The Cisco Three-Layered Hierarchical Model

Cisco has defined a hierarchical model known as the hierarchical internetworking model. This model
simplifies the task of building a reliable, scalable, and less expensive hierarchical internetwork because
rather than focusing on packet construction; it focuses on the three functional areas, or layers, of your
network:

Core layer:

This layer is considered the backbone of the network and includes the high-end switches and high-speed
cables such as fiber cables. This layer of the network does not route traffic at the LAN. In addition, no
packet manipulation is done by devices in this layer. Rather, this layer is concerned with speed and
ensures reliable delivery of packets.

Distribution layer:

This layer includes LAN-based routers and layer 3 switches. This layer ensures that packets are properly
routed between subnets and VLANs in your enterprise. This layer is also called the Workgroup layer.

Access layer:

This layer includes hubs and switches. This layer is also called the desktop layer because it focuses on
connecting client nodes, such as workstations to the network. This layer ensures that packets are
delivered to end user computers.

Figure INT.2.1 displays the three layers of the Cisco hierarchical model.
When you implement these layers, each layer might comprise more than two devices or a single device
might function across multiple layers. The benefits of the Cisco hierarchical model include:

 High Performance: You can design high performance networks, where only certain layers are
susceptible to congestion.
 Efficient management & troubleshooting: Allows you to efficiently organize network
management and isolate causes of network trouble.
 Policy creation: You can easily create policies and specify filters and rules.
 Scalability: You can grow the network easily by dividing your network into functional areas.
 Behavior prediction: When planning or managing a network, the model allows you determine
what will happen to the network when new stresses are placed on it.

Core Layer

The core layer is responsible for fast and reliable transportation of data across a network. The core layer
is often known as the backbone or foundation network because all other layers rely upon it. Its purpose
is to reduce the latency time in the delivery of packets. The factors to be considered while designing
devices to be used in the core layer are:

 High data transfer rate: Speed is important at the core layer. One way that core networks enable
high data transfer rates is through load sharing, where traffic can travel through multiple network
connections.
 Low latency period: The core layer typically uses high-speed low latency circuits which only
forward packets and do not enforcing policy.
 High reliability: Multiple data paths ensure high network fault tolerance; if one path experiences
a problem, then the device can quickly discover a new route.

At the core layer, efficiency is the key term. Fewer and faster systems create a more efficient backbone.
There are various equipments available for the core layer. Examples of core layer Cisco equipment
include:

 Cisco switches such as 7000, 7200, 7500, and 12000 (for WAN use)
 Catalyst switches such as 6000, 5000, and 4000 (for LAN use)
 T-1 and E-1 lines, Frame relay connections, ATM networks, Switched Multimegabit Data Service
(SMDS)

Distribution Layer

The distribution layer is responsible for routing. It also provides policy-based network connectivity,
including:

 Packet filtering (firewalling): Processes packets and regulates the transmission of packets based
on its source and destination information to create network borders.
 QoS: The router or layer 3 switches can read packets and prioritize delivery, based on policies
you set.
 Access Layer Aggregation Point: The layer serves the aggregation point for the desktop layer
switches.
  Control Broadcast and Multicast: The layer serves as the boundary for broadcast and multicast
domains.
 Application Gateways: The layer allows you to create protocol gateways to and from different
network architectures.
 The distribution layer also performs queuing and provides packet manipulation of the network
traffic.

It is at this layer where you begin to exert control over network transmissions, including what comes in
and what goes out of the network. You will also limit and create broadcast domains, create virtual
LANs, if necessary, and conduct various management tasks, including obtaining route summaries. In a
route summary, you consolidate traffic from many subnets into a core network connection. In Cisco
routers, the command to obtain a routing summary is:

show ip route summary

Access Layer

The access layer contains devices that allow workgroups and users to use the services provided by the
distribution and core layers. In the access layer, you have the ability to expand or contract collision
domains using a repeater, hub, or standard switch. In regards to the access layer, a switch is not a high-
powered device, such as those found at the core layer.

Rather, a switch is an advanced version of a hub.

