The Seven Layers of Networking – Part III

The previous two parts of this blog, Part I and Part II, covered the seven layers of the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) model. This installment will cover the four layers of the Transmission Control
Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) model and contrast the TCP/IP model with the OSI model.
The TCP/IP model and the OSI model are related in that they are layered reference models that represent
how data and information are passed between various devices. But they are different in that the TCP/IP
model has four layers (Application, Transport, Internet, and Network Access) and the OSI model has seven
layers (Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session, Presentation, and Application). The following
graphic shows how the layers relate to one another when compared side by side:

As you can see, the TCP/IP model has fewer layers, which in some ways overlap the layers of the OSI
model. Whereas the OSI model emphasizes certain layers and was structured with the layers as the primary
focus, the TCP/IP model was structured with architectural principles as the primary focus.
To refresh your memory on the layers of the OSI model, check out Part I (which covers the Physical, Data
Link, Network, and Transport layers) and Part II (which covers the Session, Presentation, and Application
layers). I won't go into an exhaustive discussion of each layer; what you see below will be a brief summary
of each layer so you have an idea of the basics.

The Application Layer

The TCP/IP Application layer, also called the Process layer, is the top layer, closest to you, the user, and is
responsible for delivering data and network services to the specific applications on a computer for which
they are intended. The Application layer is also responsible for the compression and encryption of data as
well as the creation, maintenance, and termination of sessions when required. Some common protocols that
operate at the TCP/IP Application layer include File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Simple Mail Transfer Protocol
(SMTP), Domain Name System (DNS), Telnet, and Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). The Application
layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the Application layer (Layer 7), the Presentation layer (Layer 6),
and the Session layer (Layer 5) of the OSI model.

The Transport Layer

The TCP/IP Transport layer, also called the Host-to-Host layer, is responsible for the delivery of data
between the Internet layer and the Application layer, error control and recovery, flow control, congestion
control, and data segmentation. The common protocols that operate at the TCP/IP Transport layer are
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP). The devices that typically
operate at the Transport layer are network devices, or gateways. The Transport layer of the TCP/IP model
corresponds to the Transport layer (Layer 4) of the OSI model.
The Internet Layer
The TCP/IP Internet layer, also known as the Internetwork layer, is responsible for defining logical
addressing and delivering packets. The main protocol used at this layer, Internet Protocol, uses the source
and destination addresses in order to facilitate the movement of data between the Network Access layer and
the Transport layer; the data flows from one node on the network to the next node in a path moving toward
the final destination. The two other common protocols that operate at the TCP/IP Internet layer are
derivatives of IP: IP version 4 (IPv4) and IPv6. The devices that typically operate at the Internet layer are
routers. The Internet layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the Network layer (Layer 3) of the OSI
model.

The Network Access Layer

The TCP/IP Network Access layer, also referred to as the Link layer or Network Interface layer, defines
how data will be delivered over the physical network and which protocols are appropriate for that delivery.
This layer is also responsible for arbitration and error discovery. The Network Access layer can at times be
separated into two different layers: the Data Link layer and the Physical layer. Some common protocols that
operate at the TCP/IP Network Access layer include Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) and Point-to-Point
Protocol (PPP). The devices that operate at the Network Access layer include Layer 2 switches and bridges
(operating on the Data Link layer) and Layer 1 hubs and repeaters (operating on the Physical layer). The
Network Access layer of the TCP/IP model corresponds to the Data Link layer (Layer 2) and the Physical
layer (Layer 1) of the OSI model.

Inter-Layer and Intra-Layer Communication

Now that you have read the basics of each of the four TCP/IP layers, let's take a brief look at how they
interact and how data moves between them. Much like the OSI model, a layer of the TCP/IP model can
communicate with the layer directly above it or the layer directly below it (inter-area communication) or
with the layer directly across from it on a connected device (intra-area communication). The devices that
operate at each layer are noted below:

 Application layer: Hosts

 Transport layer: Gateways
 Internet layer: Routers
 Network Access layer: Layer 2 switches and bridges (Data Link layer) and Layer 1 hubs and
repeaters (Physical layer)

A hub operates at the Physical layer division of the Network Access layer. A hub, which cannot make
forwarding decisions regarding the data it receives, simply receives, amplifies, and regenerates signals
between ports. A hub can only receive a signal containing a sequence of bits and then transmit the same bits
on all its other ports to a Layer 2 switch or bridge. Because the devices at this layer can only receive and
retransmit data, no Protocol Data Unit (PDU), such as a packet or a segment, exists at this layer.
A Layer 2 switch or bridge operates at the Data Link layer division of the Network Access layer. The
stream of bits a Layer 2 devices receives from the Physical layer becomes known as a frame PDU at the
Data Link layer. A Layer 2 switch or bridge can receive a stream of bits from the Physical layer, verify that
the entire frame has arrived safely, and check the integrity of the data by performing a calculation on the
received data and comparing the result to the Frame Check Sequence (FCS). If the frame is verified, the
Layer 2 device can forward the frame to the appropriate destination based on the Media Access Control
(MAC) address and the information in the Content Addressable Memory (CAM) table.
A router operates at the Internet layer. The frame a router receives from the Network Access layer becomes
known as a packet PDU at the Internet layer. The router can verify that the IP header information within the
packet has remained intact and can determine whether the packet has been fragmented during the delivery
process. The router can then make a forwarding decision based on the destination IP address in a packet's
header and the entries in the router's own routing table.
Gateways operate at or above the Transport layer; an example of a gateway is a voice gateway that can
accept an ISDN-PRI trunk interface that uses Q.931 from the phone company and translate it to the H.323
signaling protocol used by Voice over IP (VoIP) telephone systems. The packet a gateway receives from the
Internet layer becomes known as a flow PDU at the Transport layer. A gateway receives a packet from the
Internet layer and then makes forwarding decisions with more information than the routers at the Internet
layer are able to use; for example, a gateway can use information from the Internet layer headers, higher
layer headers, or application data.
Hosts operate at the Application layer. A host (which could be a desktop PC, notebook, laptop, wireless
access point [WAP], or network-attached printer, among other devices) is typically the final destination and
originator of a flow of data. A host does not forward packets, but it maintains a routing table to facilitate
forwarding decisions for packets that originate from the host.
Data that flows between layers can be viewed from two different perspectives: inter-layer communication
and intra-layer communication. Inter-layer communication is the transfer of information between adjacent
TCP/IP layers on the same device and is represented by the vertical arrows in the graphic below; intra-layer
communication is the transfer of information between identical TCP/IP layers on different devices and is
represented by the horizontal arrows in the graphic below:

The discussions in all three parts of this blog are basic summaries of each of the model's different layers.
They are designed to help you understand what others are talking about in a conversation about networking
and to help you comprehend what someone means when he or she says that Device X operates at Layer Y,
or that this problem is a Layer Z issue.