Components of network layer communication

Components of network layer
communication
In the reading about the OSI model, you learned about the seven layers of the OSI model that
are used to conceptualize the way data is transmitted across the internet. In this reading, you will
learn more about operations that take place at layer 3 of the OSI model: the network layer.
Operations at the network layer

Functions at the network layer organize the addressing and delivery of data packets across the
network from the host device to the destination device. This includes directing the packets from
one router to another router across the internet, till it reaches the internet protocol (IP) address of
the destination network. The destination IP address is contained within the header of each data
packet. This address will be stored for future routing purposes in routing tables along the
packet’s path to its destination.
All data packets include an IP address. A data packet is also referred to as an IP packet for TCP
connections or a datagram for UDP connections. A router uses the IP address to route packets
from network to network based on information contained in the IP header of a data packet.
Header information communicates more than just the address of the destination. It also includes
information such as the source IP address, the size of the packet, and which protocol will be
used for the data portion of the packet.
Format of an IPv4 packet
Next, you can review the format of an IP version 4 (IPv4) packet and review a detailed graphic of
the packet header. An IPv4 packet is made up of two sections, the header and the data:
 An IPv4 header format is determined by the IPv4 protocol and includes the IP routing information
that devices use to direct the packet. The size of the IPv4 header ranges from 20 to 60 bytes.
The first 20 bytes are a fixed set of information containing data such as the source and
destination IP address, header length, and total length of the packet. The last set of bytes can
range from 0 to 40 and consists of the options field.
 The length of the data section of an IPv4 packet can vary greatly in size. However, the maximum
possible size of an IPv4 packet is 65,535 bytes. It contains the message being transferred over
the internet, like website information or email text.
There are 13 fields within the header of an IPv4 packet:
 Version (VER): This 4 bit component tells receiving devices what protocol the packet is using.
The packet used in the illustration above is an IPv4 packet.
 IP Header Length (HLEN or IHL): HLEN is the packet’s header length. This value indicates
where the packet header ends and the data segment begins.
 Type of Service (ToS): Routers prioritize packets for delivery to maintain quality of service on the
network. The ToS field provides the router with this information.
 Total Length: This field communicates the total length of the entire IP packet, including the
header and data. The maximum size of an IPv4 packet is 65,535 bytes.
 Identification: IPv4 packets can be up to 65, 535 bytes, but most networks have a smaller limit.
In these cases, the packets are divided, or fragmented, into smaller IP packets. The identification
field provides a unique identifier for all the fragments of the original IP packet so that they can be
reassembled once they reach their destination.
 Flags: This field provides the routing device with more information about whether the original
packet has been fragmented and if there are more fragments in transit.
 Fragmentation Offset: The fragment offset field tells routing devices where in the original packet
the fragment belongs.
 Time to Live (TTL): TTL prevents data packets from being forwarded by routers indefinitely. It
contains a counter that is set by the source. The counter is decremented by one as it passes
through each router along its path. When the TTL counter reaches zero, the router currently
holding the packet will discard the packet and return an ICMP Time Exceeded error message to
the sender.
 Protocol: The protocol field tells the receiving device which protocol will be used for the data
portion of the packet.
 Header Checksum: The header checksum field contains a checksum that can be used to detect
corruption of the IP header in transit. Corrupted packets are discarded.
 Source IP Address: The source IP address is the IPv4 address of the sending device.
 Destination IP Address: The destination IP address is the IPv4 address of the destination device.
 Options: The options field allows for security options to be applied to the packet if the HLEN
value is greater than five. The field communicates these options to the routing devices.
Difference between IPv4 and IPv6

In an earlier part of this course, you learned about the history of IP addressing. As the internet
grew, it became clear that all of the IPv4 addresses would eventually be depleted; this is called
IPv4 address exhaustion. At the time, no one had anticipated how many computing devices
would need an IP address. IPv6 was developed to mitigate IPv4 address exhaustion and other
related concerns.
Some of the key differences between IPv4 and IPv6 include the length and the format of the
addresses. IPv4 addresses are made up of four decimal numbers separated by periods, each
number ranging from 0 to 255. Together the numbers span 4 bytes, and allow for up to 4.3 billion
possible addresses. An example of an IPv4 address would be: 198.51.100.0. IPv6 addresses are
made of eight hexadecimal numbers separated by colons, each number consisting of up to four
hexadecimal digits. Together, all numbers span 16 bytes, and allow for up to 340 undecillion
addresses (340 followed by 36 zeros). An example of an IPv6 address would be:
2002:0db8:0000:0000:0000:ff21:0023:1234.
Note: to represent one or more consecutive sets of all zeros, you can replace the zeros with a
double colon "::", so the above IPv6 address would be "2002:0db8::ff21:0023:1234."
There are also some differences in the layout of an IPv6 packet header. The IPv6 header format
is much simpler than IPv4. For example, the IPv4 Header includes the IHL, Identification, and
Flags fields, whereas the IPv6 does not. The IPv6 header only introduces the Flow Label field,
where the Flow Label identifies a packet as requiring special handling by other IPv6 routers.
There are some important security differences between IPv4 and IPv6. IPv6 offers more efficient
routing and eliminates private address collisions that can occur on IPv4 when two devices on the
same network are attempting to use the same address.

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Components of network layer

Operations at the network layer

Format of an IPv4 packet

Difference between IPv4 and IPv6

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