Difference between "tcp/socket" vs "tcp/ip" - sockets

What is the difference between a "tcp/socket" and "tcp/ip" connexion?
When you say that you use "tcp/ip", do you necessarily use a "tcp/socket"?
Thanks!

A socket is a general communication means provided by your
operating system.
There are many kinds of them, for very distinct purposes
(not only networking).
I guess that when you think about tcp/socket, you mean a
socket dedicated to the TCP protocol.
TCP/IP can be seen as two different things, depending on the context.
It can be the TCP/IP network stack as a whole: not only the TCP and IP
specific protocols but the set of protocols (and implementations) we
find around these.
Of course, the other way to see TCP/IP is to consider only the TCP
transport protocol relying on the IP network protocol.
The various operating systems implement many protocols
in the TCP/IP stack.
To use them, a programmer asks his/her operating system
a specific resource: a socket.
It's difficult to say more with few words.
Some books or online documentation could help go further.

I think you missing something in the question. Anyway in short...
TCP/IP is basically name given to protocol we (networking devices) follow it forms the fundamental of todays internet. It involves agreement between two devices how the want ro communicate eg. Which segment of a frame has what information as in the end its all just 10...
There are 5 layers (some argue 4) in this model one layer is Network Layer right at the middle of all and it generally uses IPv4.And just above this is our Transport Layer which may use TCP or UDP as protocol depending on service you want. So thats the summary of TCP/ IP as the most used set of protocols of all.
When connecting to a remote server your browser needs to know what kind of service he is about to get from that server eg. a video mail or file transfer or just a http page. Thats when a TCP/Socket comes into picture where there is a port no assigned for every service. Eg port 443 is for https and so on. All you need to do is open a socket connection over that port number on that machine
Remember if a particular port of a server is not in LISTEN mode you cannot connect to that application via that port
Eg. If a server serves its webpage it might not allow you to connect its port responsible for FTP.

Related

TCP - possible for same client-side port to be used for different connections by different applications simlutaneously?

Is it possible in TCP for different processes not sharing the same executable image (so no fork() for example) to use a same client-side port on Windows, Linux or OSX? This is specifically related to the socket options SO_REUSEADDR and SO_REUSEPORT set using setsockopt() I believe.
As far as I've read, I believe it is possible for the same process/image to do this, but I haven't found information as to multiple processes/images. I would imagine it is theoretically possible since each socket is defined by the 5-valued tuple [IP_PROTO, src_ip:src_port, dst_ip:dst_port]. So I would assume that, as long as multiple TCP connections sharing a client-side port are not made to the same dst_ip:dst_port, this would be theoretically possible.
UDP is not connection-oriented and has no real distinction between client and server, so for UDP this question doesn't make a lot of sense.
For TCP, you can use SO_REUSEADDR to bind mulitple clients to the same port, but why would you want to? Normally you leave the client unbound before making a connection and let the kernel pick an unused port for you.

TCP is on top of IP, what does this mean? [closed]

