Network+

Chapter 2
Networking Standards and the OSI
Model
 Objectives
• Identify organizations that set standards for
networking
• Describe the purpose of the OSI model and
each of its layers
• Explain specific functions belonging to each OSI
model layer

2
 Objectives (cont’d.)
• Understand how two network nodes
communicate through the OSI model
• Discuss the structure and purpose of data
packets and frames
• Describe the two types of addressing covered by
the OSI model

3
 Networking Standards
Organizations
• Standard
– Documented agreement
– Technical specifications/precise criteria
– Stipulates design or performance of particular product or service
• Standards important in the networking world
– Wide variety of hardware and software
– Ensure network design compatibility
• Standards define minimum acceptable
performance
– Not ideal performance

4
 Networking Standards Organizations
(cont’d.)
• Many different organisations oversee computer
industry standards
• Example: ANSI and IEEE set wireless standards
– ANSI standards apply to type of NIC
– IEEE standards involve communication protocols
• Network professional’s responsibility
– Be familiar with groups setting networking standards
– Understand critical aspects of standards required by own
networks

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 ANSI
• ANSI (American National Standards Institute)
– 1000+ representatives from industry and government
– Determines standards for electronics industry and other fields
• Requests voluntarily compliance with standards
• Obtaining ANSI approval requires rigorous
testing
• ANSI standards documents available online

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 EIA and TIA
• EIA (Electronic Industries Alliance)
– Trade organization
• Representatives from United States electronics
manufacturing firms
– Sets standards for its members
– Helps write ANSI standards
– Lobbies for favorable computer and electronics
industries legislation

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 EIA and TIA (cont’d.)
• TIA (Telecommunications Industry
Association)
– EIA subgroup merged with former United States
Telecommunications Suppliers Association (USTSA)
• Focus of TIA
– Standards for information technology, wireless,
satellite, fiber optics, and telephone equipment
• TIA/EIA 568-B Series
– Guidelines for installing network cable in commercial
buildings 8
 IEEE
• IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers)
– International engineering professionals society
• Goal of IEEE
– Promote development and education in electrical engineering
and computer science fields
• Hosts symposia, conferences, and chapter
meetings
• Maintains a standards board
• IEEE technical papers and standards
– Highly respected 9
 ISO
• ISO (International Organization for
Standardization)
– Headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland
– Collection of standards organizations
• Represents 162 countries
• Goal of ISO
– Establish international technological standards to
facilitate global information exchange and barrier free
trade
• Widespread authority 10
 ITU
• ITU (International Telecommunication Union)
– Specialized United Nations agency
– Regulates international telecommunications
– Provides developing countries with technical expertise and
equipment
– Founded in 1865; joined United Nations in 1947
– Members from 193 countries
• Focus of ITU
– Global telecommunications issues
– Worldwide Internet services implementation

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 ISOC
• ISOC (Internet Society)
– Founded in 1992
– Professional membership society
– Establishes technical Internet standards
• Current ISOC concerns
– Rapid Internet growth
– Keeping Internet accessible
– Information security
– Stable Internet addressing services
– Open standards 12
 ISOC (cont’d.)
• ISOC oversees groups with specific
missions
– IAB (Internet Architecture Board)
• Technical advisory group
• Oversees Internet’s design and management
– IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force)
• Sets Internet system communication standards
• Particularly protocol operation and interaction
• Anyone may submit standard proposal
• Elaborate review, testing, and approval processes
13
 IANA and ICANN
• IP (Internet Protocol) address
– Address identifying computers in TCP/IP based
(Internet) networks
– Reliance on centralized management authorities
• IP address management history
– Initially: IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority)
– 1997: Three RIRs (Regional Internet Registries)
• ARIN (American Registry for Internet Numbers)
• APNIC (Asia Pacific Network Information Centre)
• RIPE (Réseaux IP Européens)
14
 IANA and ICANN (cont’d.)
• IP address management history (cont’d.)
– Late 1990s: ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned
Names and Numbers)
• Private nonprofit corporation
• Remains responsible for IP addressing and domain
name management
• IANA performs system administration
• Users and business obtain IP addresses
from ISP (Internet service provider)
15
 The OSI Model
• Model for understanding and developing
network computer-to-computer
communications
• Developed by ISO in the 1980s
• Divides network communications into
seven layers
– Physical, Data Link, Network, Transport, Session,
Presentation, Application

