2. What is a Transaction?
Transaction :- REQUEST - Client -> Server , REPLY - Client <- Server
RFC955 (T/TCP) lists some of the common characteristics of transaction processing applications:
● Asymmetrical Model: the two end points take different roles; this is a typical client-server role
where the client requests the data and the server responds.
● Short Duration: normally, a transaction runs for a short time span.
● Few Data Packets: each transaction is a request for a small piece of information, rather than a
large transfer of information both ways.
3. Background to T/TCP
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Growth in internet - strain on networks - Efficient data transfer required
Min. packets for transaction = 2 (1 request + 1 response)
UDP allows this but unreliable
T/TCP uses TCP model + Allows reduction in packets
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3 packets sent using T/TCP = 2 for carrying data + 1 for ACK to server
Allows apps to see data with same
speed as UDP
TCP reliability
4. Basic
operation
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Very similar to a UDP request with a saving of
66% in packets transferred compared to TCP
except in cases of large amount of data
Mechanism explained in the next slide.
5. TCP Accelerated Open
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TAO - Mechanism by T/TCP to cut down on the number of packets needed to
establish a connection with a host.
Connection Count (CC) - 32-bit incarnation number
Distinct CC value is assigned to each direction of an open connection
Incremental CC values assigned to each connection established, actively or passively
Method to bypass 3-way handshake ○ Last valid CC value received from each different client cached by server
○ CC value is sent with the initial SYN segment to server
○ If (Initial CC value for a client) > (Corresponding cached value), CC options (the
increasing numbers) ensures that the SYN is new and can be accepted
immediately.
○ If (Initial CC value for a client) < (Corresponding cached value), TAO test fails -> 3way handshake by server in normal TCP/IP
7. TIME WAIT in TCP connections
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The TIME-WAIT state is a state entered by all TCP connections when the connection has been closed.
The length of time for this state is 240 seconds to allow any duplicate segments still in the network from the
previous connection to expire.
8. Truncation of TIME WAIT
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The introduction of the CC option in T/TCP allows for the truncation of the TIME-WAIT state.
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The CC option provides protection against old duplicates being delivered to the wrong
incarnation of a given connection.
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In the case of short connections (e.g., transactions) that last shorter than MSL, these CC values
allow TIME-WAIT state delay to be safely truncated. So as a rule, the truncation can only be
performed whenever the duration of the connection is less than the maximum segment lifetime
(MSL).
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As with the original TCP, the host that sends the first FIN is required to remain in the TIME-WAIT
state for twice the MSL once the connection is completely closed at both ends. This implies that
the TIME-WAIT state with the original TCP is 240 seconds as the recommended value for the
MSL is 120 seconds
9. Practical
Applications
Transaction-based rather than connection-based, but still must rely on TCP along with the overhead.
UDP is the other alternative has no time-outs and retransmissions built in
T/TCP being transaction-based, no set-up and shutdown time, data can be passed with minimal delay.
10. HTTP
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HTTP is the classic transaction style application.
The number of round trips used by this protocol is more than necessary.
With TCP, the transaction is accomplished by connecting to the server (3way handshake), requesting the file (GET file), then closing the connection
(sending a FIN segment).
T/TCP operates by connecting to the server, requesting the document and
closing the connection all in one segment (TAO). It is obvious that
bandwidth has been saved.
But with interactive applications that abound HTTP these days, this might
prove to be a problem.
11. RPC
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Remote Procedure Calls also adhere to the transaction style paradigm.
A client sends a request to a server for the server to run a function.
The results of are then returned in the reply to the client.
12. DNS
Typical DNS queries
➔ client sends a request with the IP address or a hostname to the server.
➔ The server responds with the hostname or IP address where appropriate.
➔ UDP is the underlying protocol
Advantages of using T/TCP
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UDP, makes the process is fast but not reliable.
Furthermore, if the response by the server exceeds 512 bytes of data, data is sent
back to the client with the first 512 bytes and a truncated flag and the client has to
resubmit using TCP, because there are no guarantees
T/TCP is the perfect candidate for the DNS protocol, because of its speed and
reliability.
