AN INTRODUCTION TO

NETCENTRIC
DEVELOPMENT
Protocols, Domains, Routing, and Tools

COS216
AVINASH SINGH
DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA
 VIDEO
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG9oKZdFb7w
 OVERVIEW OF PROTOCOLS

• A set of rules/procedures regulating the communication between computers

• A protocol specifies:
• How and when communication starts
• Which part of the communication comes at which time
• How and when the communication ends

• Protocols are specified and maintained by:

• Open consortiums
• Industry organizations
• Governments

• Different protocols exist on different layers

OSI MODEL
 TRANSPORT PROTOCOLS

• Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

• Provides reliable delivery of a stream of octets
• Between programs running on computers connected to a network
• Provides ordering and error-checking of messages
• WWW, email, file transfer, video streaming

• User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

• Transport protocol like TCP
• Provides connectionless datagram service
• Emphasizes latency over reliability
• Does not guarantee delivery, ordering, or protection
• Torrents, DNS, VoIP, VPN, online games, video streaming
 INTERNET PROTOCOL

• Internet Protocol (IP)

• Responsible for relaying datagrams on a network
• Routing packets based on the IP address and packet headers
• IP uses addresses for routing
 TCP/IP PROTOCOLS

• Often referred to as a single unit: TCP/IP

• Responsible for most transmission on the internet
• TCP (or UDP) is responsible for creating, ordering, and checking packets
• IP is responsible for getting those packets to their destination
OSI VS TCP/IP MODEL
 APPLICATION LAYER PROTOCOLS
• HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
• Stateless protocol for transferring hypermedia, main protocol in browsers

• File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

• Protocol for transferring files

• Email Protocols:
• Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)
• Post Office Protocol version 3 (POP3)
• Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP)

• Ripple (XRP): payment protocol for sending money over the internet
• BitTorrent: protocol for peer-to-peer file sharing
• And several other protocols …
 IP ADDRESSES

• Each computer connected to a network/internet has a unique IP address

• Part of the Internet Protocol
• Corporations vs local networks
• Static vs dynamic IP addresses

• IP version 4 (IPv4):
• Format: aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd
• Each field (eg: aaa) has a value in [0,255] and is represented by one byte
• Eg: 192.168.1.100
 IP ADDRESSES

• Each computer connected to a network/internet has a unique IP address

• Corporations vs local networks
• Static vs dynamic IP addresses

• IP version 4 (IPv4):
• Format: aaa.bbb.ccc.ddd
• Each field (eg: aaa) has a value in [0,255] and is represented by 1 byte (8 bits)
• Eg: 192.168.1.100
• 4 fields x 8 bits = 32 bits per address
• 232 = 4,294,967,296 = 4 billion distinct addresses
• Not enough to serve 7 billion people
 IP ADDRESSES

• IP version 6 (IPv6):
• Uses 128-bit addresses
• Format: aaaa:bbbb:cccc:dddd:eeee:ffff:gggg:hhhh
• Each field is in hexadecimal
• Eg: 2001:db8:85a3:0:0:8a2e:370:7334
• 2128 = 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 = 340 undecillion distinct
addresses
 IP ADDRESSES

• IP version 6 (IPv6):
• Uses 128-bit addresses
• Format: aaaa:bbbb:cccc:dddd:eeee:ffff:gggg:hhhh
• Each field is in hexadecimal
• Leading 0s can be omitted
• Eg: 2001:db8:85a3:0:0:8a2e:370:7334
• 2128 = 340,282,366,920,938,463,463,374,607,431,768,211,456 = 340 undecillion distinct
addresses
 LOCALHOST

• Your local machine has a special IP address

• IPv4: 127.0.0.1
• IPv6: ::1
• Hostname: localhost
 OVERVIEW OF DOMAINS

• Computers can easily remember “random” numbers (IP addresses)

• Humans not so much – they can remember words much better
• The words are called domains
• Eg: google.com or cs.up.ac.za
• Domain Name System (DNS):
• Converts domain names (words) into IP addresses (numbers)
• Hence, converts from human notation into machine notation
• These names are called Fully Qualified Domain Names (FQDN)
• The server doing the conversion is the Domain Name Server (DNS) – yes, DNS is
reused
 DOMAIN NAME SERVER

