Assignment 1 - Madan Lal Gaire (42662)
Assignment 1 - Madan Lal Gaire (42662)
Assignment 1 - Madan Lal Gaire (42662)
1. List the layers of the OSI model and the TCP/IP protocol suite (the Internet Model).
A: The seven Open Systems Interconnection layers are:
Layer 7: The application layer
This is the layer at which communication partners are identified, network capacity is assessed
and where the data or application is presented in a visual form the user can understand.
Layer 6: The presentation layer
This layer is usually part of an operating system (OS) and converts incoming and
outgoing data from one presentation format to another.
Layer 5: The session layer
This layer sets up, coordinates and terminates conversations. Its services include authentication
and reconnection after an interruption.
Layer 4: The transport layer
This layer manages packetization of data, then the delivery of the packets, including checking for
errors in the data once it arrives.
Layer 3: The network layer
This layer handles addressing and routing the data - sending it in the right direction to the right
destination on outgoing transmissions and receiving incoming transmissions at the packet level.
Layer 2: The data-link layer
This layer sets up links across the physical network, putting packets into network frames. This
layer has two sub-layers: the logical link control layer and the media access control layer (MAC).
Layer 1: The physical layer
This layer conveys the bit stream across the network either electrically, mechanically or through
radio waves. It covers a variety of Physical devices and mediums.
The TCP/IP model differs slightly from the seven-layer Open Systems Interconnection (OSI)
networking model designed after it, which defines how applications can communicate over
a network.
TCP/IP model layers is divided into four layers, each of which include specific protocols.
The application layer
Provides applications with standardized data exchange. Its protocols include the Hypertext
Transfer Protocol (HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), Simple
Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) and Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
The transport layer
Responsible for maintaining end-to-end communications across the network. TCP handles
communications between hosts and provides flow control, multiplexing and reliability. The
transport protocols include TCP and UDP, which is sometimes used instead of TCP for special
purposes.
The network layer
Also called the internet layer, deals with packets and connects independent networks to transport
the packets across network boundaries. The network layer protocols are the IP and the Internet
Control Message Protocol (ICMP), which is used for error reporting.
The physical layer
Consists of protocols that operate only on a link - the network component that interconnects
nodes or hosts in the network. The protocols in this layer include Ethernet for local area
networks (LANs) and the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP).
2. How do the layers of the OSI correlate to the layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite?
A: The TCPIIP protocol suite was developed prior to the OSI model. Therefore, the layers in the
TCP/IP protocol suite do not exactly match those in the OSI model. The original TCP/IP
protocol suite was defined as having four layers: host-to-network, internet, transport, and
application. However, when TCP/IP is compared to OSI, we can say that the host-to-network
layer is equivalent to the combination of the physical and data link layers. The internet layer is
equivalent to the network layer, and the application layer is roughly doing the job of the session,
presentation, and application layers with the transport layer in TCP/IP taking care of part of the
duties of the session layer. Hence, we assume that the TCP/IP protocol suite is made of five
layers: physical, data link, network, transport, and application. The first four layers provide
physical standards, network interfaces, Internetworking, and transport functions that correspond
to the first four layers of the OSI model. The three topmost layers in the OSI model, however,
are represented in TCP/IP by a single layer called the application layer. So it can be say that both
model are correlated with each other. One model is extension of another model.
3. Which layers of the TCP/IP protocol suite are the network support layers and which
layers are the user support layers?
A: Physical, data link and network layers are network support layers and session, presentation
and application layers are user support layers.
7. If the Data link layer can detect errors between hops, why do you think we need another
mechanism at the Transport layer?
A: The error control in the data link layer, works at the packet or stream level, while the error
control in the transport layer, works at the message level. The data link layer is not concerned
with ordering of packets, while the transport layer is.
The Data Link Layer is the second level of the OSI model and is the protocol layer that transfers
data between adjacent network nodes in a network. At this layer error correction is performed to
handle errors that occur in the physical layer of the network.
The Transport Layer is the fourth layer of the OSI model and is the layer which handles the
transmission protocols such as TCP, UDP, SCTP, etc. Error correction at this layer deals more
with errors associated with lost packets or corrupted packets being received by a network node.
10. What is the difference between a port address, a logical address and a physical address?
A: Port address is used to identify the particular application running on the destination machine.
Ports allow for you to open up several things at a time on your computer, each time you open say
a program or the web browser, or FTP, it opens a port for that particular session. Some ports like
80 are commonly known and used, that is for HTML (web browsing).
Logical Address is an IP address of the system. This address is the combination of Net ID and
Host ID. This address is used by network layer to identify a particular network (source to
destination) among the networks. This address can be changed by changing the host position on
the network. So it is called logical address.
Physical address is the MAC address of a node (Machine) and is unique. Each system having a
NIC (Network Interface Card) through which two systems physically connected with each other
with cables. The address of the NIC is called Physical address or mac address. This is specified
by the manufacture company of the card. This address is used by data link layer.
12. What are the advantages of combining Session, Presentation and Application layers of
the OSI model to a single layer in the TCP/IP protocol suite?
A: When more layers are combined in one, the exchange of data between each layer is controlled
by the application author, and thus it's easier to tune it. The advantages of combining Session,
Presentation and Application layers of the OSI model to a single layer in the TCP/IP protocol
suite are as follows:
a) Single layer to study as all the functionalities is provided at this layer.
b) Higher Bandwidth as number of layers is reduced.
c) It reflects the real-life separation of application from the TCP-downward sections of the OSI
model.