13. Application Summary
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T/TCP provides a simple mechanism that allows the number of segments
involved in a data transmission to be reduced--the TAO.
This allows a client to open a connection, send data and close a
connection all in one segment unlike TCP
The highest savings result, with small data transfers.
For applications using UDP, it provides speed - lesser than UDP - and
reliability which is a huge win.
Best for HTTP, RPCs and DNS are protocols that require the exchange of
small amounts of data.
15. Tests to investigate performance
(Tests performed by some student researchers)
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Comparison of T/TCP with TCP/IP
A number of executables compiled that returned different sized data to the client
Hosts involved ○ elendil.ul.ie (running Linux)
○ devilwood.ece.ul.ie (running FreeBSD 2.2.5)
Tests for 10 different response sizes - to vary the number of segments required to return the
full response
Each request sent 50 times and the results averaged
Maximum segment size = 1460 bytes
Metric used for evaluation -> Number of segments per transaction
Used Tcpdump to examine the packets exchanged
Note - Tcpdump is not entirely accurate. During fast packet exchanges, it tends to drop some
packets to keep up. This accounts for some discrepancies in the results
16. Number of Packets per Transaction
Figure 3 - Results from testing for the number of segments for
T/TCP versus the number of segments for normal TCP/IP.
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Savings of an average of five packets.
These five packets accounted for in
○
3-way handshake
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Packets sent to close a connection.
Lost packets and retransmissions cause discrepancies in the
path of the graph.
One interesting point about the average number of segments when
using a TCP client and a T/TCP server is that there is still a saving
of one segment. A normal TCP transaction requires nine segments,
but because the server was using T/TCP, the FIN segment was
piggybacked on the final data segment, reducing the number of
segments by one. This demonstrates a reduction in segments,
even if only one side is T/TCP-aware.
Figure 3. Number of Segments versus Size of Data
Transfer
17. Percentage savings
Figure 4 - Shows the percentage savings for
the different packet sizes.
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The number of packets saved remains
fairly constant
But, Decrease in the overall savings.
Because of the increase in the number
of packets being exchanged
=> T/TCP is more beneficial to small
data exchanges
Figure 4. Percentage Savings per Size of Data Transfer
19. Memory Issues
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The main memory drain - the routing table.
For every host - direct connection and to a multi-hop route - an entry in the routing
table. The implementation of T/TCP adds two new fields to this structure, CCrecv
and CCsent.
The entire size of this structure is 56 bytes, - not a hog on a small stand-alone host.
On a busy server - major strain on memory.
Linux has a provision to periodically clean the routing table.
◆ next connection - the local host has to reinitiate the three-way handshake with
a CCnew segment.
◆ Advantages of not clearing - server only talks to a limited number of hosts; in
this case a permanent TAO cache ensures that 3-way TCP handshake is
bypassed.
20. Security Issues
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T/TCP opens up the host to certain Denial of Service attacks.
◆ SYN flooding
◆ A sock structure for each SYN which may result in the host crashing.
◆ SYN cookies in the Linux kernel to combat this attack. SYN cookies cause problems with
T/TCP, as there are no TCP options sent in the cookie, and any data arriving in the initial SYN
can't be used immediately.
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Attackers can bypass rlogin authentication.
◆ An attacker creates a packet with a false IP address - known to the destination host.
◆ CC options allow the packet to be accepted immediately and the data passed on.
◆ The destination sends a SYNACK to the original IP. When this SYNACK arrives, the original
host sends a reset, as it is not in a SYN-SENT state.
◆ This happens too late, as the command will already have been executed on the destination
host.
◆ Any protocol that uses an IP address as authentication is open to this sort of attack.
21. Operational Issues
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Use of T/TCP in conjunction with protocols such as HTTP have fewer security
problems, due to the inability to run any server commands with HTTP.
Wrapping of CC values, on high speed connections.
RFC1644 also has a duplicate transaction problem.
