COMPUTER NETWORK TERMS

Internet
a computer network that interconnects billions of computing devices throughout the world.
Host/End System
devices connected to the internet.
Types of Physical Media
1. Coaxial cable
2. Twisted Pair(TP) - Copper Wire
3. Optical Fiber
4. Radio Spectrum
Transmission Rate
The speed of a link measured in bits/second.
Packets
bundling data into smaller chunks, resulting packages of information.
Packet Switch
takes a packet arriving on one of its incoming communication links and forwards that packet on one
of its outgoing communication links.
Most Prominent Packet Switches
1. Routers
2. Link-Layer Switches
Link-Layer Switches
generally used in access networks.
Router Switches
used in the network core.
Route/Path
the sequence of communication links and packet switches traversed by a packet from the sending
end-system to the receiving end-system.
Internet Service Providers
(ISPs) in itself is a network of packet switches and communication links.
ISP Network Access Types:
1. cable modem/DSL
2. high-speed local area network access
3. mobile wireless access.
Protocols
defines the format and the order of messages exchanged between two or more communicating
entities, as well as the actions taken on the transmission and/or receipt of a message or other event.

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Two Most Important Protocols
1. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
2. Internet Protocol (IP)
Internet Protocol (IP)
specifies the format of the packets that are sent and received among routers and end systems.
The Internet's Principal Protocols
TCP/IP
Distributed Applications
applications that involve multiple end systems that exchange data with each other.
Socket Interface
specifies how a program running on one end systems asks the internet infrastructure to deliver data
to a specific destination program running on another end system.
Two Elements of Hosts
1. Clients
2. Servers
Access Network
the network that physically connects an end system to the first router (also known as the "edge
router") on a path from the end system to any other distant end system.
Edge Router
the first router.
Prevalent Broadband Residential Access Types:
1.DSL - Digital Subscriber Line
2.Cable
Residential Phone Line Encoded Frequencies
1. High speed down stream: 50 kHz to 1 MHz

2. Medium speed down stream: 4 kHz to 50 kHz

3. Ordinary two way: 0 to kHz

FTTH (fiber to the home)
provides home users with Internet access via fiber-optic cable
Optical Networks
Active (AONs)
Passive(PONs)
Optical Network Terminator(ONT)
which is connected by dedicated optical fiber to a neighborhood splitter.

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Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
different channels transmitted in different frequency bands.
Hybrid Fiber Coax (HFC)
asymmetric: up to 40 Mbps - 1.2 Gbs download and 30 - 100 Mbps upload
Digital Subscriber Line (DSL)
use existing telephone line to central office.
Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs)
a computer network in a limited geographical area that uses wireless transmission for communication
Bit
binary digit which propagates between transmitter/receiver pairs.
Physical Link
what lies between transmitter and receiver.
Guided Media
signals travel in solid media routes: copper, fiber, coax
Unguided Media
signals travel without route or better said:(freely), e.g. radio
Radio Link Types:
-Terrestrial Microwave
-Wireless LAN (Wi-Fi)
-Wide Area (Cellular)
-Satellite
Packet Switching
the host break application layer messages into packets.
Transmission Delay
takes L/R seconds to transmit L-bit packet into link at R bps
Store and Forward
entire packet must arrive at router before it can be transmitted on next link..
End-end delay
2L/R (above), assuming zero propagation delay
Packet Queuing and Loss
if arrival rate (in bps) to link exceeds transmission rate (bps) of link for a period of time, packets will
queue and while buffering too long, can be lost.
Routing
(Global Action) determining the source destination paths taken by packets.

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Forwarding
(Local Action) move arriving packets from router's input link to appropriate router output link.
Circuit Switching
a dedicated connection is formed between two points and the connection remains active for the
duration of the transmission
Frequency Division Multiplexing (FDM)
optical electromagnetic frequencies divided into (narrow) frequency bands. Each call allocated its
own band, transmission max rate is same as narrow band (horizontal long lines)
Time Division Multiplexing(TDM)
time is divided into slots, each call allocated periodic slot(s), can transmit at maximum rate of wider
frequency only during its time slots.
Packet Switching vs. Circuit Switching
1. Circuit switching allows only 10 users, packet switching allows 35 users but chances of 10 users at
same time is less than 0.0004%
2. Packet switching is good for resource sharing and also is simpler.
Packet Loss and Delay
-Packets queue and wait for turn
-arrival rate to link(temporarily) exceeds output link capacity, packets are then dropped and lost
Packet Delay 4 Sources:
1. Nodal Processing
2. Queueing delay
3. Transmission Delay
4. Propagation Delay
Notation (R, L, a)
R: link bandwidth
L: packet length (bits)
a: average packet arrival time
Queueing Delay Possibilities:
1.La/R ~0
2.La/R > 1
3.La/R -> 1
1. average delay
2. Infinite Delay
3. Large Delay
traceroute
provides information such as delay measurement from source to router along end-end internet path
to destination.
[send 3 packets, router will return them, sender measures time to receive back]
Throughput

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rate (bits/time unit) at which bits are being sent from sender to receiver.

