Computer Communication & Networks

Lecture 28 Application Layer: HTTP & WWW http://web.uettaxila.edu.pk/CMS/coeCCNbsSp09/index.as p

Waleed Ejaz waleed.ejaz@uettaxila.edu.pk

Application Layer

Application Layer Topics to Cover

DNS Electronic Mail File Transfer
HTTP, WWW

Web and HTTP

Web and HTTP

First some jargon Web page consists of objects Object can be HTML file, JPEG image, Java applet, audio file, Web page consists of base HTML-file which includes several referenced objects Each object is addressable by a URL Example URL:
www.someschool.edu/someDept/pic.gi f path name host name
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Uniform Resource Locator

HTTP overview
HTTP: hypertext transfer protocol
Webs application layer protocol client/server model o client: browser that requests, receives, displays Web objects o server: Web server sends objects in response to requests HTTP 1.0: RFC 1945 HTTP 1.1: RFC 2068
HTTP request PC running Explorer HTTP response

HTTP request

Server HTTP response running Apache Web server

Mac running Navigator

HTTP overview (continued)

Uses TCP:
client initiates TCP connection (creates socket) to server, port 80 server accepts TCP connection from client HTTP messages (application-layer protocol messages) exchanged between browser (HTTP client) and Web server (HTTP server) TCP connection closed

HTTP is stateless
server maintains no information about past client requests Protocols that maintain state are complex! past history (state) must be maintained if server/client crashes, their views of state may be inconsistent, must be reconciled

aside

HTTP connections
Nonpersistent HTTP Persistent HTTP At most one object is Multiple objects can be sent over single TCP sent over a TCP connection between connection. client and server. HTTP/1.0 uses HTTP/1.1 uses nonpersistent HTTP persistent connections
in default mode

Nonpersistent HTTP
(contains text, references to 10 jpeg images) www.someSchool.edu/someDepartment/home.inde

Suppose user enters URL

x

1a. HTTP client initiates TCP

connection to HTTP server (process) at www.someSchool.edu on port 80

1b. HTTP server at host

www.someSchool.edu waiting for TCP connection at port 80. accepts connection, notifying client

2. HTTP client sends HTTP

request message (containing URL) into TCP connection socket. Message indicates that client wants object someDepartment/home.index

3. HTTP server receives request

message, forms response message containing requested object, and sends message into its socket
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time

Nonpersistent HTTP (cont.)

4. HTTP server closes TCP
connection.

5. HTTP client receives response message containing html file, displays html. Parsing html time file, finds 10 referenced jpeg objects
6. Steps 1-5 repeated for each of
10 jpeg objects

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Response time modeling

Definition of RTT: time for a small packet to travel from client to server and back. initiate TCP Response time: connection one RTT to initiate TCP RTT connection request file one RTT for HTTP RTT request and first few bytes of HTTP response file to return received file transmission time time total = 2RTT+transmit time

time to transmit file

time

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Persistent HTTP

Persistent without pipelining: client issues new request only when previous response requires 2 RTTs per object has been received OS must work and one RTT for each referenced allocate host resources for object Persistent with pipelining: each TCP connection default in HTTP/1.1 but browsers often open client sends requests as soon parallel TCP connections as it encounters a referenced to fetch referenced objects object Persistent HTTP as little as one RTT for all the server leaves connection referenced objects

Nonpersistent HTTP issues:

open after sending response subsequent HTTP messages between same client/server are sent over connection

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Web caches (proxy server)

Goal: satisfy client request without involving origin server
user sets browser: Web accesses via cache browser sends all HTTP requests to cache
object in cache: cache returns object o else cache requests object from origin server, then returns object to client
o
origin server

client HTTP response HTTP request

Proxy server HTTP request HTTP request

HTTP response

HTTP response client

origin server
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More about Web caching

Cache acts as both client and server Typically cache is installed by ISP (university, company, residential ISP)

Why Web caching?

Reduce response time for client request. Reduce traffic on an institutions access link. Internet dense with caches enables poor content providers to effectively deliver content (but so does P2P file sharing)

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Quiz Retake
What are the key differences between FTP and HTTP? [2] Consider an HTTP client that wants to retrieve a Web document at a given URL. The IP address of the HTTP server is initially unknown. The Web document at the URL has one embedded GIF image that resides at the same server as the original document. What transport and application layer protocols besides HTTP are needed in this scenario? [3] Suppose within your Web browser you click on a link to obtain a Web page. The IP address for the associated URL is not cached in your local host, so a DNS look-up is necessary to obtain the IP address. Suppose that n DNS servers are visited before your host receives the IP address from DNS; the successive visits incur an RTT of RTT1, RTTn. Further suppose that the Web page is an HTML text file and four additional objects. Let RTT0 denote a RTT between the local host and the server containing the object. Assuming zero transmission time of the object, how much time elapses from when the client clicks on the link until the client receives the entire Web page? Assume a non-persistent HTTP protocol with no parallel TCP connections. [4]

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