LEC10: NETWORK LAYER

Network Layer Characteristics

The Network Layer

• Provides services to allow end devices to
exchange data
• IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6) are the
principle network layer communication protocols.
• The network layer performs four basic operations:
• Addressing end devices
• Encapsulation
• Routing
• De-encapsulation
 Other network layer protocols include routing
protocols such as Open Shortest Path First
(OSPF) and messaging protocols such as
Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP).
 Network Layer Characteristics

IP Encapsulation
• IP encapsulates the transport layer
segment.
• IP can use either an IPv4 or IPv6
packet and not impact the layer 4
segment.
• IP packet will be examined by all
layer 3 devices as it traverses the
network.
• The IP addressing does not change
from source to destination.
 Note: NAT will change addressing,
when translated by a device
performing Network Address
Translation (NAT) for IPv4.
NAT will be discussed later.
Network Layer Characteristics

Characteristics of IP
 IP was designed as a protocol with low overhead. It provides only the functions
that are necessary to deliver a packet from a source to a destination over an
interconnected system of networks.
 The protocol was not designed to track and manage the flow of packets.
 These functions, if required, are performed by other protocols at other layers,
primarily TCP at Layer 4.
 IP is meant to have low overhead and may be described as:
 Connectionless
 Best Effort
 Media Independent
 Network Layer Characteristics

Connectionless
IP is Connectionless
• IP does not establish a connection with the destination before sending the packet.
• There is no control information needed (synchronizations, acknowledgments, etc.).
• The destination will receive the packet when it arrives, but no pre-notifications are sent
by IP.
• If there is a need for connection-oriented traffic, then another protocol will handle this
(typically TCP at the transport layer).

 Connectionless communication is conceptually

similar to sending a letter to someone without
notifying the recipient in advance
 Network Layer Characteristics

Best Effort
IP is Best Effort
• IP will not guarantee delivery of the
packet.
• IP has reduced overhead since
there is no mechanism to resend
data that is not received.
• IP does not expect
acknowledgments.
• IP does not know if the other
device is operational or if it
received the packet.

Note: As an unreliable network layer protocol, IP does not guarantee that all sent
packets will be received. Other protocols manage the process of tracking packets and
ensuring their delivery.
Network Layer Characteristics

Media Independent
IP is unreliable:
 It cannot manage or fix undelivered or
corrupt packets.
 IP cannot retransmit after an error.
 IP cannot realign out of sequence packets.
 IP must rely on other protocols for these
functions.

IP is media
Independent:
 IP does not concern itself with the type of
frame required at the data link layer or the
media type at the physical layer.
 IP can be sent over any media type:
copper, fiber, or wireless.
Unreliable means that IP does not have the capability to manage and recover from
undelivered or corrupt packets.
Network Layer Characteristics

Media Independent (Contd.)

The network layer will establish the

Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU).
 Network layer receives this from
control information sent by the data
link layer.
 The network then establishes the MTU
size.
 The network layer then determines
how large packets can be processed
Fragmentation is when Layer 3 splits the
IPv4 packet into smaller units.
 Fragmenting causes latency.
 IPv6 does not fragment packets. • One major characteristic of the media
 that the network layer considers: the
Example: Router goes from Ethernet
to a slow WAN with a smaller MTU maximum size of the PDU that each
medium can transport. This characteristic
is referred to as the maximum
transmission unit (MTU).
IPv4 Packet

IPv4 Packet Header

IPv4 is the primary communication protocol for the network layer.
The network header (IPv4 header of a packet ) has many purposes:
 It ensures the packet is sent in the correct direction (to the destination).
 It contains information for network layer processing in various fields.
 The information in the header is used by all layer 3 devices that handle
the packet
 An IPv4 packet header consists of fields containing important
information about the packet. These fields contain binary numbers that
are examined by the Layer 3 process.
 IPv4 Packet

IPv4 Packet Header Fields

The IPv4 network header characteristics:
 It is in binary.
 Contains several fields of information
 Diagram is read from left to right, 4 bytes
per line
 The two most important fields are the
source and destination.