Closed. This question needs to be more focused. It is not currently accepting answers.
Want to improve this question? Update the question so it focuses on one problem only by editing this post.
Closed 6 years ago.
Improve this question
I always hear about the layers of internet and i vaguely understand this. But, what confuse me most is that transport layer (including TCP protocol) lies on top of the internet layer(including IP protocol)..
What does this mean? For one who has a foggy understanding of the internet mechanism (I'm not a CS student or something I am just a hobby programmer)
The picture I have about the internet is that the network card sends/receives signals (packets) from the internet through wired connection / wifi then the OS using socket API sends/receives these packets acting as a layer between the hardware and the application which in turn uses some high-level protocol such as HTTP to interpret the data transferred - these protocol usually provided by languages e.g. python or java
.. I guess then that IP and TCP protocol are used at the level of the socket API? but I need more details ? I hope the explanation be in terms of coding/programming/implementation because abstractions used in this area confuse me.
Thank you , and sorry for my bad English
This is part of a layered solution to solve networking. Each layer has its own functionality:
IP (Internet Protocol) is in charge of delivering a packet (or datagram) from one interface, in one machine, with an IP address assigned to another interface in the same or other machine (node). Both nodes can be in the same LAN or different LAN connected through different paths (LAN's and routers). Basically it will make the packet get from source IP to destination IP. It provides a best-effort services, it doesn't assure the IP packet is going to arrive, it can be lost in the middle.
Above layer 3 or IP in the so-called TCP/IP stack, there is the transport layer. Its main functionality is to multiplex the lower layer (IP) service (take a packet from src to dst) among different applications. This is why in all transport layer protocols there is the concept of port or more generically Transport Service Access Point (TSAP). UDP, TCP, SCTP do that. UDP provides an unreliable service to the application. TCP provides a connected, reliable transport service to the application. This layer will make a message sent from application A in node Y reach application A1 in node Z, either reliably or unreliably (while IP only takes care of carrying the packet from node Y to node Z).
You will need to read a little about the OSI layered model and the TCP/IP layered model.
If you need to get more info I can address you to a training I have about IPv6 with a good introduction to networking: http://www.slideshare.net/rodolk/networking-tcpip-stack-introduction-ipv6
TCP is a protocol, known as "Transmission Control Protocol" - by specification it has features in place which makes sure that transmitted data is checked. On the other hand, there are things such as UDP, aka "User Datagram Protocol" which also works on top of IP - by specification this method does not check any transmitted data, so it's less useful where files must be fully intact (more utilised for video streaming, where some lost frames is acceptable, as opposed to binary file transfers where incorrect data means corruption and the whole file would be useless).
On to IP, IP is an addressing protocol, allowing a network to address and communicate with any machine that lives within it. IP stands for Internet Protocol, and it defines the fundamental way that two machines communicate over the "internet". It does not define how communications are handled, in ways such as being checked for data integrity, etc.
So, to summarise, the TCP and UDP are just extensions of IP. It is entirely possible, however, to have a socket based TCP or UDP connection, and I expect it's also possible to have some sort of MAC address protocol (as opposed to an IP address protocol). I don't know of any protocols which are similar to IP, but I imagine they do exist. In reality, using TCP over something other than IP is entirely unlikely. If you're going to the effort to create a custom protocol, chances are you'll want it fully custom and won't want to stick to design specifications designed for another protocol layer.
Note that calling it a "TCP/IP" connection is probably only ever used for legacy reasons. A lot of terms like this still exist because before the technology "bubble" growth, there were competing alternatives to IP. Even today, there is IPv6 which is technically an alternative to IPv4. It's also possible that we might one day outgrow IPv6, and at that point in time, there could be something other than IP to worry about.

How do I design a peer-to-peer app that avoids using listening sockets?

I've noticed that if you want to write an application that utilizes listening sockets, you need to create port forwarding rules on your router. If I want to connect two computers without either one of the the computers messing about with router settings, is there a way that I can get the two clients to connect to each other without either of them using listening sockets? There would need to be another server somewhere else telling them to connect but is it possible?
Some clarifications, and an answer:
Routers don't care about, or handle ports, that is the role of a firewall, which do port forwarding. The router/firewall combined device most of us have at home adds to the common misunderstanding.
Can you connect two computers without ServerSocket? No. You can use UDP (a stateless, connectionless communication protocol), but the role of a ServerSocket is to "listen" for incoming connection requests, and generate a Socket from those requests, which creates a communications channel between two endpoints. A Socket has both an InputStream and an OutputStream, so it can both read at write at either end. At that point (once the connection is made), the distinction between client/server is arbitrary, since a Socket is a two-way connection object, which allows both sides to send/receive.
What about proxying? Doesn't that allow connections between two computers without a ServerSocket? Well, no, because the server that's doing the proxying still has to be using a ServerSocket. Depending on what application you're trying to implement, this might be the way to go, or or might just add overhead. Even if there were "another server somewhere else telling them to connect", somebody has to listen for a connection request, which is the job of the ServerSocket.
If connections are happening over already open ports (most publicly accessible servers have ports <1024 not blocked by firewalls, but exceptions exist), then you shouldn't need to change firewall settings to get the connection to work.
So, to reiterate, the ONLY role of a ServerSocket (as far as your question is concerned) is to listen for incoming connection requests, and from those requests, create a Socket, which is a two-way communications channel between the two end points.
To answer the question, "How do I design a peer-to-peer app that avoids using listening sockets?", you don't. In the case of something like Vuze, the software acts as both client and server simultaneously, hence the term "peer", vs. "client" or "server" alone. In Vuze every client is a server, and every server (except for the tracker) is a client.
If you need a TCP connection between the 2 computers and both of them are behind routers (and you don't want to set up port forwarding) I think the only other possibility you have is having a third server somewhere that isn't behind a firewall running a ServerSocket and accepting connections between your 2 other computers and proxying communications between the 2. You can't establish a TCP Connection between the 2 without one listening to a socket and the other connecting to it.
Q: If I want to connect two computers without either one of the the
computers messing about with router settings, is there a way that I
can get the two clients to connect to each other
Yes: have the server listen on an open port :)

