TCP IP Model Explained | TCP IP Model Animation | TCP IP Protocol Suite | TCP IP Layers | TechTerms

Suppose two persons are to  communicate with one another. To communicate successfully, they  should be sharing a common language. Therefore, both ends should be able to  understand what the other person is saying.

Similarly, in computer networks, the computers  should be sharing a common message format. They should know how long the message  is? Which part of the message is the actual data?

Which part of the message  is the sender's and receiver's address? Such information will result in successful  communication between computers. If one computer speaks ASCII and the other  speaks Unicode, successful communication will not occur unless they are prepared to  perform the translations back and forth.

So, some ground rules are required  to communicate successfully. In computer networks, the agreed-upon set  of ground rules that make communication possible are called protocols. TCP/IP is a set of protocols that support network communication, but what is  a network and what is communication?

In the most basic form, two computers  connected via LAN Cable sharing data with the help of Network Interface Cards (hardware  present in each computer) forms a network, and the process of sending messages from  one place to another through a wired or wireless medium is called communication. The message can be a file, a voice conversation, a streaming video or anything which can  be communicated in digital form. These messages are not sent  as a single unit; instead, they are broken into small data units.

These  data units are transmitted through the network and restored at the receiver  into the original message. In TCP/IP protocol suite, TCP breaks messages  into small data units called segments and hands them off to IP, which deals with routing segments  through the networks to their final destination. TCP module in the receiver combines the  segments to form the original message.

Note that TCP stands for Transmission Control  Protocol and IP stands for Internet Protocol. An alternative to TCP is UDP. It stands for User  Datagram Protocol.

The main difference is that TCP is highly reliable, but it is slow, whereas UDP  is less reliable but generally faster. Both TCP and UDP are a part of the protocol suite.  However, due to heavy dependence on TCP, and for historical reasons, the entire set  of protocols is referred to as TCP/IP.

TCP/IP is a network model designed to support  network communication, even if the computers are from different manufacturers. There is one  more network model called the OSI model or Open System Interconnection reference model. It  is primarily used for research.

On the other hand, TCP/IP is a practical model developed to meet  the needs of the original Internet design. As per the name, TCP/IP seems to be a set  of two protocols only – TCP and IP. However, it consists of numerous protocols  bundled at different layers.

The topmost layer is the Application layer which  generates a message. The message is passed to the lower layers at the sending node, where each layer  encapsulates the message from the above layer. So, the message sent becomes larger and  larger as it passes down the chain.

The data unit in the data link  layer is called an Ethernet frame; in the network layer, it is called an IP  packet; if it is in the transport layer, it is called TCP segment in case of TCP protocol,  and UDP datagram in case of UDP protocol. In the application layer, it is  called an application message. The peer layer removes the header at the  receiving node and passes the remainder upwards layer-by-layer till the message  finally reaches the application layer.

Let us discuss each layer  one-by-one in more detail. We are starting with the bottom-most  layer – the physical layer. The physical layer is the place where  actual communication takes place.

We know that a sequence of 0s and 1s  digitally represents the messages. The physical layer converts this binary sequence  into signals and transmits them over local media. The signal can be electrical if the  local media is Copper Cable or LAN cable, the Light signal in case of Optical Fiber  and a Radio signal in case of Air/Vacuum.

So, the signal generated by the Physical Layer depends on the type of media  used to connect two devices. The most common protocol used at  the physical layer is Ethernet. The protocol also specifies the type of  cables that can be used for data transmission.

For example, if the protocol used is Ethernet,  then twisted pair cable, coaxial cable, or fiber optic cable can be used for data transmission. If the protocol used is fast Ethernet or gigabit ethernet, then twisted pair or fiber optic  cable can be used as local media. Next is - THE DATA LINK LAYER The data unit in the data link layer is called an Ethernet frame.

The data  link layer is divided into two sublayers: · Medium-access control or MAC sublayer, and · Logical link control or LLC sub-layer The MAC sublayer is responsible for · Data encapsulation, and · Accessing the media In data encapsulation, the MAC sublayer adds a header and a trailer to  the IP packet received from the network layer. The header contains the MAC addresses  of the sender and receiver. The trailer contains 4 bytes of error checking data used to  detect errors in the received Ethernet frame.

What is the MAC address? It is a unique  6-byte address embedded in the NIC of a device by its manufacturer. For accessing the media, the access method Ethernet uses is called Carrier Sense  Multiple Access/Collision Detection or CSMA/CD.

In this method, each computer listens to the  cable before sending data through the network. If the network is clear, the computer will  transmit. If the first computer is already transmitting on the cable, the second computer  will wait and try again when the line is clear.

