Chapter

Network Layer
06
 Module Objectives

Topic Title Topic Objective

Network Layer Explain how the network layer uses IP protocols for reliable
Characteristics communications.

IPv4 Packet Explain the role of the major header fields in the IPv4 packet.

IPv6 Packet Explain the role of the major header fields in the IPv6 packet.

Explain how network devices use routing tables to direct

How a Host Routes
packets to a destination network.

Router Routing Tables Explain the function of fields in the routing table of a router.
6.1 Network Layer Characteristics
 The Network Layer

• Provides services to allow end devices to

exchange data
• IP version 4 (IPv4) and IP version 6 (IPv6) are
the principle network layer communication
protocols.
• The network layer performs four basic
operations:
• Addressing end devices
• Encapsulation
• Routing
• De-encapsulation
 IP Encapsulation
• IP encapsulates the transport
layer segment.
• IP can use either an IPv4 or
IPv6 packet and not impact the
layer 4 segment.
• IP packet will be examined by
all layer 3 devices as it
traverses the network.
• The IP addressing does not
change from source to
destination.
Note: NAT will change
addressing, but will be discussed
in a later module.
 Characteristics of IP

IP is meant to have low overhead and may be described as:

• Connectionless
• Best Effort
• Media Independent
 Connectionless
IP is Connectionless
• IP does not establish a connection with the destination before sending the packet.

• There is no control information needed (synchronizations, acknowledgments, etc.).

• The destination will receive the packet when it arrives, but no pre-notifications are sent by
IP.
• If there is a need for connection-oriented traffic, then another protocol will handle this
(typically TCP at the transport layer).
 Best Effort

IP is Best Effort
• IP will not guarantee delivery
of the packet.
• IP has reduced overhead since
there is no mechanism to
resend data that is not
received.
• IP does not expect
acknowledgments.
• IP does not know if the other
device is operational or if it
received the packet.
 Media Independent
IP is unreliable:
• It cannot manage or fix undelivered
or corrupt packets.
• IP cannot retransmit after an error.
• IP cannot realign out of sequence
packets.
• IP must rely on other protocols for
these functions.
IP is media Independent:
• IP does not concern itself with the
type of frame required at the data
link layer or the media type at the
physical layer.
• IP can be sent over any media type:
copper, fiber, or wireless.
 Media Independent (Cont.)

The network layer will establish the

Maximum Transmission Unit (MTU).
• Network layer receives this from
control information sent by the
data link layer.
• The network then establishes
the MTU size.
Fragmentation is when Layer 3 splits
the IPv4 packet into smaller units.
• Fragmenting causes latency.
• IPv6 does not fragment packets.
• Example: Router goes from
Ethernet to a slow WAN with a
smaller MTU
6.2 IPv4 Packet
 IPv4 Packet Header

IPv4 is the primary communication protocol for the network layer.

The network header has many purposes:
• It ensures the packet is sent in the correct direction (to the destination).
• It contains information for network layer processing in various fields.
• The information in the header is used by all layer 3 devices that handle
the packet
 IPv4 Packet Header Fields

The IPv4 network header characteristics:

• It is in binary.
• Contains several fields of information
• Diagram is read from left to right, 4
bytes per line
• The two most important fields are the
source and destination.

Protocols may have may have one or more

functions.
 IPv4 Packet Header Fields
Significant fields in the IPv4 header:

Function Description

Version This will be for v4, as opposed to v6, a 4 bit field= 0100

Differentiated Services Used for QoS: DiffServ – DS field or the older IntServ – ToS or Type
of Service
Header Checksum Detect corruption in the IPv4 header

Time to Live (TTL) Layer 3 hop count. When it becomes zero the router will discard
the packet.
Protocol I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.

Source IPv4 Address 32 bit source address

Destination IPV4 32 bit destination address

Address
 Video – Sample IPv4 Headers in Wireshark
This video will cover the following:
• IPv4 Ethernet packets in Wireshark

• The control information

• The difference between packets

6.3 IPv6 Packets
 Limitations of IPv4

IPv4 has three major limitations:

• IPv4 address depletion – We have basically run out of IPv4
addressing.
• Lack of end-to-end connectivity – To make IPv4 survive this long,
private addressing and NAT were created. This ended direct
communications with public addressing.
• Increased network complexity – NAT was meant as temporary
solution and creates issues on the network as a side effect of
manipulating the network headers addressing. NAT causes
latency and troubleshooting issues.
 IPv6 Overview

• IPv6 was developed by Internet

Engineering Task Force (IETF).
• IPv6 overcomes the limitations of
IPv4.
• Improvements that IPv6 provides:
• Increased address space – based on
128 bit address, not 32 bits
• Improved packet handling –
simplified header with fewer fields
• Eliminates the need for NAT – since
there is a huge amount of
addressing, there is no need to use
private addressing internally and be
mapped to a shared public address
 IPv4 Packet Header Fields in the IPv6 Packet Header

• The IPv6 header is

simplified, but not smaller.
• The header is fixed at 40
Bytes or octets long.
• Several IPv4 fields were
removed to improve
performance.
• Some IPv4 fields were
removed to improve
performance:
• Flag
• Fragment Offset
• Header Checksum
 IPv6 Packet Header
Significant fields in the IPv6 header:
Function Description

Version This will be for v6, as opposed to v4, a 4 bit field= 0110

Traffic Class Used for QoS: Equivalent to DiffServ – DS field

Flow Label Informs device to handle identical flow labels the same way, 20 bit
field
Payload Length This 16-bit field indicates the length of the data portion or payload
of the IPv6 packet
Next Header I.D.s next level protocol: ICMP, TCP, UDP, etc.

