a lot of computation.

 There will be issues with caching some information over HTTPS. Public caching of those that
previously took place won't happen again.

 Certain proxy servers and firewalls prevent users from accessing HTTPS websites. Both
deliberate and inadvertent actions might result from this.

 If there are configuration issues, HTTP will be used by your website to obtain files rather than
HTTPS.

HTTP vs HTTPS

Here are the basic differences between http and https.

Feature HTTP HTTPS

Data is sent as plain text — easy to

Security Data is encrypted — safer from hackers.
intercept.

Port Uses port 80 by default. Uses port 443 by default.

Trust Browsers may label it “Not Secure.” Shows a padlock in the address bar.

Often faster due to newer protocols and

Speed Slightly slower on old systems.
optimizations.

Use Suitable for public or non-sensitive Best for sensitive data like payments, logins,
case info. personal info.

Why Choose HTTPS Over HTTP?

We will discuss some benefits of HTTPS over HTTP.

1. Security

Think of HTTP like sending a postcard — anyone who handles it can read the message. HTTPS, on the
other hand, is like sending your message in a locked box that only the receiver can open. This keeps
sensitive information, like passwords or credit card numbers, safe from hackers.

2. Trust & Authority

Web browsers show a padlock icon for HTTPS websites, signaling they are secure. People trust these
sites more, and search engines also rank them higher. So, HTTPS can help you win both visitors’ trust
and better search results.

3. Speed & Better Tracking

HTTPS websites often load faster than HTTP ones. Plus, it helps website owners see where their
visitors come from (like social media or ads) more accurately, which is useful for improving their
content.

Web privacy

Web privacy is the protection of online data, while content delivery, traffic, and networks involve
how data travels across the internet. Solutions like server farms and web proxies handle traffic,
and Content Delivery Networks (CDNs) distribute content efficiently. Peer-to-peer (P2P)
networks offer an alternative, decentralized model, and the internet's evolution is marked by its
growth from a military experiment to a global communication tool shaped by technology and socio-
economic factors.

Web privacy
 Definition: The protection of an individual's personal information and data while using the
internet, including controlling how data is shared with third parties.

 Purpose: To safeguard sensitive data from unauthorized access and maintain user control
over their online information.

Content and Internet Traffic

 Content Delivery: Refers to the methods and systems used to transmit data from a server to
a user.

 Internet Traffic: The data that moves through a computer network. Analyzing this traffic
helps understand network behavior, performance, and security.

 What is a Content Distribution Network

and how does it work?
Over the last few years, there has been a huge increase in the number of Internet users.
YouTube alone has 2 Billion users worldwide, while Netflix has over 160 million users.
Streaming content to such a wide demographic of users is no easy task. One can think that a
straightforward approach to this can be building a large data center, storing all the content in
the servers, and providing it to users worldwide. But there are issues that arise when this
approach is followed-

1. Firstly if the data center is in the USA and the user is in India there will be slower delivery of
content.

2. Secondly, a single data center represents a single point of failure.

3. Thirdly, if some content is being accessed frequently from a remote area then it is likely to
follow the same links, and this, in turn, results in wastage of bandwidth.

CDN - Content Distribution Network or Content Delivery Network is a solution that provides
faster delivery of content to the users distributed worldwide. What is a CDN? A CDN is
essentially a group of servers that are strategically placed across the globe with the purpose
of accelerating the delivery of web content. A CDN-

1. Manages servers that are geographically distributed over different locations.

2. Stores the web content in its servers.

3. Attempts to direct each user to a server that is part of the CDN so as to deliver content
quickly.

How does CDN work? To minimize the distance between the visitors and your website’s
server, a CDN stores a cached version of original content in multiple geographical locations
(a.k.a., points of presence/ PoPs). Each PoP contains a number of caching servers known as
edge servers that are responsible for content delivery to visitors within its proximity. CDN
caches content in many places at once, ensuring quick delivery of content. Let’s consider an
example: Suppose you are hosting a website, wherein your origin server(server containing
the primary source of your website’s data, where website files are hosted) is located in
Australia and a company XYZ provides you the CDN service. When a user in India clicks on a
video on your website, the request goes to the user's local DNS server(DNS), which relays the
request to the authoritative DNS server of your website. The authoritative DNS server then
identifies that the user is situated far away and therefore relays the request to its XYZ’s DNS
server. Now the DNS query enters XYZ’s network which provides the address of the edge
server that is closest to the user to the Local DNS server. The video is delivered by this edge
server. From this point onwards the local DNS server knows the address of the edge server.
So whenever users within its network send a request for content from your website, the local
DNS server shall relay the request to the edge server. CDN thus minimizes the number of
hops required to deliver the data to a user’s browser due to the POPs that are located near
the user. Following image depicts the same:

Following Image depicts the difference between how a request is handled with and without
a CDN respectively: WITH CDN(2 SECONDS)
 WITHOUT CDN(5 SECONDS)

Benefits of CDN

 Security improvement- The DDOS mitigation improves the security as it contains some
security certificates and optimizations.

