Cabletron Systems SmartSwitch manual Chapter IP Routing Configuration Guide, IP Routing Overview

Chapter 6

IP Routing

Configuration

Guide

This chapter describes how to configure IP interfaces and general non-protocol-specific routing parameters.

IP Routing Overview

Internet Protocol (IP) is a packet-based protocol used to exchange data over computer networks. IP handles addressing, routing, fragmentation, reassembly, and protocol demultiplexing. In addition, IP specifies how hosts and routers should process packets, handle errors and discard packets. IP forms the foundation upon which transport layer protocols, such as TCP or UDP, interoperate over a routed network.

The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is built upon the IP layer. TCP is a connection- oriented protocol that specifies the data format, buffering and acknowledgments used in the transfer of data. TCP is a full-duplex connection which also specifies the procedures that the computers use to ensure that the data arrives correctly.

The User Datagram Protocol (UDP) provides the primary mechanism that applications use to send datagrams to other application programs. UDP is a connectionless protocol that does not guarantee delivery of datagrams between applications. Applications which use UDP are responsible for ensuring successful data transfer by employing error handling, retransmission and sequencing techniques.

TCP and UDP also specify “ports,” which identify the application which is using TCP/UDP. For example, a web server would typically use TCP/UDP port 80, which specifies HTTP-type traffic.

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