Protocols may have one or more functions.

IPv4 Packet

IPv4 Packet Header Fields

Significant fields in the IPv4 header:

Function Description
Version This will be for v4, as opposed to v6, a 4 bit field=
0100
Differentiated Used for QoS: DiffServ – DS field or the older IntServ –
Services ToS or Type of Service
Header Detect corruption in the IPv4 header
Checksum
Time to Live Layer 3 hop count. When it becomes zero the router
(TTL) will discard the packet.
Protocol I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.
Source IPv4 32 bit source address
Address
Destination IPV4 32 bit destination address
Address
IPv6 Packets

Limitations of IPv4
IPv4 has three major limitations:
 IPv4 address depletion – We have basically run out of IPv4 addressing.
 Lack of end-to-end connectivity – To make IPv4 survive this long, private
addressing and NAT were created. This ended direct communications
with public addressing.
 Increased network complexity – NAT was meant as temporary solution and
creates issues on the network as a side effect of manipulating the network
headers addressing. NAT causes latency and troubleshooting issues.
 IPv6 Packets

IPv6 Overview
• IPv6 was developed by Internet
Engineering Task Force (IETF).
• IPv6 overcomes the limitations of IPv4.
• Improvements that IPv6 provides:
• Increased address space – based
on 128 bit address, not 32 bits
• Improved packet handling –
simplified header with fewer fields
• Eliminates the need for NAT –
since there is a huge amount of
addressing, there is no need to use
private addressing internally and be
mapped to a shared public address
 NAT between a private IPv4 address
and a public IPv4 address is not
needed. This avoids some of the NAT
induced problems experienced by
applications that require end to end
connectivity.
IPv6 Packets

IPv4 Packet Header Fields in the

IPv6 Packet Header
• The IPv6 header is
simplified, but not smaller.
• The header is fixed at 40
Bytes or octets long.
• Several IPv4 fields were
removed to improve
performance.
• Some IPv4 fields were
removed to improve
performance:
 Flag
 Fragment Offset
 Header Checksum
IPv6 Packets

IPv6 Packet Header

Significant fields in the IPv6 header:

Function Description
Version This will be for v6, as opposed to v4, a 4 bit field=
0110
Traffic Class Used for QoS: Equivalent to DiffServ – DS field
Flow Label Informs device to handle identical flow labels the
same way, 20 bit field
Payload Length This 16-bit field indicates the length of the data
portion or payload of the IPv6 packet
Next Header I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.
Hop Limit Replaces TTL field Layer 3 hop count
Source IPv4 128 bit source address
Address
Destination IPV4 128 bit destination address
Address
 IPv6 Packets

IPv6 Packet Header (Cont.)

IPv6 packet may also contain extension headers (EH).

EH headers characteristics:
• provide optional network layer information
• are optional
• are placed between IPv6 header and the payload
• may be used for fragmentation, security, mobility support, etc.

Note: Unlike IPv4, routers do not fragment IPv6 packets.

 How a Host Routes

Host Forwarding Decision

• Packets are always created at the source.
• Each host devices creates their own routing table.
• A host can send packets to the following:
 Itself – 127.0.0.1 (IPv4), ::1 (IPv6)
 Local Hosts – destination is on the same LAN(The source and destination
hosts share the same network address)
 Remote Hosts – devices are not on the same LAN
• Another role of the
network layer is to
direct packets
between hosts
 How a Host Routes

Host Forwarding Decision (Cont.)