• The DNS operates as follows:

• DNS contains a large table with domain names and IP addresses
• If a domain name comes in as a request, it searches through the table to find the IP
address. This process is called “resolving”
• The IP address is returned to the caller
• DNS uses UDP

• DNS is created and maintained by:

• Internet Service Providers (ISPs) – most home routers’ default settings
• Large corporations (eg: Google and Microsoft)
• Governments (eg: China and North Korea)
• Root DNS
 ROOT DNS

• Not all DNS servers keep track of all domains

• DNS entries are updated on regular intervals
• DNS works in a hierarchy
• Root DNS is the top hierarchy, keeping tack of top-level domains (TLDs)
• Lower level DNS may keep track of certain domains, depending on the requirnments
• DNS can resolve addresses on local machines, eg: localhost

• Currently 13 root DNS servers (IPs)

• With anycast addressing there are 1600+ DNS root servers (Feb 2023)
ROOT DNS
ROOT DNS
 ROOT DNS MAP

https://root-servers.org/
 DNS OVER HTTPS (DOH)

• Domain Name System (DNS) resolution via the HTTPS protocol

• Prevents eavesdropping (Government)
• Increases Privacy (Encryption) [does not ensure privacy]
• Prevents Main-in-the-Middle attacks
• Google and Mozilla have begun testing this, with Firefox already available to the
end user
 EXAMPLE OF DNS TABLE

mail.xx.com IN A 102.34.23.6
host.xx.com IN MX mail.xx.com
www.xx.com IN A 102.34.23.8
ftp.xx.com IN CNAME www.xx.com
 OVERVIEW OF DNS

… …
Browser www.google.com 172.217.18.174
www.google.com
… …
172.217.18.174
DNS Server

Main page request

Main page response

Google Server
172.217.18.174

Browser
 UNIFORM RESOURCE IDENTIFIER

• Uniform Resource Identifier (URI)

• String of characters used to uniquely identify a resource on the internet
• Uniform Resource Locator (URL)
• Web address

• Uniform Resource Name (URN)

• Complement URLs
• Mechanism for the identification of resources in particular namespaces
UNIFORM RESOURCE IDENTIFIER
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

• URLs adhere to the URI syntax:

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]

• Example:

https://satoshi:[email protected]:80/satoshi/bitcoin/readme.txt
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://satoshi:[email protected]:80/satoshi/bitcoin/readme.txt

• The scheme consisting of a sequence of characters

• Typically the protocol:
• http: Standard HTTP protocol
• https: Secured HTTP protocol with SSL/TLS encryption
• ftp: Standard FTP protocol
• ftps: Secured FTP protocol with SSL/TLS encryption
• file: Indicates a local file. Eg: file:///C:/Users/satoshi/Desktop/test.html
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://satoshi:[email protected]:80/satoshi/bitcoin/readme.txt

• Scheme is followed by:

• A colon
• 2 or 3 forward slashes
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://satoshi:[email protected]:80/satoshi/bitcoin/readme.txt

• Some sites support the passing of usernames and password to access restricted
content.
• Content can be accessed without have to manually login.
• The username and password is separated by a colon.
• The password is followed by a @ before the host.
• If no login details are provided, omit: user:password@
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://satoshi:[email protected]:80/satoshi/bitcoin/readme.txt

• The host as a FQDN

• Includes:
• Top-level domain (TLD). Eg: com
• Domain name. Eg: google
• Subdomains. Eg: www

• Can also be:

• IP address
• Localhost. Eg: 127.0.0.1 or localhost
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://satoshi:[email protected]:80/satoshi/bitcoin/readme.txt

• The port of the server, separated by a colon

• Different applications and protocols run over different ports
• If the port is omitted, the browser uses the default port:
• http: port 80
• https: 443
• ftp: 21
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://satoshi:[email protected]:80/satoshi/bitcoin/readme.txt

• The full path of the resource

• Can be a directory or file path
• Uses Unix-style paths, separated by forward slashes
• The path can be:
• A real path with subdirectories and files
• An emulated path that does not have real directories or files, but the path is
interpreted by the server
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://github.com/satoshi/bitcoin/script.php?type=data&json=1

