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Transport Protocols
In Chapter 2, “Networking Standards,” you learned that designing network protocols usually is done in pieces, with each piece solving a small part of the overall problem. By convention, these protocols are regarded as layers of an overall set of protocols, called a protocol suite or a protocol stack.

This chapter examines a variety of actual protocols and protocol suites, such as TCP/IP, IPX/SPX, NetBEUI, AppleTalk, and DLC.

Chapter 5 targets the following objective in the Planning section of the Networking Essentials exam:
As Chapter 2 describes, the OSI reference model is a standard describing the activities at each level of a protocol stack. The OSI reference model is useful as a conceptual tool for understanding protocol layering. Although some protocols have been designed in strict conformance with the OSI reference model, full OSI compliance hasn’t become popular. The main influence of the OSI reference model is as a conceptual framework for understanding network communication and comparing various types of protocols.

Protocols are real implementations of the conceptual rules defined in the OSI reference model. Some protocols and protocol suites existed before the OSI reference model was published and can be matched only loosely to the seven-layer model.

Further Information