A collision domain describes a portion of an Ethernet network at layer 1 of the OSI model where any
communication sent by a node can be sensed by any other node on the network. This is different from a
broadcast domain which describes any part of a network at layer 2 or 3 of the OSI model where a node
can broadcast to any node on the network.

At the access layer, you can:

 Enable MAC address filtering: It is possible to program a switch to allow only certain systems to
access the connected LANs.
 Create separate collision domains: A switch can create separate collision domains for each
connected node to improve performance.
 Share bandwidth: You can allow the same network connection to handle all data.
 Handle switch bandwidth: You can move data from one network to another to perform load
balancing.
Cisco Three Layer Hierarchical Model vs. OSI
Model

The ISO, International Organization for Standardization is the Emily Post of the network protocol world.
Just like Ms. Post, who wrote the book setting the standards or protocols for human social interaction,
the ISO developed the OSI model as the precedent and guide for an open network protocol set. Defining
the etiquette of communication models, it remains today the most popular means of comparison for
protocol suites.

OSI layers are defined as top down such as:

 The Application layer

 The Presentation layer

 The Session layer

 The Transport layer

 The Network layer

 The Data Link layer

 The Physical layer

APPLICATION LAYER

 Used for applications specifically written to run over the network

 Allows access to network services that support applications;
 Directly represents the services that directly support user applications
 Handles network access, flow control and error recovery
 Example apps are file transfer, e-mail, Net BIOS-based applications

PRESENTATION LAYER

 Translates from application to network format and vice-versa

 All different formats from all sources are made into a common uniform format that the rest of the
OSI model can understand
  Responsible for protocol conversion, character conversion, data encryption / decryption,
expanding graphics commands, data compression
 Sets standards for different systems to provide seamless communication from multiple protocol
stacks
 Not always implemented in a network protocol

SESSION LAYER

 Establishes, maintains and ends sessions across the network

 Responsible for name recognition (identification) so only the designated parties can participate in
the session
 Provides synchronization services by planning check points in the data stream => if session fails,
only data after the most recent checkpoint need be transmitted
 Manages who can transmit data at a certain time and for how long
 Examples are interactive login and file transfer connections, the session would connect and re-
connect if there was an interruption; recognize names in sessions and register names in history

TRANSPORT LAYER

 Additional connection below the session layer

 Manages the flow control of data between parties across the network
 Divides streams of data into chunks or packets; the transport layer of the receiving computer
reassembles the message from packets "Train" is a good analogy => the data is divided into
identical units
 Provides error-checking to guarantee error-free data delivery, with on losses or duplications
 Provides acknowledgment of successful transmissions; requests retransmission if some packets
don’t arrive error-free
 Provides flow control and error-handling
 TCP, ARP, RARP;

NETWORK LAYER

 Translates logical network address and names to their physical address (e.g. computer name ==>
MAC address)
 Responsible for addressing and determining routes for sending
 Managing network problems such as packet switching, data congestion and routing
 If router can’t send data frame as large as the source computer sends, the network layer
compensates by breaking the data into smaller units. At the receiving end, the network layer
reassembles the data
 Think of this layer stamping the addresses on each train car IP; ARP; RARP, ICMP; RIP; OSFP;

DATA LINK LAYER

 Turns packets into raw bits 100101 and at the receiving end turns bits into packets.
 Handles data frames between the Network and Physical layers
 The receiving end packages raw data from the Physical layer into data frames for delivery to the
Network layer
 Responsible for error-free transfer of frames to other computer via the Physical Layer
  This layer defines the methods used to transmit and receive data on the network. It consists of the
wiring, the devices use to connect the NIC to the wiring, the signaling involved to transmit /
receive data and the ability to detect signaling errors on the network media

Logical Link Control

Error correction and flow control

Manages link control and defines SAPs

PHYSICAL LAYER

 Transmits raw bit stream over physical cable

 Defines cables, cards, and physical aspects
 Defines NIC attachments to hardware, how cable is attached to NIC

Defines techniques to transfer bit stream to cable Cisco Hierarchical

Model
Hierarchy has many of the same benefits in network design that it does in other areas of life. When used
properly, it makes networks more predictable. It helps us define at which levels of hierarchy we should
perform certain functions. Likewise, you can use tools such as access lists at certain levels in
hierarchical networks and avoid them at others.