Instantaneous = rate at given point in time

average = rate over longer period of time
bottleneck link
link on end-end path that constrains end-end throughput.
Malware
software that is intended to damage or disable computers and computer systems.
[Virus & Worm]
Virus
an infection that self-replicates by executing objects
Worm
self-replicating infection by passively receiving objects that gets itself executed.
Spyware
can record keystrokes, websites visited, upload info to a collection site.
Denial of Service(DoS)
attackers make resources (server bandwidth) unavailable to legitimate traffic by overwhelming
resource with bogus traffic.
DoS steps
1. Target selected
2. break into hosts around the network
3. send packets to target from hosts the attacker has seized control over.
Packet Sniffing
promiscuous network interface reads/records all packets passing by
IP Spoofing
sending packets with false IP addresses linked.
Internet Protocol Stack layers
1. Application
2. Transport
3. Network
4. Link
5. Physical
Application layer
supporting network applications (FTP, SMTP, HTTP)
Transport Layer
process-process data transfer
TCP, UDP

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Network
routing of datagrams from source to destination (IP)
Link
data transfer between neighboring network elements (Ethernet, Wi-Fi)
Physical
bits within the wire.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)
provides reliable, ordered, and error-checked delivery of a stream of packets on the internet. TCP is
tightly linked with IP and usually seen as TCP/IP in writing.
User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
An alternative to TCP that achieves higher transmission speeds at the cost of reliability
Server
always-on host, permanent IP address
Client
a contact that communicates with the server, dynamic IP addresses (HTTP, IMAP, FTP)
Peer-Peer (PP) Architecture
-no always-on server
-peers request service from other peers, service is then provided in return.
-peers are intermittently connected and change IP addresses
Process
a program running within a host.
Inter-Process Communication
within the same host, 2 processes are communicating.
Client Process
process that initiates communication
Server Process
process that awaits to be contacted
Socket
A network connection consisting of a port number combined with a computer's IP address.
HTTP
(Hypertext Transfer Protocol) is the web's application layer protocol
HTTP Client & Server

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client: browser that requests and receives objects

server: sends objects in response to requests

HTTP Connection Type
TCP
Round Trip Time (RTT)
time for a small packet to travel from client to server and back.
HTTP Response time
1. One RTT to initiate TCP connection
2. One RTT for HTTP request and first few bytes of HTTP response to return
3. object/file transmission time
HTTP Message Type
1. Request [ASCII]
2. Response
HTTP Request Messages Methods
1. Post, Get, Put, Head
HTTP Response Codes
-200 OK
-301 Move Permanently
-400 Bad Request
-404 Not Found
-505 HTTP Version Not Supported
Cookies
permit sites to learn a lot about you on their site.
Web Caching
A technique in which Web pages are stored locally, either on a host or network, and then delivered to
requesters more quickly than if they had been obtained from the original source.
Email Components
1. user agents
2. mail servers
3. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP)
User Agent
mail reader
Mail Servers
mailbox containing incoming messages for the user
HTTP vs SMTP

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HTTP: pull
SMTP: push
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP)
delivery and storage of e-mail messages to receiver's server
Internet Mail Access Protocol(IMAP)
messages are stored on server, IMAP retrieves messages, deletes messages, and folders messages
SMTP vs IMAP
SMTP pushes IMAP pops
Domain Name System(DNS)
a distributed database implemented in hierarchy of many name servers
Application-Layer Protocol
hosts, name servers communicate to resolve names(address/name translation)
DNS services
-hostname to IP address translation
-host aliasing
-mail server aliasing
-load distribution
Top-Level Domain (TLD) Servers
response for .com, .org, .net, etc.
Local DNS name servers
-does not strictly belong to a hierarchy
-when host makes DNS query, query is sent to its local DNS server
Resource Records (RR)
-type=A
-type=NS
-type=CNAME
-type=MX
Peer-To-Peer(P2P) Architecture
-no always on server
-end systems communicated directly
-peers request service from other peers, provide service in return to other peers
-peers are intermittently connected and change IP addresses
Server Transmission
must sequentially send(upload) N file copies

time to send copy: F/Us

time to send N copies: NF/Us
Client distribution

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each client must download file copy
File Distribution P2P
1. server transmission: must upload at least one copy
2. client: each client must download file copy
3. clients: must download NF bits
Tracker
tracks peers participating in torrent.
Torrent
group of peers exchanging chunks of a file
Churn
peers may come and go
Chunks Tit-For-Tat
user sends chunks to 4 peers whom are currently sending the user chunks at highest rate
Constant Bit Rate CBR
video encoding rate fixed
Variable Bit Rate (VBR)
video encoding rate changes as amount of spatial, temporal coding changes
DASH
Dynamic, Adaptive Streaming over HTTP
UDP vs TCP
UDP: Unreliable datagram
TCP: reliable, byte stream-oriented
UDP Socket Programming
-no connection between client and server
-transmitted data may be lost of received out of order