Concept of layering
- Layering is the process of breaking a complex process into several processes or layers in a particular order.
- Layers help to solve a complex problem by dividing into a set of simple layers.
- Now, a group of developers can work together to solve each layer.
Network Layers
Application Layer
- This layer is responsible for ensuring that the data supplied by the sender from their application can be viewed by the receiver’s application.
- These applications allow the user to access emails, websites and perform file transfers.
Transport Layer
- The data from the application layer is divided into various segments in the transport layer at the sender’s side.
- The various segments are called packets.
- Each packet also contains a header that denotes the total number of packets, packet number and port number.
- The port number reflects the protocol
- If any packets go missing during transmission, the transport layer is where a resend will be handled (TCP only).
- Windowing happens at this point
- TCP/UDP exist at this layer.
Internet Layer
- Internet layer adds the sender’s and receiver’s addresses in the data packet.
- Using the information, this layer routes the data packet from the sender to receiver.
- A socket specifies to which device the data packet must be sent to and to what application it was sent from.
Link Layer
- Link layer deals with the physical connectivity between sender and receiver.
- The Network Interface Card (NIC) of any device is uniquely identified using its MAC address.
- Link layer adds the MAC address of the sender and the receiver to the network address.
- Now the data is streamed to the correct hardware device.
- This layer is also responsible for error detection, hardware addressing, media access control and defining physical layer standards.
Encapsulation of data
- Each layer of the TCP/IP stack adds information to the data. This is called encapsulation.
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