| Consideration Of Network Layer |
The network layer is the third layer out of seven in the OSI model and
the third layer out of five in the TCP/IP model. In the TCP/IP reference model
it is called the Internet layer. In all of the models, the network layer
responds to service requests from the transport laye
and issues service requests to the data link layer.
In essence, the network layer is responsible for end to end (source to
destination) packet delivery, whereas the data link layer is responsible for
node to node (hop to hop) packet delivery.
The network layer provides the functional and procedural means of
transferring variable length data sequences from a source to a destination via
one or more networks while maintaining the quality of service, and error control
functions.
The network layer deals with transmitting information all the way from its
source to its destination - transmitting from anywhere, to anywhere. Here are
some things that the network layer needs to address:
- Is the network connection-oriented or connectionless?
- For example, snail mail is connectionless, because you can send a letter
to someone without them doing anything and they will receive the letter. On
the other hand, the telephone system is connection-oriented, because the
other party is required to pick up the phone before communication can be
established. The OSI Network Layer protocol can be either
connection-oriented, or connectionless. The TCP/IP Internet Layer
(equivalent to OSI's Network Layer) supports only the connectionless
Internet Protocol (IP).
- What are the Global Addresses?
- Everybody in the network needs to have a unique address which determines
who they are. This address will normally be hierarchical, so you can be
"Fred Murphy" to Dubliners, or "Fred Murphy, Dublin" to people in Ireland,
or "Fred Murphy, Dublin, Ireland" to people anywhere in the world. On the
internet, these addresses are known as IP Addresses.
- How do you forward a message?
- This is of particular interest to mobile applications, where a user may
rapidly move from place to place, and it must be arranged that his messages
follow him. Version 4 of the Internet Protocol (IPv4) doesn't really allow
for this, though it has been hacked somewhat since its inception.
Fortunately, the forthcoming IPv6 has a much better designed solution, which
should make this type of application much smoother.
List of Network layer services
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