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 The OSI Model (cont’d.)
• Protocol interaction
– Layer directly above and below
• Application layer protocols
– Interact with software
• Physical layer protocols
– Act on cables and connectors

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 The OSI Model (cont’d.)
• Theoretical representation describing network
communication between two nodes
• Hardware and software independent
• Every network communication process
represented
• PDUs (protocol data units)
– Discrete amount of data
– Application layer function
– Flow through layers 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, and 1
• Generalized model and sometimes imperfect
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Figure 2-1 Flow of data through the OSI model
Courtesy Course Technology/Cengage Learning

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 Application Layer
• Top (seventh) OSI model layer
• Does not include software applications
• Protocol functions
– Facilitates communication between software
applications and lower-layer network services
– Network interprets application request
– Application interprets data sent from network

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 Application Layer (cont’d.)
• Software applications negotiate with
application layer protocols
– Formatting, procedural, security, synchronization, and
other requirements
• Example of Application layer protocol:
HTTP

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Figure 2-2 Application layer functions while retrieving a Web page

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 Presentation Layer
• Protocol functions
– Accept Application layer data
– Format data
• Understandable to different applications and hosts
• Examples of file types translated at the
presentation layer
– GIF, JPG, TIFF, MPEG, QuickTime
• Presentation layer services manage data
encryption and decryption
– Example protocol: Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) 23
Figure 2-3 Presentation layer services while retrieving a secure Web page

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 Session Layer
• Protocol functions
– Coordinate and maintain communications between
two network nodes
• Session
– Connection for ongoing data exchange between two
parties
• Connection between remote client and access server
• Connection between Web browser client and Web
server

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 Session Layer (cont’d.)
• Functions
– Establishing and keeping alive communications link
• For session duration
– Keeping communications secure
– Synchronizing dialogue between two nodes
– Determining if communications ended
• Determining where to restart transmission
– Terminating communications
– Set terms of communication
– Identify session participants
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Figure 2-4 Session layer protocols managing voice communications

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 Transport Layer
• Protocol functions
– Accept data from Session layer
– Manage end-to-end data delivery
– Handle flow control
• Connection-oriented protocols
– Establish connection before transmitting data
– Example: TCP three-way handshake
• SYN (synchronization) packet
• SYN-ACK (synchronization-acknowledgment)
• ACK

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 Transport Layer (cont’d.)
• Checksum
– Unique character string
– Allows receiving node to determine if arriving data
matches sent data
• Connectionless protocols
– Do not establish connection with another node before
transmitting data
– Do not check for data integrity
– Faster than connection-oriented protocols

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 Transport Layer (cont’d.)
• Segmentation
– Breaking large data units received from Session layer
into multiple smaller units called segments
– Increases data transmission efficiency on certain
network types
• MTU (maximum transmission unit)
– Largest data unit network will carry
– Ethernet default: 1500 bytes
– Discovery routine used to determine MTU

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 Transport Layer (cont’d.)
• Reassembly
– Recombining the segmented data units
• Sequencing
– Identifying segments belonging to the same group of
subdivided data
– Specifies order of data issue

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Figure 2-5 Segmentation and reassembly

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Figure 2-6 A TCP segment

33
 Network Layer
• Protocol functions
– Translate network addresses into physical
counterparts
– Decide how to route data from sender to receiver
• Addressing
– System for assigning unique identification numbers to
network devices
• Types of addresses
– Network addresses (logical or virtual addresses)
– Physical addresses
34
 Network Layer (cont’d.)
• Network address example: 10.34.99.12
• Physical address example:
0060973E97F3
• Factors used to determine path routing
– Delivery priority
– Network congestion
– Quality of service
– Cost of alternative routes
• Routers belong in the network layer
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 Network Layer (cont’d.)
• Common Network layer protocol
– IP (Internet Protocol)
• Fragmentation
– Subdividing Transport layer segments
– Performed at the Network layer
• Segmentation preferred over
fragmentation for greater network
efficiency
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Figure 2-7 An IP packet

