Relation To OSI Model
The internet layer of the TCP/IP model is often compared directly with the network layer (layer 3) in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) protocol stack. Although they have some overlap, these layering models represent different classification methods. In particular, the allowed characteristics of protocols (e.g., whether they are connection-oriented or connection-less) placed in these layers are different between the models. OSI's network layer is a "catch-all" layer for all protocols that facilitate network functionality. The internet layer, on the other hand, is specifically a suite of protocols that facilitate internetworking using the Internet Protocol.
Because of this, the OSI network layer is often described to include protocols such as the Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) which was placed in link layer by the original TCP/IP architects (RFC 1122, RFC 1123).
Strict comparison between the TCP/IP model and the OSI model should be avoided. Layering in TCP/IP is not a principal design criterion and is in general considered to be harmful (RFC 3439, section 3: "Layering Considered Harmful").
Despite clear primary references (see References below) and normative standards documents, the internet layer is still sometimes improperly called network layer, in analogy to the OSI model.
Read more about this topic: Internet Layer
Famous quotes containing the words relation to, relation and/or model:
“Hesitation increases in relation to risk in equal proportion to age.”
—Ernest Hemingway (1899–1961)
“Science is the language of the temporal world; love is that of the spiritual world. Man, indeed, describes more than he explains; while the angelic spirit sees and understands. Science saddens man; love enraptures the angel; science is still seeking, love has found. Man judges of nature in relation to itself; the angelic spirit judges of it in relation to heaven. In short to the spirits everything speaks.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“Socrates, who was a perfect model in all great qualities, ... hit on a body and face so ugly and so incongruous with the beauty of his soul, he who was so madly in love with beauty.”
—Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)