Chapter Four

Session, Presentation and Application Layer

Part V

Data Communication and Computer

Networks

(SE 3051)
 Session Layer
 The lowest four layers of the OSI model (Physical, Data link,
Network, and Transport) provide the means for the reliable
exchange of data and provide a fast data service.
 For example, a remote terminal access application might require
a half-duplex dialogue.
 A transaction-processing application might require checkpoints
in the data-transfer stream to permit backup and recovery.
 A message processing application might require the ability to
interrupt a dialogue in order to prepare a new portion of a
message and later to resume the dialogue where it was left off.
2
 Contd.
 All these capabilities could be embedded in specific applications
at layer 7.
 However, because these types of dialogue-structuring tools have
widespread applicability, it makes sense to organize them into a
separate layer: the session layer.
 The session layer provides the mechanism for controlling the
dialogue between applications in end systems.
 In many cases, there will be little or no need for session-layer
services, but for some applications, such services are used.

3
Contd.

4
The key services provided by the session layer include
 The primary job of session layer protocols is to provide the means
necessary to set up, manage, and end sessions
1. Dialogue discipline. This can be two-way simultaneous (full duplex)
or two way alternate (half duplex) communication between
processes.
2. Grouping. The flow of data can be marked to define groups of data.
 For example, if a retail store is transmitting sales data to a
regional office, the data can be marked to indicate the end of the
sales data for each department; this would signal the host
computer to finalize running totals for that department and start
new running counts for the next department. 5
Contd.
3. Recovery. The session layer can provide a check pointing
mechanism, so that if a failure of some sort occurs between
checkpoints, the session entity can retransmit all data since the
last checkpoint, as in the example shown below:
 For example, if a system is sending a file of 2000 pages, it is
advisable to insert checkpoints after every 100 pages to ensure that
each 100-page unit is received and acknowledged independently.
 In this case, if a crash happens during the transmission of page 523,
the only pages that need to be resent after system recovery are
pages 501 to 523. Pages previous to 501 need not be resent.

6
 Presentation Layer

 The presentation layer is concerned with the syntax and

semantics of the information exchanged between two systems.

7
Specific responsibilities of the presentation layer :
1. Translation:- The processes (running programs) in two systems are
usually exchanging information in the form of character strings,
numbers, and so on.
 The information must be changed to bit streams before being
transmitted. Because different computers use different encoding
systems, the presentation layer is responsible for interoperability
between these different encoding methods.
 The presentation layer at the sender changes the information from
its sender-dependent format into a common format.
 The presentation layer at the receiving machine changes the
common format into its receiver-dependent format.
8
Contd.
2. Encryption. To carry sensitive information, a system must be able to
ensure privacy.
 Encryption means that the sender transforms the original information to
another form and sends the resulting message out over the network.
 Decryption reverses the original process to transform the message back to
its original form.

3. Compression. Data compression reduces the number of bits

contained in the information.
 Data compression becomes particularly important in the transmission of
multimedia such as text, audio, and video.

9
Application Layer
 The application layer enables the user, whether human or
software, to access the network.
 It provides user interfaces and support for services such as
electronic mail, remote file access and transfer, shared database
management, and other types of distributed information services.
 Application layer is where users actually communicate to the
computer.
 Take the case of Internet Explorer (IE).
 It is also responsible for identifying and establishing the
availability of the intended communication partner 10
Contd.
• Typical application layer protocols
 Domain Name System (DNS)
 Hyper Text Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
 File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
 E-mail (SMTP,POP,IMAP)

1. Domain Name System (DNS)

 Thousands of servers, installed in many different locations,
provide the services we use over the Internet.
 Each of these servers is assigned a unique IP address
 It would be impossible to remember all of the IP addresses
11
Contd.
 DNS provides a way for hosts to use this name to request the

IP address of a specific server.

 DNS names are registered and organized on the Internet

within specific high level groups, or domains.

• Some of the most common high level domains on the

Internet are .com, .edu, and .net

 A DNS server contains a table that associates hostnames in a

domain with corresponding IP addresses 12

2. Web client and web server
 A web client first receives the IP address of a web server from DNS
server
 Then the client browser uses that IP address and port 80 to
request web services
 This request is sent to the server using the Hypertext Transfer
Protocol (HTTP)
 The information content of a web page is encoded using
specialized 'mark-up' languages.
 E.g. HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language)
 Many different web servers and web clients from many different
manufactures work together seamlessly because of HTTP and
HTML 13
3. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)
 FTP is another common service used across the Internet that
allows users to transfer files
 A host running FTP client software can access an FTP server to
perform various file management functions including file uploads
and downloads
 FTP service uses two different ports to communicate between
client and server
 Requests to begin an FTP session are sent to the server using destination
port 21.
 Once the session is opened, the server will change to port 20 to transfer
the data files
 FTP client software is built into computer operating systems and
into most web browsers 14
4. Email Servers (SMTP, POP3 and IMAP4)
 Each mail server receives and stores mail for users who have
mailboxes configured on the mail server
 Each user with a mailbox must then use an email client to access the
mail server and read these messages
 Mailboxes are identified by the format: user@company.domain

 Three application protocols used in processing email include

1. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP):- to send mail from client to server
or server to server
2. Post Office Protocol (POP3):- to download email from server to client,
and the server deletes the mail
3. Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP4):- to download email from
server to client, and the server does not delete (keeps) the mail 15
 TCP/IP Network Model Layers
 As with the OSI model, the
TCP/IP suite uses a layered
model.
 TCP/IP model has four or five
- depending on who you talk
to and which books you read!
 Some people call it a four
layer suite - Application,
Transport, Internet and
Network Access, others split
the Network Access layer
into its Physical and Datalink
components.
16
OSI Model Vs. TCP/IP Model Layers

17
 TCP/IP Layers- What does each layer do?
 Network access layer is the combination of
Application
data link and physical layers and it deals with
pure hardware issues (wires, satellite links,
network interface cards, etc.)
Transport
 Access methods such as CSMA/CD (carrier
sensed multiple access with collision
Internet
detection)
 Ethernet exists at the network access layer - its
Network hardware operates at the physical layer and its
access
medium access control method (CSMA/CD)
18
 TCP/IP Layers- What does each layer do?

 The Internet layer is responsible for the

Application
routing and delivery of data across networks.
 It allows communication across networks of
Transport
the same and different types and carries out
translations to deal with dissimilar data
Internet addressing schemes.
 IP (Internet Protocol) and ARP (Address
Network Resolution Protocol) are both to be found at
access
the Internet layer.
19
 TCP/IP Layers- What does each layer do?
 The Transport layer is similar to the OSI transport
model, but with elements of the OSI session layer
Application
functionality.
 The two protocols found at the transport layer are:

Transport A. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): reliable,

connection-oriented protocol that provides error
checking and flow control through a virtual link
Internet that it establishes and finally terminates.
Examples include FTP and Email
B. UDP (User Datagram Protocol): unreliable,
Network
access connectionless protocol that not error check or
offer any flow control. Examples include SNMP
20
 TCP/IP Layers- What does each layer do?

Application  The Application layer is broadly equivalent

to the application, presentation and

Transport session layers of the OSI model.

 It gives an application access to the

Internet communication environment.

 Some examples: FTP, HTTP, SMTP

Network
access
21
Thank you!
Q?

22