Sometimes, two computers attempt to transmit  at the same instant. When this happens, a collision occurs. Each computer then stops  transmission and waits a random amount of time before attempting to retransmit.

Please note, with this access method; it is normal to have collisions. However, the  delay caused by collisions and retransmitting is very small and does not normally affect  the speed of transmission on the network. The next is the LLC sub-layer.

It offers · flow control, and · error control Flow control is a technique that restricts the amount of data that a sender can send without  overwhelming the receiver. The receiving devices have a limited processing speed and a limited  memory to store the incoming data. If these limits are exceeded, then the incoming data will be lost. 

To avoid this, the receiver should inform the sender to slow down the transmission rate before  these limits are met. In the data link layer, flow control restricts the number of frames the sender  can send without overwhelming the receiver. Error control in the data link layer primarily  refers to error detection and retransmission.

Error detection is done by using the error  checking bytes added in the trailer of the frame. The frame retransmission is done  using Automatic Repeat Request or ARQ. The receiver sends an ACK to  the sender when a frame is received.

When the ACK is not received, the sender sends the  frame again. So, if a frame gets lost or damaged, then the ACK is not sent. As a result, the  sender sends the frame again.

This process is called Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ). LLC layer can also re-size the IP packets received from the network layer to fit  them in the data link layer frames. The transport layer provides most  of the services of the LLC sublayer, including flow control, error control, and  sizing of packets; therefore, the services of the LLC layer are usually bypassed.

The remaining three layers of the TCP/IP protocol stack, including network,  transport, and application layers, are implemented as software programs  within the computer's operating system. Starting with the NETWORK LAYER The transport layer passes TCP segments or UDP datagrams to the Network Layer. The  network layer adds logical addresses or IP addresses to the TCP segments or UDP datagrams to  form IP packets and then uses routers to send the IP packets to other networks.

The network layer  also determines the best path for data delivery. So the functions of the network layer are: 1. Logical Addressing 2.

Routing 3. Path determination IP is the single standard protocol for this  layer. The TCP/IP network layer is also called the internetworking layer or IP layer.

Logical Addressing: Every computer in a network has a unique IP address. The network layer  assigns sender and receiver's IP addresses to each segment or datagram to form an IP  Packet. IP addresses are assigned to ensure that each IP packet can reach the correct  destination present in different networks.

Routing Routing is a method of moving an IP packet from source to  destination present in different networks. Routing is not needed if the source and destination  computers are present in the same network. For communications within a  network, the task is usually simple.

The ARP module takes the destination IP address  from the IP packet and returns the MAC address of the destination computer. It is then used  to create an Ethernet frame which is delivered directly to the destination as it is present  in the same network, . no routing is needed.

However, when the message is being sent to a node  outside a network, for example, to the Internet, the network layer moves the message from sender  to receiver through routers. Consider two networks connected with a router. Computer A needs to  send data to computer B.

Please note that both computers are present in different networks.  Hence, in this case, routing is needed. To create an Ethernet frame, we need the  MAC address of the destination computer.

However, in this case, the destination is present  in a different network. So, the ARP module cannot provide us with the destination's MAC address  because it can provide the MAC address only if the computers are present in the same network. So,  the ARP module in network one cannot provide the MAC addresses of the computers present in network  two and vice-versa.

Since the intermediate to the networks is the router R, the destination MAC  address is kept as the router's MAC address, and the frame is forwarded to the router. Router finds  that the MAC address in the frame matches its address. So, it extracts the IP packet from the  frame and forwards it to the network layer.

The network layer finds a mismatch for the destination  IP address. So it sends the IP packet down to the data link layer and updates the destination  MAC address with the MAC address of computer B. But how router knows the MAC address of computer  B?

Simple, by using the ARP module. It is one network, so the ARP module works here. Finally,  the ethernet frame is delivered to computer B.

Please note that the destinations IP address  never changes for inter-network communication, but the physical address or the MAC  address changes with every hop. So, IP addresses are a must to transfer  data among multiple networks. Now Path determination: A computer can be connected to an internet server or a computer in several  ways.

Choosing the best possible path for data delivery from source to destination is called  Path Determination. Layer 3 devices use protocols such as OSPF (Open Shortest Path First), BGP  (Border Gateway Protocol), IS-IS (Intermediate System to Intermediate System) to determine  the best possible path for data delivery. Because routing takes place at the network  layer or layer 3, routers and gateways are sometimes called layer three switches.

IP is unreliable. It does not guarantee delivery nor check for errors. These tasks are the  responsibility of the transport layer.

Let us start discussing the transport layer At the sending node, the transport layer receives the message from the application layer.  When the message reaches the transport layer, one of the transport layer protocols,  i. e.

, TCP or UDP, is selected. TCP supports segmentation. So, if the message  is large, TCP divides it into smaller pieces and adds a header to form a TCP segment.