Understanding socket basics

I've been reading up on basic network programming, but am having a difficult time finding a straight-forward explanation for what exactly and socket is, and how it relates to either the OSI or TCP/IP stack.
Can someone explain to me what a socket is? Is it a programmer- or API-defined data structure, or is it a hardware device on a network card?
What layers of the mentioned network models deal with "raw" sockets? Transport layer? Network layer?
In terms of the data they pass between them, are socket text-based or binary?
Is there an alternative to sockets-based network programming? Or do all networked applications use some form of socket?
If I can get this much I should have a pretty clear understanding of everything else I'm reading. Thanks for any help!
Short answers:
Socket is an abstraction of an IP connection endpoint - so if you think of it as an API structure, you are not very far off. Please do read http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_socket
Internet layer i.e. IP Protocol. In practice you usually use explicitly sockets that bind to a certain transport layer parameters (datagram/UDP or stream/TCP)
Sockets send data, in network byte order - whether it is text or binary, depends on the upper layer protocol.
Theoretically, probably yes - but in practice all IP traffic is done using 'sockets'
Socket is a software mechanism provided by the operating system. Like its name implies, you can think of it like an "electrical outlet" or some electrical connector, even though socket is not a physical device, but a software mechanism. In real world when you have two electrical connectors, you can connect them with a wire. In the same way in network programming you can create one socket on one computer and another socket on another computer and then connect those sockets. And when you write data to one of them, you receive it on the other one. There are also a few different kinds of sockets. For example if you are programming a server software, you want to have a listening socket which never sends or receives actual data but only listens for and accepts incoming connections and creates a new socket for each new connection.
A socket, in C parlance, is a data structure in kernel space, corresponding to one end-point of a UDP or TCP session (I am using session very loosely when talking about UDP). It's normally associated with one single port number on the local side and seldom more than one "well-known" number on either side of the session.
A "raw socket" is an end-point on, more or less, the physical transport. They're seldom used in applications programming, but sometimes used for various diagnostic things (traceroute, ping, possibly others) and may required elevated privileges to open.
Sockets are, in their nature, a binary octet-transport. It is not uncommon to treat sockets (TCP sockets, at least) as being text-based streams.
I have not yet seen a programming model that doesn't involve something like sockets, if you dig deep enough, but there have certainly been other models of doing networking. The "/net/" pseudo-filesystem, where opening "/net/127.0.0.0.1/tcp/80" (or "tcp/www") would give you a file handle where writes end up on a web server on localhost is but one.
Suppose your PC at home, and you have two browser windows open.
One looking at the facebook website, and the other at the Yahoo website.
The connection to facebook would be:
Your PC – IP1+port 30200 ——– facebook IP2 +port 80 (standard port)
The combination IP1+30200 = the socket on the client computer and IP2 + port 80 = destination socket on the facebook server.
The connection to Yahoo would be:
your PC – IP1+port 60401 ——–Yahoo IP3 +port 80 (standard port)
The combination IP1+60401 = the socket on the client computer andIP3 + port 80 = destination socket on the Yahoo server.

