Brief Tutorial on

Networks and Communications

CS-4513 Distributed Systems
(Slides include materials from Operating System Concepts, 7th ed., by Silbershatz, Galvin, & Gagne,
Distributed Systems: Principles & Paradigms, 2nd ed. By Tanenbaum and Van Steen, and
Distributed Systems: Concepts and Design, 4th ed., by Coulouris, et. al.)

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m 2010

Networks and
Communication

Context
Networking was formerly regarded as just
another form of I/O
Today, focus is Distributed Computing
Shared files and other resources among physically separated
systems on networks
NFS, remote printing, etc.

Integrated computations across network

Airline reservations, ATMs, etc.

Interactive games and multimedia

Note: this topic overlaps with CS-3516

Also with CS-513/ECE-506
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Topics
Fundamentals
Socket interface
Protocol Stack
Kinds of network connections

Kinds of Communication
Remote Procedure Call
Message-oriented communication
Stream-oriented communication

Naming
Names, addresses, routes
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Computer C

Process j

Computer A

The Network

Process k

Computer B

Process i
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Network Goal
Allow activities on multiple computer
systems to communicate with each other

Shared memory, files, or data

Message passing
Remote Procedure Call
Integrated applications distributed across
physical space

Create abstractions that make these

(relatively) transparent
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Principal Abstraction Socket

Originally created in BSD Unix
Subsequently, part of most operating systems
Allows opening a connection between two
processes across network
Connection:
a serial conversation between two end points
e.g., processes, threads, tasks on different machines

organized as a sequence of messages or datagrams

distinct from all other connections
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Computer C
Thread r
Process j

Computer A

The Network

Process p
Process k

Computer B
Task q
Process i
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Definition Protocol
Formal set of rules that govern the formats,
contents, and meanings of messages from
computer to computer, process to process,
etc.
Must be agreed to by all parties to a
communication
May be defined in terms of other protocols
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There are many, many protocols

TCP, UDP, IP, NCP, SMTP, SNNP, NNTP,
FTP, TFTP, POP, IMAP, HTTP, VMRL,
Appletalk, Netware,
Remote Procedure Call, NFS,
CORBA, GLOBE, JINI,
Network Streaming,

How to make sense out of all of them?
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Network Stack
1983 Open System Interconnection (OSI) 7 layer
Reference Model
Working group of the International Standards
Organization (ISO)
Defines seven layers
Describe how applications communicate with each other
Via network-aware devices

Most day-to-day protocols

work on a slightly modified layer system
E.g. TCP/ IP uses a 6-rather than a 7-layer model

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OSI 7-layer model

Primarily a software and protocol architecture

Layers of model correspond to layers of abstraction
Each layer has a well-defined function
Layers chosen so that
international standards can be defined

Boundaries between layers chosen to

minimize information flow across interfaces

Number of layers:
Large enough
Distinct functions need not be thrown together

Small enough
Architecture does not become unwieldy
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The OSI 7-layer model

(in a nutshell)
Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer

Silbershatz, 16.6-16.7
Coulouris et al, 3.3.4

Physical
Layer
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Annotated OSI 7-Layer Stack

Silbershatz,
page 630

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The OSI 7-layer model (continued)

Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer

Layer 2 Data Link Layer

Take the raw transmission facility and
transform it into an abstract link that appears
free of errors to layer 3.
Error correcting coding (e.g. FEC)
Rate Control (Slow device not overrun by high
speed device)
Defines Packet abstraction

Layer 1 Physical Layer

Physical
Layer
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Defines the physical and electrical

characteristics of the network.
Transmitting of raw bits over the communication
channel
Defines Bit abstraction
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The OSI 7-layer model (continued)

Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer

Layer 2 Data Link Layer

Take the raw transmission facility and
transform it into an abstract link that appears
free of errors to layer 3.
Error correcting coding (e.g. FEC)
Rate Control (Slow device not overrun by high
speed device)
Defines Packet abstraction

Layer 1 Physical Layer

Physical
Layer
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Defines the physical and electrical

characteristics of the network.
Transmitting of raw bits over the communication
channel
Defines Bit abstraction
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The OSI 7-layer model (continued)

Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer

Layer 3 Network Layer

Physical
Layer
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Controlling the operation of the subnet

How packets are routed
Congestion Control
Accounting function (billing)
Network Statistics

Example - IP layer (IPv4, IPv6)

Differences between v4, v6 source/destination
addressing
V4 32 bit addressing
V6 128 bit addressing

Defines Internet abstraction i.e., packets that

can be sent from anywhere to anywhere
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The OSI 7-layer model (continued)

Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer

Layer 4 Transport Layer

Physical
Layer
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Accept data from higher layers

Split it up into smaller units if need be
Passes these to the network layer
Ensures that the packets all arrive correctly at the
destination in the right order
Isolates higher layers from changes in the underlying
hardware

Two types of service to provide

Reliable or unreliable delivery

True end-to-end layer

Example: TCP or UDP
Defines Connection abstraction i.e., data to
destination
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The OSI 7-layer model (continued)

Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer
Physical
Layer
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Layer 7 Application Layer

User layer protocol, multiple protocols required
Example http, ftp, smtp

Layer 6 Presentation Layer

Performs certain functions that are requested sufficiently
often to warrant finding a general solution for them rather
than letting each user solve the problem
Example encoding data

Layer 5 - Session Layer

Allows users on different machines to establish sessions
between them
Example SSL, RPC
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Summary OSI 7-layer model

Sending
Process
Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer
Physical
Layer
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Receiving
Process