• The Source device determines whether the destination is local or remote

• Method of determination (varies by IP version):
• IPv4 – Source uses its own IP address and Subnet mask, along with the destination IP address
• IPv6 – Source uses the network address and prefix advertised by the local router (The local router
advertises the local network address (prefix) to all devices on the network)
• Local traffic is dumped out the host interface to be handled by an intermediary device.
• Remote traffic is forwarded directly to the default gateway on the LAN.
• When a source device sends a packet to a remote destination device, the help of routers and routing is needed.
• Routing is the process of identifying the best path to a destination. The router connected to the local network
segment is referred to as the default gateway
How a Host Routes

Default Gateway
A router or layer 3 switch can be a default-gateway.
Features of a default gateway (DGW):
• It must have an IP address in the same range as the rest of the LAN.
• It can accept data from the LAN and is capable of forwarding traffic off of the LAN.
• It can route to other networks.
If a device has no default gateway or a bad default gateway, its traffic will
not be able to leave the LAN.
 A default gateway is required to send traffic outside the local network.
 Traffic cannot be forwarded outside the local network if there is no default
gateway, the default gateway address is not configured, or the default
gateway is down
How a Host Routes

A Host Routes to the Default Gateway

• The host will know the default gateway (DGW)
either statically or through DHCP in IPv4.
• IPv6 sends the DGW through a router
solicitation (RS) or can be configured manually.
• A DGW is static route which will be a last
resort route in the routing table.
• All device on the LAN will need the DGW of the
router if they intend to send traffic remotely.
Assume that PC1 and PC2 are configured with
the IPv4 address 192.168.10.1 as the default
gateway. • A host routing table typically includes a
Having a default gateway configured creates a default gateway.
default route in the routing table of the PC. A • With IPv4, the host receives the IPv4
default route is the route or pathway the address of the default gateway either
computer takes when it tries to contact a remote dynamically from Dynamic Host
network. Configuration Protocol (DHCP) or
configured manually.
 In Figure 8-12, PC1 and PC2 both have default
• With IPv6, the router can advertise the
routes to send all traffic destined to remote default gateway address or the host
networks to R1. can be configured manually
.
 How a Host Routes

Host Routing Tables

• On Windows, route print or
netstat -r can be used to
display the PC routing table (Both
of these commands generate the
same output)
• Three sections displayed by these
two commands:
 Interface List – all potential
interfaces and MAC addressing
 IPv4 Routing Table
 IPv6 Routing Table
Introduction to Routing

Router Packet Forwarding

Decision
 When a host sends a packet to another  What happens when the router
host, it consults its routing table to receives the frame from the
determine where to send the packet. If host device?
the destination host is on a remote
network, the packet is forwarded to
the default gateway, which is usually
the local router.
Introduction to Routing

IP Router Routing Table

 The routing table of a router contains network route entries that list all the possible
known network destinations.
There three types of routes in a router’s routing table:
• Directly Connected – These routes are automatically added by the router, provided
the interface is active and has addressing (A router adds a directly connected route
when an interface is configured with an IP address and is activated).
• Remote – These are the routes the router does not have a direct connection and
may be learned:
• Manually – with a static route
• Dynamically – by using a routing protocol to have the routers share their information with
each other
• Default Route – this forwards all traffic to a specific direction when there is not a
match in the routing table
 Introduction to Routing

Static Routing
Static Route Characteristics:
• Must be configured manually
• Must be adjusted manually by
the administrator when there is
a change in the topology
• Good for small non-redundant
networks
• Often used in conjunction with a
dynamic routing protocol for
configuring a default route
 Introduction to Routing

Dynamic Routing
 A dynamic routing protocol allows
the routers to automatically learn
about remote networks, including a
default route, from other routers.
Routers that use dynamic routing
protocols automatically share
routing information with other
routers and compensate for any
topology changes without involving
the network administrator.

Dynamic Routes Automatically:

• Discover remote networks
• Maintain up-to-date information
• Choose the best path to the
destination
• Find new best paths when there is
a topology change
 Introduction to Routing

Introduction to an IPv4 Routing

Table

The show ip route command shows

the following route sources:
 L - Directly connected local interface
IP address
 C – Directly connected network
 S – Static route was manually
configured by an administrator
 O – OSPF (Open Shortest Path First )
 D – EIGRP (Enhanced Interior Gateway Routing
Protocol)

This command shows types of routes:

 Directly Connected – C and L
 Remote Routes – O, D, etc.
 Default Routes – S*
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