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 Data Link Layer
• Function of protocols
– Divide data received into distinct frames for
transmission in Physical layer
• Frame
– Structured package for moving data
– Includes raw data (payload), sender’s and receiver’s
network addresses, error checking and control
information

38
 Data Link Layer (cont’d.)
• Possible communication mishap
– Not all information received
– Corrected by error checking
• Error checking methods
– Frame check sequence
– CRC (cyclic redundancy check)
• Possible glut of communication requests
– Data Link layer controls flow of information
• Allows NIC to process data without error
39
 Data Link Layer (cont’d.)
• Two Data Link layer sublayers
– LLC (Logical Link Control) sublayer
– MAC (Media Access Control) sublayer
• MAC sublayer
– Manages access to the physical medium
– Appends physical address of destination computer
onto data frame
• Physical address
– Fixed number associated with each device’s network
interface 40
Figure 2-8 The Data Link layer and its sublayers

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Figure 2-9 A NIC’s physical address

42
 Physical Layer
• Functions of protocols
– Accept frames from Data Link layer
– Generate signals as changes in voltage at the NIC
• Copper transmission medium
– Signals issued as voltage
• Fiber-optic cable transmission medium
– Signals issued as light pulses
• Wireless transmission medium
– Signals issued as electromagnetic waves
43
 Physical Layer (cont’d.)
• Physical layer protocols’ responsibilities
when receiving data
– Detect and accept signals
– Pass on to Data Link layer
– Set data transmission rate
– Monitor data error rates
– No error checking
• Devices operating at Physical layer
– Hubs and repeaters
• NICs operate at both Physical layer and
Data Link layers 44
Applying the OSI Model

Table 2-1 Functions of the OSI layers

45
 Communication Between Two
Systems
• Data transformation
– Original software application data differs from
application layer NIC data
• Information added at each layer
• PDUs
– Generated in Application layer
• Segments
– Generated in Transport layer
– Unit of data resulting from subdividing larger PDU
46
 Communication Between Two Systems
(cont’d.)
• Packets
– Generated in Network layer
– Data with logical addressing information added to
segments
• Frames
– Generated in Data Link layer
– Composed of several smaller components or fields

47
 Communication Between Two Systems
(cont’d.)
• Encapsulation
– Occurs in Data Link layer
– Process of wrapping one layer’s PDU with protocol
information
• Allows interpretation by lower layer
• Physical layer transmits frame over the
network

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Figure 2-11 Data transformation through the OSI model 49
 Frame Specifications
• Frames
– Composed of several smaller components or fields
• Frame characteristic dependencies
– Network type where frames run
– Standards frames must follow
• Ethernet
– Developed by Xerox
– Four different types of Ethernet frames
– Most popular: IEEE 802.3 standard
Network+ Guide to Networks, 6th Edition 50
 Frame Specifications (cont’d.)
• Token ring
– Developed by IBM
– Relies upon direct links between nodes and ring topology
– Nearly obsolete
– Defined by IEEE 802.5 standard
• Ethernet frames and token ring frames differ
– Will not interact with each other
– Devices cannot support more than one frame type per physical
interface or NIC

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IEEE Networking Specifications
• IEEE’s Project 802
– Effort to standardize physical and logical network
elements
• Frame types and addressing
• Connectivity
• Networking media
• Error-checking algorithms
• Encryption
• Emerging technologies
• 802.3: Ethernet
• 802.11: Wireless
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Table 2-2 IEEE 802 standards

53
 Summary
• Standards help ensure interoperability between software
and hardware from different manufacturers
• ISO’s OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) model
– Represents communication between two networked computers
– Includes seven layers
• IEEE’s Project 802 aims to standardize networking
elements
• Significant IEEE 802 standards include 802.3 (Ethernet),
802.11 (wireless), and 802.16 (MANs)

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