Question

Explain network application architectures and protocols which are developed based on those architectures.

Answer 1

There are basically two major architectures of network application given as follows :

1. Client-Server architecture
2. Peer-to-Peer architecture

The explanation is given as follows :

1. Client-Server architecture :

• This architecture is also known as network computing structure/model.
• In this type of structure, multiple clients request and receive services from a server which is centralized over a network.
• In order words, various hosts manages and provides resources/services to the clients.

• Client-Server protocols :

TCP/IP :

• This stands for transmission control protocol and internet protocol.
• These are basically a suite of protocols which are meant for communication and to interconnect different devices over a network.
• In simple words, TCP/IP are a set of protocols used for transmission of data over a network.

2. Peer-to-Peer architecture :

• This is a distributed networking architecture used for file sharing that divides the workload or tasks among different peers.
• Every peer in the distributed network have similar privileges and participation in the application.
• There is no need of a centralized server as it consists of hosts which directly communicate with each other.

• Peer-to-Peer protocols :

FTP :

• This refers to “file transfer protocol”.
• This is a standard protocol that allows data and file transferring across multiple locations over a network.
• FTP can also be used in client/server architecture but peer to peer network also uses by eliminating the dedicated centralized server.

BitTorrent :

• This is also a file sharing protocol used in peer-to-peer network.
• This protocols works well when there are large number of end hosts.

Note :

Some protocols like SMTP which refers to simple mail transfer protocol are used in both client/server as well as peer-to-peer architecture.