◆ Serious for non-idempotent applications.
◆ A request is sent to a server, the server process crashes. The client side times
out and retransmits; if the server process recovers in time, it can repeat the
same transaction.
◆ Reason - data in a SYN can be immediately passed to the process, rather than
in TCP where the three-way handshake takes place.
◆ The use of two-phase commits and transaction logging can eliminate this
problem.
22. Use Cases
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Security considerations lead to the conclusion that T/TCP would be more useful in a controlled
environment, one where there is little danger from a would-be attacker who can exploit the
weaknesses of the standard. Examples:
◆ company intranets
◆ networks protected by firewalls.
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T/TCP and some of improvements to HTTP, such as compression and delta encoding, would
result in a dramatic improvement in speed within a company intranet
23. Socket Programming under T/TCP
Programming for T/TCP is slightly different using socket programming. As an example, the chain of
system calls to implement a TCP client would be as follows:
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socket: create a socket.
connect: connect to the remote host.
write: write data to the remote host.
shutdown: close one side of the connection.
Whereas with T/TCP, the chain of commands would be:
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socket: create a socket.
sendto: connect, send data and close connection. The sendto function must be able to use a
new flag MSG_EOF to indicate to the kernel that it has no more data to send on this connection.
Programming under T/TCP is much like programming under UDP.
24. Conclusion
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T/TCP shows that it benefits small, transaction-oriented transfers more than large-scale
information transfers. Aspects of transactions can be seen in such cases:
◆ World Wide Web,
◆ Remote Procedure Calls
◆ DNS
T/TCP is still an experimental protocol, there are problems that need to be addressed.
Security problems encountered include the vulnerability:
◆ SYN flood attacks
◆ rlogin authentication bypassing.
Operational problems include the possibility:
◆ duplicate transactions occurring.
◆ wrapping of the CC values on high-speed connections, thus opening up a destination host
to accepting segments on the wrong connection.
25. ➔
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Where programmers are willing to accept T/TCP as a solution to their applications, minor
modifications are needed for the application to become T/TCP-aware.
Research into T/TCP suggests it is a protocol that is nearly, but not quite, ready to take over
transaction processing for general usage.
For T/TCP alone, more work needs to be done to develop it further and solve the security and
operational problems.
◆ Security problems can be solved using other authentication protocols such as Kerberos
and the authentication facilities of IPv6.
◆ Operational problems can be dealt with by building greater transaction reliability into the
applications that will use T/TCP, such as two-phase commits and transaction logs.
Applications can be easily modified to use T/TCP when available.
To a smaller extent, applications such as time, finger and whois can benefit from T/TCP as well.
Many networking utilities are available that can take advantage of the efficiency of the protocol.
26. Ending Note
Failure of the protocol.
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Most of the data available dates back to 2002.
Right about the time when Web 2.0 was released, AJAX took over.
Transactions were no more “the buzzword”.
Apart from that, you can never bet on a protocol
27. Resources
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Braun H W, Claffy K C, "Web Traffic Characterization: An Assessment of the Impact of Caching
Documents from NCSA's Web Server", Proceedings of the Second World Wide Web
Conference '94: Mosaic and the Web, October 1994
Mogul J C, Douglis F, Feldmann A, Krishnamurthy B, "Potential Benefits of Delta Encoding and
Data Compression for HTTP", ACM SIGCOMM, September 1997
Prud'Hommeaux E, Lie H W, Lilley C, "Network Performance Effects of HTTP/1.1, CSSI and
PNG", ACM SIGCOMM, September 1997
Stevens W R, TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 3, TCP for Transactions, HTTP, NNTP, and the UNIX
Domain Protocols, Addison-Wesley, 1996
Mark Stacey (Mark.Stacey@icl.ie) graduated from the University of Limerick, Ireland, in 1998
with a first class honors degree in Computer Engineering. His interests include Java
programming and Web development. He currently works for ICL in the Information Technology
Center based in Dublin, Ireland.
Ivan Griffin
John Nelson