Hop Limit Replaces TTL field Layer 3 hop count

Source IPv4 Address 128 bit source address

Destination IPV4 128 bit destination address
Address
 IPv6 Packet Header (Cont.)

IPv6 packet may also contain extension headers (EH).

EH headers characteristics:
• provide optional network layer information
• are optional
• are placed between IPv6 header and the payload
• may be used for fragmentation, security, mobility support, etc.

Note: Unlike IPv4, routers do not fragment IPv6 packets.

 Video – Sample IPv6 Headers in Wireshark
This video will cover the following:
• IPv6 Ethernet packets in Wireshark

• The control information

• The difference between packets

6.4 How a Host Routes
 Host Forwarding Decision
• Packets are always created at the source.
• Each host devices creates their own routing table.
• A host can send packets to the following:
• Itself – 127.0.0.1 (IPv4), ::1 (IPv6)
• Local Hosts – destination is on the same LAN
• Remote Hosts – devices are not on the same LAN
 Host Forwarding Decision (Cont.)
• The Source device determines whether the destination is local or remote

• Method of determination:
• IPv4 – Source uses its own IP address and Subnet mask, along with the destination IP
address
• IPv6 – Source uses the network address and prefix advertised by the local router
• Local traffic is dumped out the host interface to be handled by an intermediary device.

• Remote traffic is forwarded directly to the default gateway on the LAN.

 Default Gateway

A router or layer 3 switch can be a default-gateway.

Features of a default gateway (DGW):
• It must have an IP address in the same range as the rest of the LAN.
• It can accept data from the LAN and is capable of forwarding traffic off of
the LAN.
• It can route to other networks.
If a device has no default gateway or a bad default gateway, its
traffic will not be able to leave the LAN.
 A Host Routes to the Default Gateway
• The host will know the
default gateway (DGW)
either statically or through
DHCP in IPv4.
• IPv6 sends the DGW through
a router solicitation (RS) or
can be configured manually.
• A DGW is static route which
will be a last resort route in
the routing table.
• All device on the LAN will
need the DGW of the router
if they intend to send traffic
remotely.
 Host Routing Tables

• On Windows, route print

or netstat -r to display
the PC routing table
• Three sections displayed
by these two commands:
• Interface List – all
potential interfaces
and MAC addressing
• IPv4 Routing Table
• IPv6 Routing Table
6.5 Introduction to Routing
 Router Packet Forwarding Decision
What happens when the router receives the frame from the host device?
 IP Router Routing Table
There three types of routes in a router’s routing table:
• Directly Connected – These routes are automatically added by the router, provided the
interface is active and has addressing.
• Remote – These are the routes the router does not have a direct connection and may be
learned:
• Manually – with a static route
• Dynamically – by using a routing protocol to have the routers share their information
with each other
• Default Route – this forwards all traffic to a specific direction when there is not a match in
the routing table
 Static Routing

Static Route Characteristics:

• Must be configured manually

• Must be adjusted manually by

the administrator when there is
a change in the topology
• Good for small non-redundant
networks
• Often used in conjunction with a
dynamic routing protocol for
configuring a default route
 Dynamic Routing

Dynamic Routes Automatically:

• Discover remote networks

• Maintain up-to-date information

• Choose the best path to the

destination
• Find new best paths when there
is a topology change
Dynamic routing can also share
static default routes with the
other routers.
 Video – IPv4 Router Routing Tables
This video will explain the information in the IPv4 router routing table.
 Introduction to an IPv4 Routing Table

The show ip route command shows the

following route sources:
• L - Directly connected local
interface IP address
• C – Directly connected network
• S – Static route was manually
configured by an administrator
• O – OSPF
• D – EIGRP
This command shows types of routes:
• Directly Connected – C and L
• Remote Routes – O, D, etc.
• Default Routes – S*
6.6 Module Practice and Quiz
 What did I learn in this module?
• IP is connectionless, best effort, and media independent.
• IP does not guarantee packet delivery.
• IPv4 packet header consists of fields containing information about the packet.
• IPv6 overcomes IPv4 lack of end-to-end connectivity and increased network
complexity.
• A device will determine if a destination is itself, another local host, and a
remote host.
• A default gateway is router that is part of the LAN and will be used as a door to
other networks.
• The routing table contains a list of all known network addresses (prefixes) and
where to forward the packet.
• The router uses longest subnet mask or prefix match.
• The routing table has three types of route entries: directly connected
networks, remote networks, and a default route.