OSI transport layer

CCNA Exploration Semester 1

Chapter 4

21 Feb 2025 S Ward Abingdon and Witney College CCNA Exploration Semester 1 1
OSI transport layer
 OSImodel layer 4
 TCP/IP model Transport layer

Application HTTP, FTP,

TFTP, SMTP
Presentation Data
stream etc Application
Session
Transport Segment TCP, UDP Transport
Network Packet IP Internet
Data link Frame Ethernet,
Network Access
WAN
Physical Bits
technologies
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Transport layer topics
 Roles of the transport layer
 TCP: Transport Control Protocol
 UDP: User Datagram Protocol

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Purpose of transport layer
Responsible for the overall end-to-end transfer
of application data.

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Transport layer
 Enables multiple applications on the same
device to send data over the network at the
same time
 Provides “reliability” and error handling if

required. (Checks if data has arrived and re-

sends if it has not.)

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Transport Layer TCP and UDP

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Why two transport protocols?
 Some applications need their data to be
complete with no errors or gaps and they can
Reliable
accept a slight delay to ensure this.
They use TCP.
 Some applications can accept occasional

errors or gaps in the data but they cannot

accept any delay. Fast
They use UDP.

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TCP
 Sets up a connection with the receiving host
before sending data.
 Checks if segments have arrived and

resends if they were lost. (Reliability)

 Sorts segments into the right order before

reassembling the data.

 Sends at a speed to suit the receiving host.

(Flow control)
 But – this takes time and resources.

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UDP
 Connectionless. Does not contact receiving
host before sending data.
 Does not check if data arrived and does not

re-send.
 Does not sort into the right order.
 “Best effort”.
 Low overhead.
 Used for VoIP, streaming video, DNS, TFTP

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TCP and UDP headers

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Port numbers
 Used by TCP and UDP as a form of
addressing.
 Identifies the application and the

conversation.
 Common application protocols have default

port numbers e.g.

80 for HTTP 110 for POP3 mail
20/21 for FTP 23 for Telnet

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Port numbers

Client PC uses port 49152. Client PC uses port 80.

Chosen at random. Identifies HTTP as
Remembers this to identify application.
application and conversation. Requesting a web page.

Port + IP address = socket. E.g. 192.168.2.12:80

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Port numbers
 The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA)
assigns port numbers.
 Well Known Ports (0 to 1023) - Reserved for
common services and applications such as HTTP,
FTP, Telnet, POP3, SMTP.
 Registered Ports (1024 to 49151) - Assigned to user
processes or applications. Can be dynamically
selected by a client as its source port.
 Dynamic or Private or Ephemeral Ports (49152 to
65535) – Can be assigned dynamically to client
applications when initiating a connection.

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Netstat

Shows protocol, local address and port number,

foreign address and port number.
Unexpected connections may mean there is a
security problem.

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Segment and sequence
 Both TCP and UDP split application data into
suitably sized pieces for transport and re-
assemble them on arrival.
 TCP has sequence numbers in the segment

headers. It re-assembles segments in the

right order.
 UDP has no sequence numbers. It

assembles datagrams in the order they

arrive.
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Connection oriented
 TCP sets up a connection between end hosts
before sending data
 The two hosts go through a synchronization

process to ensure that both hosts are ready

and know the initial sequence numbers.
 This process is the Three-way handshake
 When data transfer is finished, the hosts send

signals to end the session.

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Three way handshake

Send Receive
SYN=1, seq = x SYN=1, seq = x

Receive Send
SYN=1, ack = x+1, seq = y SYN=1, ack = x+1, seq = y

Send
Receive
SYN=0, Seq=x+1, ack = y+1 SYN=0, Seq=x+1, ack = y+1

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Terminating connection

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Expectational acknowledgement
 TCP checks that data has been received.
 The receiving host sends an

acknowledgement giving the sequence

number of the byte that it expects next.

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Window size
 Controls how many bytes are sent before an
acknowledgement is expected.

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Lost segments
 Send bytes 1 to 2999
 Receive 1 to 2999, send ACK 3000
 Send bytes 3000 to 4999
 Receive 3000 to 3999, send ACK 4000

(bytes 4000 to 4999 were lost)

 Send bytes 4000 to 5999
 Lost segments are re-sent.
 If no ACK – send them all again

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Flow control
 The initial window size is agreed during the
three-way handshake.
 If this is too much for the receiver and it loses

data (e.g. buffer overflow) then it can

decrease the window size.
 If all is well then the receiver will increase the

window size.

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Comparison of TCP and UDP
 Both TCP and UDP use port numbers
 Both split up application data if necessary
 TCP sets up a connection
 TCP uses acknowledgements and re-sends
 TCP uses flow control
 TCP can re-assemble segments in the right

order if they arrive out of sequence

 UDP has less overhead so is faster

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 The End

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