IPv4 vs.

IPv6: Much of the information within this tool is intended for use with IP version 4 (IPv4), the current IP standard.
IP version 6 (IPv6) is on the horizon, however, and you should understand the differences between it and IPv4. To help you
do so, we've included a section comparing IPv6 and IPv4 on page 4.

TCP/IP DEFINED

Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is an industry standard suite of protocols that computers use to find, access, and
communicate with each other over a transmission medium. A protocol is a set of standards and rules that need to be followed. In the case of
networking computers, a protocol is the set of standards and rules that a machine's hardware and software must follow in order to be recognized
and understood by other computers. The protocol suite is implemented via a software package most commonly known as the TCP/IP stack. There
are four general layers of the TCP/IP stack:
Application layer Internet layer Transport layer Physical or Network Interface layer

The TCP/IP reference model and OSI reference model

The Open Systems Interconnected reference model (OSI/RM) is the standard that all other protocols follow. The OSI/RM provides a framework that
connects heterogeneous systems using a common protocol. It also gives developers universal concepts so they can develop and perfect protocols.
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Each layer of the TCP/IP reference model corresponds to a part of the OSI model.

OSI TCP/IP
Sender Reference Reference Recipient
Model Model

Application layer: Contains network applications

and services that the user interfaces with in order to
Application Windows Sockets NetBIOS NetBIOS
use network communication. Contains utilities for things
Presentation over like file and print services and name resolution (for
Session TCP/IP example, NetBIOS, an application programming inter-
face [API] that supports a desktop operating environ-
ment). Contains utilities that work with TCP/IP to pro-
TDI Interface vide connectivity, file transfer capabilities, utilities for
remote administration, and Internet utilities (for exam-
ple Ping, TRACERT, FTP, and Telnet).
TCP
Connection-oriented UDP Transport layer: Contains the Transmission
protocol that establishes a con- Connectionless protocol that Control Protocol (TCP) and the User Datagram
Transport
nection with another machine does not establish a persistent Protocol (UDP). Used for network connectivity by
and maintains that connection for applications. Ensures that data is received by the right
connection with the target
machine and that the right application is running on
the duration of data transmission. machine. Faster but less
that machine. Ensures the integrity and completeness
More reliable and more widely reliable than TCP. of transmitted data via error checking, flow control,
used but slower than UDP. and verification.

Internet layer: Contains Internet Protocol (IP),

DATA

DATA
Address Resolution Protocol (ARP), Internet Control
ICMP ARP Message Protocol (ICMP), Reverse Address
IGMP IP
Network RARP Resolution Protocol (RARP), and Internet Group
Management Protocol (IGMP). IP addressing and
address resolution occur within the Internet layer. ARP
resolves logical IP addresses into physical equivalent
addresses. ICMP is mostly used by routers to send
NDIS Interface information back to a source computer about a trans-
mission that computer is trying to make. When you
use the Ping utility, the information you receive was
gathered using ICMP.

NIC Drivers Network Interface layer: Contains a collection

of services and specifications that provide and man-
Data Link age access to the network hardware. Its responsibili-
Ethernet PPP ties include:
Physical
FDDI Frame Relay • Interfacing with the computer's network hardware.
• Checking for errors in incoming packets of data.
• Tagging outgoing packets with error-checking
Network Adapters information.
• Acknowledging the receipt of a packet.
• Resending that packet if no acknowledgment is
returned by the recipient.

The layers of the OSI Model and how they map to different areas of Microsoft’s TCP/IP, and the four layers of the
TCP/IP Reference Model and how they map to Microsoft’s TCP/IP

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