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    Application Layer Protocols and Web Communication PYQs for GATE CS

    Solve 5+ Application Layer Protocols and Web Communication previous year questions for GATE CS with answers and detailed solutions. Free sample questions belo

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    Question 1
    2026 Slot Set2 PYQ

    Which one of the following protocols may need to broadcast some of its messages?

    Question 2
    2026 Slot Set1 PYQ

    Which of the following statements is/are true with respect to the interaction of a web browser with a web server using HTTP 1.1?

    Question 3
    2024 Slot Set1 PYQ
    A user starts browsing a webpage hosted at a remote server. The browser opens a single TCP connection to fetch the entire webpage from the server. The webpage consists of a top-level index page with multiple embedded image objects. Assume that all caches (e.g., DNS cache, browser cache) are all initially empty. The following packets leave the user’s computer in some order.

    (i) HTTP GET request for the index page
    (ii) DNS request to resolve the web server’s name to its IP address
    (iii) HTTP GET request for an image object
    (iv) TCP SYN to open a connection to the web server

    Which one of the following is the CORRECT chronological order (earliest in time to latest) of the packets leaving the computer ?
    Question 4
    2023 PYQ
    Suppose in a web browser, you click on the www.gate-2023.in URL. The browser cache is empty. The IP address for this URL is not cached in your local host, so a DNS lookup is triggered (by the local DNS server deployed on your local host) over the 3-tier DNS hierarchy in an iterative mode. No resource records are cached anywhere across all DNS servers.

    Let RTT denote the round trip time between your local host and DNS servers in the DNS hierarchy. The round trip time between the local host and the web server hosting www.gate-2023.in is also equal to RTT. The HTML file associated with the URL is small enough to have negligible transmission time and negligible rendering time by your web browser, which references 10 equally small objects on the same web server.

    Which of the following statements is/are CORRECT about the minimum elapsed time between clicking on the URL and your browser fully rendering it?
    Question 5
    2022 PYQ

    Consider the resolution of the domain name <code>www.gate.org.in</code> by a DNS resolver. Assume that no resource records are cached anywhere across the DNS servers and that iterative query mechanism is used in the resolution. The number of DNS query-response pairs involved in completely resolving the domain name is_____________.

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    Application Layer Protocols and Web Communication PYQs for GATE CS

    Solve 5+ Application Layer Protocols and Web Communication previous year questions for GATE CS with answers and detailed solutions. Free sample questions below.

    Chapter Roadmap: Application Layer Protocols and Web Communication

    Chapter Roadmap: Application Layer Protocols and Web Communication

    1. DNS Resolution and Web Request Sequencing
    Focus: High. Foundation for all web latency problems. Master the exact packet order and iterative query counting.
    2. HTTP Connections, Persistence and Web Latency
    Focus: High. Master RTT calculations for non-persistent versus persistent HTTP with and without pipelining.
    3. Application Protocol Message Delivery
    Focus: Moderate. Understand port numbers, UDP versus TCP usage in application protocols, and broadcast requirements.

    Topic Hero: DNS Resolution and Web Request Sequencing

    Topic Hero: DNS Resolution and Web Request Sequencing

    The Bridge from Human Name to Data Transfer

    Before any web content can be fetched, the system must complete a strict sequence of network events. This topic focuses on:

    • Name Resolution: Translating a human-readable domain name into an IP address.
    • Connection Establishment: The three-way TCP handshake to create a reliable pipe.
    • Application Request: The first HTTP GET message sent over that established pipe.

    Understanding this exact sequence is the prerequisite for calculating total web page fetch time and identifying correct packet traces.

    Application Layer Protocols and Web Communication: Solved Questions with Step-by-Step Explanations (5 Problems)

    Question 1 · Computer Networks · 2026_Set2 MCQ

    Which one of the following protocols may need to broadcast some of its messages?

    1. A.

      SMTP

    2. B.

      FTP

    3. C.

      DHCP

    4. D.

      HTTP

    Question 2 · Computer Networks · 2026_Set1 MSQ

    Which of the following statements is/are true with respect to the interaction of a web browser with a web server using HTTP 1.1?

    1. A.

      HTTP 1.1 facilitates downloading multiple objects of the same webpage over the same TCP connection, if the objects are stored in the same server

    2. B.

      HTTP 1.1 facilitates downloading multiple objects of the same webpage over the same TCP connection, even if they are stored in different servers

    3. C.

      HTTP 1.1 facilitates sending a request for downloading one object without waiting for a previously requested object to be downloaded completely

    4. D.

      HTTP 1.1 facilitates downloading multiple webpages on the same server to be downloaded over a single TCP connection

    Question 3 · Computer Networks · 2024_Set1 MCQ
    A user starts browsing a webpage hosted at a remote server. The browser opens a single TCP connection to fetch the entire webpage from the server. The webpage consists of a top-level index page with multiple embedded image objects. Assume that all caches (e.g., DNS cache, browser cache) are all initially empty. The following packets leave the user’s computer in some order.

    (i) HTTP GET request for the index page
    (ii) DNS request to resolve the web server’s name to its IP address
    (iii) HTTP GET request for an image object
    (iv) TCP SYN to open a connection to the web server

    Which one of the following is the CORRECT chronological order (earliest in time to latest) of the packets leaving the computer ?
    1. A.

      (iv), (ii), (iii), (i)

    2. B.

      (ii), (iv), (iii), (i)

    3. C.

      (ii), (iv), (i), (iii)

    4. D.

      (iv), (ii), (i), (iii)

    Question 4 · Computer Networks · 2023 MSQ
    Suppose in a web browser, you click on the www.gate-2023.in URL. The browser cache is empty. The IP address for this URL is not cached in your local host, so a DNS lookup is triggered (by the local DNS server deployed on your local host) over the 3-tier DNS hierarchy in an iterative mode. No resource records are cached anywhere across all DNS servers.

    Let RTT denote the round trip time between your local host and DNS servers in the DNS hierarchy. The round trip time between the local host and the web server hosting www.gate-2023.in is also equal to RTT. The HTML file associated with the URL is small enough to have negligible transmission time and negligible rendering time by your web browser, which references 10 equally small objects on the same web server.

    Which of the following statements is/are CORRECT about the minimum elapsed time between clicking on the URL and your browser fully rendering it?
    1. A.

      7 RTTs, in case of non-persistent HTTP with 5 parallel TCP connections.

    2. B.

      5 RTTs, in case of persistent HTTP with pipelining.

    3. C.

      9 RTTs, in case of non-persistent HTTP with 5 parallel TCP connections.

    4. D.

      6 RTTs, in case of persistent HTTP with pipelining.

    Question 5 · Computer Networks · 2022 NAT

    Consider the resolution of the domain name <code>www.gate.org.in</code> by a DNS resolver. Assume that no resource records are cached anywhere across the DNS servers and that iterative query mechanism is used in the resolution. The number of DNS query-response pairs involved in completely resolving the domain name is_____________.

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