On the other hand, UDP does not support segmentation, so the applications  using UDP should send messages short enough to fit into one UDP datagram. Note that the data unit in TCP is called TCP segment, and the data unit in  UDP is called UDP datagram. UDP datagrams are considered unreliable because  there is no guarantee that all datagrams sent will be received in the destination and in the  correct order.

So, if reliability is needed, UDP should not be used. UDP lacks error checking and correction. It makes UDP fast and efficient  for DNS, DHCP, SNMP, and RIP protocols.

UDP is also suited for streaming videos. When the application layer invokes the UDP protocol, UDP encapsulates the application  message into UDP datagrams. The datagram is then passed to the network layer for transmission.

At the receiving end, the network layer sends the UDP datagram to the transport layer. UDP then  extracts the application message from the datagram and passes it to the application layer. TCP, on the other hand, is reliable and guarantees in-order delivery of data from the  sender to the receiver.

The data transmission via TCP has three phases: · Connection establishment · Data transfer, and · Connection termination In the Connection Establishment phase, the sender  TCP or client sends a packet to the receiver TCP or server requesting a connection. The server then  sends an acknowledgement to the client. The client further acknowledges the server.

It completes  the process of connection establishment. Since a connection is set up before data transmission,  TCP is a connection-oriented protocol, and the connection establishment process is  called Three-Way TCP Connection Handshake. Once the connection is established,  the next phase is the Data Transfer.

During data transfer, TCP offers some key features  which UDP does not provide, and it includes • Error-free data transfer • Ordered-data transfer • Retransmission of lost data • Discarding duplicate packets, and • Congestion throttling Let us discuss each feature one-by-one. Error-Free Data Transfer is provided by using  the field Checksum. The sender calculates and enters a value in this field.

At the receiving  end, the receiver performs the same process and calculates the checksum value. If it does  not match with the value present in the checksum field, the TCP segment is discarded, and no  ACK is sent to the sender. Because the sending side does not receive an acknowledgement of  the discarded packet, it is retransmitted.

Ordered-Data Transfer TCP adds a sequence number in the TCP segments. At the receiving end, the TCP module uses the  sequence numbers to reconstruct the application message in the correct order. Retransmission of Lost segments For reliable data transfer, the receiver TCP sends  an acknowledgement to the sender TCP for each TCP segment it receives.

If an acknowledgement is  not received, the TCP segment is retransmitted. Therefore, if a TCP segment is lost, the receiver  will not send an ACK message to the sender. As a result, the sender TCP  sends the lost segment again.

Discarding Duplicate segments The TCP client retransmits packets that it determines to be lost. However, the receiver  TCP may receive segments that were considered to be lost after the sending side has retransmitted  the segments. As a result, the receiving end will have two or more copies of the same segment.

In  such cases, the unique sequence numbers in the TCP header of every segment helps to determine the  duplicate segments, which are then discarded. Congestion Throttling or flow control The goal for TCP is to send segments to the receiving end as fast as possible without  losing them. When TCP first sends the segments, it sets a timer.

If the segments are acknowledged  before the timer expires, TCP increases the transmission speed until the segments begin to  become unacknowledged. Since the ACK for some segments is not received within the time, the  sending TCP module retransmits the segments. When a significant number of packets have  to be retransmitted, TCP slows down the data transfer rate.

In this way, TCP handles  congestion throttling or flow control. The last phase in the data transmission  is Connection Termination. When an endpoint wishes to stop its connection,  it sends a finished message to the other endpoint.

The other end acknowledges the message. Both  ends do this two-phase handshake process. Therefore, the connection termination follows  a four-way handshake process.

The Top Most Layer in the  TCP/IP protocol suite is the Application layer The application layer is used by user applications  that pass messages from one computer to another in layer protocols to perform their activities. For example, web browsers use HTTP or HTTPS – to do web surfing. Email  programs, such as Microsoft Outlook, use post office protocol (POP) or the Simple Mail  Transfer Protocol (SMTP) for transferring emails.

So, the application layer provides means  to access information on the network. This is a list of protocols  provided by the application layer DNS - Domain Name System translates IP  addresses into Domain Names and vice-versa. DHCP - Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol  automatically assign IP addresses to computers present in the network.

FTP - File Transfer Protocol is used to transfer files on the Internet HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol is used for sending and receiving webpages IMAP - Internet Message Access Protocol is used for email messages on the Internet IRC - Internet Relay Chat protocol is used for Internet chat. POP3 - Post Office Protocol Version 3 is used by email clients to  retrieve messages from remote servers SMTP - Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is  used for email messages on the Internet It completes the TCP/IP protocol suite. If you have learnt something from this video, then please like this video.

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