Network Fundamentals Lecture 5

Network Layer

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Network Layer Protocols and Internet Protocol
(IP)
The basic role of the Network Layer in data networks is
Best Path Determination.

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Network Layer Protocols and Internet Protocol
(IP)
The Internet Protocol IPv4 (and now IPv6) operates at
the network layer.

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Network Layer Protocols and Internet Protocol
(IP)
There are implications for the use of the IP protocol as
it is connectionless

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Network Layer Protocols and Internet Protocol
(IP)
The IP protocol is considered an unreliable protocol

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Network Layer Protocols and Internet Protocol
(IP)
IP is media independent

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Network Layer Protocols and Internet Protocol
(IP)
The Network layer encapsulates Transport Layer
segments into layer 3 packets

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Network Layer Protocols and Internet Protocol
(IP)
The major header fields in the IPv4 protocol are shown
below.

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 IP Datgram Header Fields

Version: Version no. of Internet Protocol used (e.g.

IPv4, IPv6).
IHL: Internet Header Length; Length of entire IP
header.
DSCP: Differentiated Services Code Point; this is Type
of Service.
ECN: Explicit Congestion Notification; It carries
information about the congestion seen in the route.

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 IP Datgram Header Fields
Total Length: Length of entire IP Packet (including IP header and IP
Payload).
Identification: If IP packet is fragmented during the transmission, all the
fragments contain same identification number, to identify original IP packet
they belong to.
Flags: 2 bits used, Do Not Fragment, More Fragments.
Fragment Offset: This offset tells the exact position of the fragment in the
original IP Packet.
Time to Live: To avoid looping in the network, every packet is sent with
some TTL value set, which tells the network how many routers (hops) this
packet can cross. At each hop, its value is decremented by one and when
the value reaches zero, the packet is discarded.

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 IP Datgram Header Fields
Protocol: Tells the Network layer at the destination host, to which Protocol
this packet belongs to, i.e. the next level Protocol. For example protocol
number of ICMP is 1, TCP is 6 and UDP is 17.
Header Checksum: This field is used to keep checksum value of entire
header which is then used to check if the packet is received error-free.
Source Address: 32-bit address of the Sender (or source) of the packet.
Destination Address: 32-bit address of the Receiver (or destination) of
the packet.
Options: This is optional field, which is used if the value of IHL is greater
than 5. These options may contain values for options such as Security,
Record Route, Time Stamp, etc.

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 Rather than having all hosts everywhere connected to
one vast global network, it is more practical and
manageable to group hosts into specific networks.

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 Layer 2 switches divides a network into many collision domains but just a
single broadcast domain.

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 Replacing the central switch with a router results in two or more broadcast
domains this results in improved network performance.

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 Dividing a large network can increase network security

Deny access

Deny access

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Hierarchical addressing solves the problem of devices
communicating across networks of networks

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 The role of an intermediary gateway device allows
devices to communicate across sub-divided networks

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 Trace the steps of an IP packet as it traverses
unchanged via routers from sub network to sub-network

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 Routers use route tables to direct packets toward their
ultimate destinations

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 Routes in a routing table have three main features:
1] Destination network 2] Next-hop 3] Metric

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 Describe the purpose and use of the destination
network in a route

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Fundamentals of Routes, Next Hop Addresses
and Packet Forwarding
Trace the steps of several IP packets as they are
routed through several gateways from devices on one
sub network to devices on other sub networks

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 Routes can be learned dynamically using Routing
Protocols, or entered statically.

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Summary

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