 Increase in content availability and redundancy- Hardware failures and more traffic can lead
to the website’s dysfunction. CDN can handle traffic and can withstand hardware disfunction
better than many servers.

 Better load times- The visitor has a fast page loading because a nearby CDN server is used
whenever a client search for a webpage. CDN also reduces the slow loading times by
reducing the bounce rates and increasing the amount of time people spend on site.

 Low bandwidth cost- The direct cost for hosting a website is bandwidth consumption cost.
With the help of caching and other optimizations, it minimizes the amount of data an origin
server must provide, thus reducing the hosting costs.

Server Farms and Web Proxies

 Server Farms: A group of multiple web servers that host a website or provide services,
ensuring higher availability and performance.

 Web Proxies: An intermediary server that acts as a gateway between a user's device and the
internet. It can mask the user's IP address, enhancing privacy by hiding their real location
and identity from the websites they visit.

Content Delivery Networks (CDNs)

 Definition: A globally distributed network of servers that stores copies of popular content
closer to end-users.
 Function: By serving content from a server geographically nearer to the user, CDNs
significantly reduce latency, accelerate webpage loading times, and reduce the traffic load on
the origin server.

Peer-to-Peer (P2P) Networks

 Definition: A decentralized network where individual computers, or "peers," connect directly

to each other.

 Function: Each peer acts as both a user and a provider, sharing resources like storage,
processing power, and bandwidth with other peers in the network.

Evolution of the Internet

 Origin: The internet began as a military experiment during the Cold War.

 Growth: It has evolved into a general-purpose technology shaped by a combination of

technological advancements and political, social, and economic factors.
This article will explore different application layer protocols, their functions, and their advantages for
communication between devices.

What are Application Layer Protocols?

Understanding application layer protocols for efficient data transfer and communication in computer
networks is crucial.

Applications running on various devices can communicate more easily thanks to a group of protocols
known as application layer protocols, which operate at the top layer of the OSI model. Application
layer protocols define how applications running on different devices pass messages to each other
over a network. These protocols support numerous services, including email, web browsing, and file
transfer, and they define the structure and content of the transmitted data. HTTP, FTP, SMTP, POP
TELNET, TFTP, LDAP and DNS are typical application layer protocols.
Each protocol has its own set of rules and specifications that define how messages can be
transmitted and received between different devices on a network. Below is the list of application
layers protocols.

List of the Application Layer Protocols in Computer Network

1. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

The World Wide Web's foundational protocol is HTTP. It supports web client and server
communication and loads web pages using hypertext links. An individual, known as the user-agent,
requests a server using the client-server protocol known as HTTP. The user agent is typically a web
browser.

The protocol outlines the message transmission and reception between the client and server and
how to exchange resources like HTML or hypertext documents.

JavaScript programmers can use the fetch() API or the Axios library to send HTTP requests. Here is an
example of how to make the request using the fetch() API:

fetch('[Link]

.then(response => [Link]())

.then(data => {

//Do something with the data

});

2. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is an application layer protocol that transfers files between local and remote systems. It runs on
TCP/IP and uses separate control and data connections. The end user's computer is the local host in
an FTP transaction. FTP can be used to transmit files from one host to another. FTP is often secured
with SSL/TLS or replaced with SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP) to encrypt the content and protect
the username and password.

The FTP protocol is widely used to exchange data between hosts, update websites, and deliver
content. ALG (application layer gateway) can be enabled or disabled for the FTP protocol for a DS-Lite
configuration.

The FTP protocol can be used with several commands, including PORT, PWD, LIST, CD, PUT,
and GET.

Common characteristics of the FTP (File Transfer Protocol) protocol include:

1. FTP operates over TCP/IP and is used for transferring files between a client and a server.

2. It uses separate control and data connections: the control connection for sending commands
and receiving responses, and the data connection for transferring files.

3. FTP supports various authentication methods, including username/password authentication

and anonymous FTP.
 4. It allows for both ASCII and binary file transfer modes, enabling the transfer of text and
binary files with appropriate handling of line breaks and character encoding.

3. Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS is a hierarchy and distributed naming system for computers, services, and other Internet
resources or IP networks. DNS is responsible for translating domain names into IP addresses for
locating and identifying computer services and devices with the underlying network protocols. It is
responsible for assigning domain names to authoritative name servers for each domain, providing
distributed and fault-tolerant service.

DNS defines the DNS protocol, which specifies the technical functionality of the database service at
its core and the data structures and communication exchanges used.

'dig', 'host', and 'nslookup' are frequently used DNS protocol commands. You can use these
commands to ask DNS servers questions and get data on domains, IP addresses, and other related
topics. Using the '+short' option with the 'dig' or 'host' command will provide a concise response to a
DNS query.

Common characteristics of the DNS protocol include:

 Translates domain names into IP addresses.

 Operates over UDP/TCP on port 53.

 Utilizes hierarchical distributed naming system.

 Provides domain name resolution for internet resources.

4. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

It is a widely used Internet protocol for sending emails between servers. When sending emails from
one mail server to another, SMTP uses other protocols like POP3 or IMAP to get the emails to their
destinations. SMTP establishes the format for email messages and transmits them using TCP port 25
or 587.

STARTTLS or SSL/TLS are two encryption protocols that can be used with SMTP to protect email
transmission. SMTP provides a dependable and effective method for sending and receiving emails
online. The client and server exchange commands and responses using the text-based SMTP
protocol.

The SMTP protocol's standard commands include EHLO, MAIL FROM, RCPT TO, DATA, and QUIT.
These commands are used in the above order to open communication between the client and the
email server, send an email, and end the session.

Common characteristics of the SMTP protocol include:

 Used for sending email messages between servers.

 Operates over TCP on port 25.

 Follows a client-server model for email transmission.

 Supports basic email delivery and forwarding functionalities.

5. Post Office Protocol (POP)

Email can be retrieved from a server and delivered to a local client using this application layer
protocol. Users can manage and read email messages locally on their devices using POP. POP3 is the
most recent iteration of POP. For unencrypted transmission, it uses TCP port 110, and for encrypted
communication, it uses port 995.

IMAP downloads a copy of the email and leaves the original on the server, whereas POP3 downloads
and deletes it from the server. POP3 is a text-based protocol that involves requests from the client
and answers from the server.

The POP3 protocol has commands such as USER, PASS, LIST, RETR, and QUIT.

Common characteristics of the POP protocol include:

 Retrieves email from a server for local storage.

 Operates over TCP on port 110.

 Typically uses POP3 for downloading messages to a client device.

 Supports simple email retrieval and deletion.

6. Telnet

"Teletype network" is what Telnet stands for. A remote terminal access application layer protocol is
used. Telnet enables users to sign in to a distant computer as if they were physically nearby. TCP port
23 is used for transmission.

Telnet is a text-based protocol where the client and server exchange commands and answers. Telnet
is insecure because it transmits data and login credentials in clear text, leaving it open to
interception.

The central command to use Telnet is to connect to a remote server with telnet
<serverIP> command.

Common characteristics of the Telnet protocol include:

 Telnet is a protocol used for remotely accessing and managing devices over a network.

 Operates over TCP on port 23.

 Provides a text-based interface for logging into remote systems and executing commands.

 Lacks encryption and security features, making it vulnerable to eavesdropping and

interception.

 Historically widely used for remote administration of servers and network devices but now
considered insecure due to its lack of encryption, often replaced by more secure protocols
like SSH (Secure Shell).

7. Trivial File Transfer Protocol (TFTP)

To transfer files between network devices, TFTP is used. It's a condensed form of FTP, and user
authentication is unnecessary. TFTP uses UDP port 69 for transmission. It is a text-based protocol
where the client and server exchange commands and answers. TFTP is frequently used to back up
network devices, transfer firmware updates, and start diskless workstations.
The TFTP protocol command is simply typing "tftp" followed by the server's IP address. After
entering this command, you can use specific TFTP commands like "get" and "put" to transfer files
between the local computer and the remote TFTP server.

Common characteristics of the TFTP protocol include:

 Simplified version of FTP used for basic file transfers.

 Operates over UDP on port 69.

 Lacks authentication and error checking features.

 Primarily used for bootstrapping devices over a network.

8. Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP)

An application layer protocol called LDAP is used to access and manage distributed directory
information services. It enables network-wide sharing of data about users, systems, networks,
services, and applications. It is a widely used, vendor-neutral protocol that transmits data over TCP
port 389 and supports SSL/TLS for secure communication.

LDAP employs a client-server architecture with requests and responses and stores data
hierarchically.

Common LDAP commands include ldapsearch, ldapmodify, ldapadd, and ldapdelete. With the help
of these commands, you can browse, edit, add, and delete entries in a directory service.

Common characteristics of the LDAP protocol include:

 Provides directory services for accessing and managing directory information.

 Operates over TCP on port 389.

 Supports queries and updates to directory services.

 Utilizes a hierarchical data structure for storing directory information.

9. Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP)

The network protocol known as Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) automates the
distribution of IP addresses, subnet masks, gateways, and DNS servers to devices connected to a
network. It manages and distributes these configurations in a dynamic manner, streamlining network
administration and enabling smooth device connection and communication.

Common characteristics of the DHCP protocol include:

 Assigns IP addresses dynamically to devices on a network.

 Operates over UDP on port 67/68.

 Automates the configuration of network parameters such as IP addresses, subnet masks, and
default gateways.

 Supports lease management for IP address allocation.

10. Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP)

The Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a widely used protocol for controlling and
keeping track of network devices. Administrators can use it to access data and change settings on
servers, switches, and other network equipment. Through centralized network administration made
possible by SNMP, problems can be quickly identified and effectively fixed.
Common characteristics of the SNMP protocol include:

 Manages network devices and monitors their performance.

 Operates over UDP on port 161/162.

 Uses a manager-agent architecture for network management.

 Provides a standardized framework for collecting and organizing information about network
devices.