Let's face it; large networks can be extremely

complicated, with multiple protocols, detailed
configurations, and diverse technologies.
Hierarchy helps us summarize a complex
collection of details into an understandable
model. Then, as specific configurations are
needed, the model dictates the appropriate
manner to apply them.

The Cisco hierarchical model can help you

design, implement, and maintain a scalable,
reliable, cost-effective hierarchical internetwork.

The following are the three layers:

 The Core layer or Backbone

 The Distribution layer

 The Access layer

Each layer has specific responsibilities. However, that the three layers are logical and are not necessarily
physical devices. Consider the OSI model, another logical hierarchy. The seven layers describe
functions but not necessarily protocols. Sometimes a protocol maps to more than one layer of the OSI
model, and sometimes multiple protocols communicate within a single layer. In the same way, when we
build physical implementations of hierarchical networks, we may have many devices in a single layer, or
we might have a single device performing functions at two layers. The definition of the layers is logical,
not physical.

The Core Layer

The core layer is literally the internet backbone. At the top of the hierarchy, the core layer is responsible
for transporting large amounts of traffic both reliably and quickly. The only purpose of the network's
core layer is to switch traffic as fast as possible. The traffic transported across the core is common to a
majority of users. However, remember that user data is processed at the distribution layer, which
forwards the requests to the core if needed.

If there is a failure in the core, every user can be affected. Therefore, fault tolerance at this layer is an
issue. The core is likely to see large volumes of traffic, so speed and latency are driving concerns here.
Given the function of the core, we can now consider some design specifics. Let's start with something
we don't want to do.

 Don't do anything to slow down traffic. This includes using access lists, routing between virtual
local area networks, and packet filtering.

 Don't support workgroup access here.

 Avoid expanding the core when the internetwork grows. If performance becomes an issue in the
core, give preference to upgrades over expansion.

Now, there are a few things that we want to do as we design the core. They include the following:

 Design the core for high reliability. Consider data-link technologies that facilitate both speed and
redundancy, such as FDDI, Fast Ethernet, or even ATM.

 Design with speed in mind. The core should have very little latency.

 Select routing protocols with lower convergence times. Fast and redundant data-link connectivity
is no help if your routing tables are shot.

The Distribution Layer

The distribution layer is sometimes referred to as the workgroup layer and is the major communication
point between the access layer and the core. The primary function of the distribution layer is to provide
routing, filtering, and WAN access and to determine how packets can access the core, if needed.

The distribution layer must determine the fastest way that network service requests are handled; for
example, how a file request is forwarded to a server. After the distribution layer determines the best
path, it forwards the request to the core layer. The core layer then quickly transports the request to the
correct service.

The distribution layer is the place to implement policies for the network. Here you can exercise
considerable flexibility in defining network operation. There are several items that generally should be
done at the distribution layer such as:
  Implementation of tools such as access lists, of packet filtering, and of queuing

 Implementation of security and network policies including firewalls

 Redistribution between routing protocols, including static routing

 Routing between VLANs and other workgroup support functions

 Definitions of broadcast and multicast domains

 Things to avoid at this layer are limited to those functions that exclusively belong to one of the
other layers.

The Access Layer

The access layer controls user and workgroup access to internetwork resources. The access layer is
sometimes referred to as the desktop layer. The network resources most users need will be available
locally. The distribution layer handles any traffic for remote services.

The following are some of the functions to be included at the access layer:

 Continued access control and policies

 Creation of separate collision domains

 Workgroup connectivity into the distribution layer through layer 2 switching

Technologies such as DDR and Ethernet switching are frequently seen in the access layer. Static routing
is seen here as well. As already noted, three separate levels does not imply three separate routers. It
could be fewer, or it could be more. Remember, this is a layered approach.