Data
AH
PH

Data

SH
TH
NH
DH

Data

Data
Data
Data
Data

DT

Application
Layer
Presentation
Layer
Session
Layer
Transport
Layer
Network
Layer
Data Link
Layer
Physical
Layer

Bits

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Layered Protocols
OSI 7-layer model was intended to be a
foundation of a family of international
standard protocols
Those protocols never gained much
acceptance
Role of Session and Presentation layers is
murky, at best.
Internet protocols (TCP/IP, etc.) are
dominant
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The TCP/IP Protocol Layers

TCP/IP

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The TCP/IP Protocol Layers

TCP/IP

Subsumed by middleware

Defined by manufacturers,
industry sub-groups, and
separate standards bodies
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Modified Layers

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Examples of Middleware

Authentication protocols
Commit protocols for atomic transactions
Multimedia protocols
Remote Procedure Call protocols (RPC)

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Styles of Communication
Message-oriented
Remote Procedure Call
Streaming

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Some Terms
Packet:
A unit of communication at Data Link layer
aka datagram

IP Address:
A four-part number used by Network Layer to route a packet
from one computer to another

Port:
A 16-bit number used within one computer to identify who/where
to send packet to

Well-known port:
A port with number < 1024, used by agreement for standard
services e.g.,
telnet (23), ftp (21), smtp (25), pop (110)
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More Terms
Socket:
End point of a communication
Usually used in pairs, one for each direction
Comprises [IP Address: Port #]

Connection:
A logical linkage between pairs of sockets at
two endpoints for purposes of a particular
communication between those endpoints
i.e., a serial conversation between endpoints
Usually two-way
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Connection
The backbone of most message-oriented
communication protocols
Each party retains knowledge of the other
Each party retains information about state of the
other (vis a vis the protocol itself)
Each party knows if connection is broken

Note: some popular protocols are connectionless
one side retains no state information about other side
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Establishing a Connection
Process a on machine m creates a socket
OS assigns a new port number q to that socket

Process a attempts to open a connection to machine n:p

p is a well-known port

Process b on machine n is listening on p

Receives request from m:q

Process b forks a process or spawns a thread c to talk with

m:q, then resumes listening on p
Thread/process c
Creates a new socket r for this connection
Replies to m:q with return address n:r

a and c continue to communicate over this pair of sockets

until they are finished.
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Typical Client-Server Connection

Create socket
On server side

Bind
I.e., connect socket to port # (usually well-known port)

Listen
Sit and wait for a communication to come in

Accept
Create new socket for purpose of responding to this caller
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Notes
Responder to request for connection does
not have to be the original server machine
Delegate workload to other server systems

Systems often include a connection ID as

part of request to open connection
Unique or randomly chosen
Reduces spoofing of server responses

Unix/Linux will not re-use a socket # within

30 seconds
To avoid confusion between old connection and new
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Reliable Connections
Transport layer partitions messages into packets
TCP Transmission Control Protocol
Sequence number of current packet
Sequence number of last packet received correctly

Receiver keeps track of seq. # of packets

Reassembles in right order
Notify sender of missing, broken packets

Sender keeps copy of each packet until receipt

acknowledged
Retransmits packets if no acknowledgement

Window defines how many packet buffers to

maintain for efficient transmission
Allows many packets in flight
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Reliable Connections (continued)

Packet i
Packet i+1
Packet i+2
Packet i+3

Packet i+k

recd i

time
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Reliable Connections (continued)

Packet i
Packet i+1
Packet i+2
Packet i+3

Packet i+k

recd i
recd i

time
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Reliable Connections (continued)

Packet i
Packet i+1
Packet i+2
Packet i+3

Packet i+k

recd i
recd i
recd i+2

time
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Reliable Connections (continued)

Packet i
Packet i+1
Packet i+2
Packet i+3

Packet i+k

lost

recd i
recd i
recd i+2

recd i+2

time
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Reliable Connections (continued)

If acknowledgement received for packet i
Delete from buffer all packets i

If no acknowledgement received within a

reasonable time for packet k
Retransmit from buffer all packets k

Result

Recovers from loss of packets

Recovers from loss of acknowledgements
Works well for reasonably reliable internet
Doesnt work so well for noisy, unreliable networks

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Reminder
How do we know if a packet is received
correctly?
Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC)
Polynomial computed from packet header and
body
Usually 16 or 32 bits, computed by hardware

Appended to message
Recomputed on reception, compared with
transmitted CRC
Equal packet received correctly
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Examples of Connection-based Protocols

Telnet (virtual terminal)
2-way communication by character stream
Line-by-line organization

SMTP (Simple Mail Transport Protocol)

For sending mail
Layered on top of telnet protocol

POP (Post Office Protocol)

For receiving your mail

Layered on top of telnet protocol

FTP (File Transfer Protocol)

For transmitting ASCII or binary files

Binary data transmission not layered on telnet protocol

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Connection-less communication
Some communication protocols dont need the
overhead of reliable connections
When some number of errors can be tolerated
Where recovery from those errors is easy

UDP User Datagram Protocol

The internet connection-less protocol (layer 4)

Breaks messages into packets
Messages delivered atomically or not at all
Does not send acknowledgement of correct receipt

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Examples
HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol)
Web server responds directly to requests
If client does not get response, retries request

NFS (Network File System)

For access to files on servers as if they are local
If client does not get response, retries request

RPC (Remote Procedure Call)

Next topic

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Summary

Socket, connection
Network stack, 7-layer model
Establishing a connection
Reliable transmission

Reading assignment
Coulouris, Chapter 3
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