• A query with parameters

• Values can be send to the server (script or web server)
• The query:
• Starts with a question mark
• Parameters are separated by an ampersand
• Parameters take the format: name=value
 UNIFORM RESOURCE LOCATOR

scheme:[//[user[:password]@]host[:port]][/path][?query][#fragment]
https://github.com/satoshi/bitcoin/index.html#section1

• A fragment on the current page

• Is interpreted on the client-side
• Typically used to jump to a specific heading on a website when opened, instead
of showing the top-most part of the site
 DOMAIN NAMES

www.google.com
cs.up.ac.za

• Top-level domains (TLDs)

• Always required
• First look-up when resolving the host
• Managed by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN)
 DOMAIN NAMES

www.google.com
cs.up.ac.za

• Second-level domains (SLDs)

• Optional, depending on TLD
• Second look-up when resolving the host, after the TLD
• Managed by local domain name registrar. Eg: *.za is managed by ZA Central Registry
• Can vary depending on the registrar:
• co (commercial), ac (academic institutions), gov (government institutions), net (network
providers), mil (Department of Defense), etc
 DOMAIN NAMES

www.google.com
cs.up.ac.za

• Domain name
• Domain registered by company or individual
• Many companies provide services for domain registrations
• Although the domain belongs to you, it is still under control of the registrar
 DOMAIN NAMES

www.google.com
cs.up.ac.za

• Subdomain
• Zero or more subdomains
• Under the control of the company/individual who registered the domain name.
• Does not require an additional registration, can be added/removed directly on the
server and by adding DNS entries
• Most common one: www (world wide web)
• Most modern websites can be accessed without www
CLIENT-SERVER ARCHITECTURE

Client Side Server Side

CLIENT-SERVER LANGUAGES

Markup Scripts
(HTML, XML) (PHP, Python, Ruby, etc)

Styling Database
(CSS) (MySQL, SQLite,
MongoDB, etc)
Scripts
(JavaScript)

Client Side Server Side

 CLIENT-SERVER SOFTWARE

Web Server
(Apache, nginx, IIS, GWS,
Browser
etc)
(Firefox, Chrome, etc)
Database Server
Other Web Tools
(MySQL Server, etc)
(REST posters, cURL, etc)
Email Servers
(Postfix, Dovecot, etc)

FTP Server
Client Side
Server Side
CLIENT-SERVER LAMP (COS216)
 Linux-Apache-MySQL-PHP (LAMP)

CLIENT- Client Side:

• HTML
SERVER • CSS
• JavaScript
LAMP Server Side:
(COS216) •
•
Linux OS
Apache
• PHP
• MySQL
Communication:
• JSON
 COS216 SERVER

wheatley.cs.up.ac.za

• Accessible from outside campus

• User your CS username and password
• Upload your files via FTP
• Access the website through your browser
 COS216 LOCALHOST

• If you want to work locally, you can setup your own server.
• We recommend using XAMPP:
• https://www.apachefriends.org
• Comes with Apache, PHP, MariaDB (open-source MySQL), FileZilla, and phpMyAdmin
• Cross-platform: Linux, Windows, Mac
• Make sure to test your code on Wheatley before the deadline
 XAMPP

• Easily manage your

webserver
 Launch XAMPP

XAMPP Start the Apache and MySQL servers (FTP

server is not necessary)

Create a new directory under <xampp

install path>/htdocs/COS216

Create a new file test.txt under the

COS216 directory

Access the file in your browser:

http://localhost/COS216/test.txt
 FTP -
FILEZILLA
Easily upload your files
via FTP
 FTP

• Or use the terminal ftp command to upload

1. ftp wheatley.cs.up.ac.za
2. <enter your CS username>
3. <enter your CS password>
4. Change directory, upload files, delete files, rename or move files
5. More info on the commands: https://www.cs.colostate.edu/helpdocs/ftp.html
 MYSQL -
PHPMYADMIN

• Easily manage your databases

via a web-based interface

 MYSQL

• Or use the terminal mysql command to access your database

• More details to follow in SQL Lectures