Can socket connections be multiplexed?

Is it possible to multiplex sa ocket connection?
I need to establish multiple connections to yahoo messenger and i am looking for a way to do this efficiently without having to hold a socket open for each client connection.
so far i have to use one socket for each client and this does not scale well above 50,000 connections.
oh, my solution is for a TELCO, so i need to at least hit 250,000 to 500,000 connections
i'm planing to bind multiple IP addresses to a single NIC to beat the 65k port restriction per IP address.
Please i would any help, insight i can get.
**most of my other questions on this site have gone un-answered :) **
Thanks
This is an interesting question about scaling in a serious situation.
You are essentially asking, "How do I establish N connections to an internet service, where N is >= 250,000".
The only way to do this effectively and efficiently is to cluster. You cannot do this on a single host, so you will need to be able to fragment and partition your client base into a number of different servers, so that each is only handling a subset.
The idea would be for a single server to hold open as few connections as possible (spreading out the connectivity evenly) while holding enough connections to make whatever service you're hosting viable by keeping inter-server communication to a minimum level. This will mean that any two connections that are related (such as two accounts that talk to each other a lot) will have to be on the same host.
You will need servers and network infrastructure that can handle this. You will need a subnet of ip addresses, each server will have to have stateless communication with the internet (i.e. your router will not be doing any NAT in order to not have to track 250,000+ connections).
You will have to talk to AOL. There is no way that AOL will be able to handle this level of connectivity without considering cutting your connection off. Any service of this scale would have to be negotiated with AOL so both you and they would be able to handle the connectivity.
There are i/o multiplexing technologies that you should investigate. Kqueue and epoll come to mind.
In order to write this massively concurrent and teleco grade solution, I would recommend investigating erlang. Erlang is designed for situations such as these (multi-server, massively-multi-client, massively-multithreaded telecommunications grade software). It is currently used for running Ericsson telephone exchanges.
While you can listen on a socket for multiple incoming connection requests, when the connection is established, it connects a unique port on the server to a unique port on the client. In order to multiplex a connection, you need to control both ends of the pipe and have a protocol that allows you to switch contexts from one virtual connection to another or use a stateless protocol that doesn't care about the client's identity. In the former case you'd need to implement it in the application layer so that you could reuse existing connections. In the latter case you could get by using a proxy that keeps track of which server response goes to which client. Since you're connecting to Yahoo Messenger, I don't think you'll be able to do this since it requires an authenticated connection and it assumes that each connection corresponds to a single user.
You can only multiplex multiple connections over a single socket if the other end supports such an operation.
In other words it's a function protocol - sockets don't have any native support for it.
I doubt yahoo messenger protocol has any support for it.
An alternative (to multiple IPs on a single NIC) is to design your own multiplexing protocol and have satellite servers that convert from the multiplex protocol to the yahoo protocol.
I'll trow in another approach you could consider (depending on how desperate you are).
Note that operating system TCP/IP implementations need to be general purpose, but you are only interested in a very specific use-case. So it might make sense to implement a cut-down version of TCP/IP (which only handles your use-case, but does that very well) in your application code.
For example, if you are using Linux, you could route a couple of IP addresses to a tun interface and have your application handle the IP packets for that tun interface. That way you can implement TCP/IP (optimised for your use-case) entirely in your application and avoid any operating system restriction on the number of open connections.
Of course, it's quite a bit of work doing the TCP/IP yourself, but it really depends on how desperate you are - i.e. how much hardware can you afford to throw at the problem.
500,000 arbitrary yahoo messenger connections - is your telco doing this on behalf of Yahoo? It seems like whatever solution has been in place for many years now should be scalable with the help of Moore's Law - and as far as I know all the IM clients have been pretty effective for a long time, and there's no pressing increase in demand that I can think of.
Why isn't this a reasonable problem to address with hardware plus traditional solutions?