6THE TRANSPORT LAYER
Together with the network layer, the transport layer is the heart of the protocol hierarchy. The network layer provides end-to-end packet delivery using datagrams or virtual circuits. The transport layer builds on the network layer to provide data transport from a process on a source machine to a process on a destination machine with a desired level of reliability that is independent of the physical networks currently in use. It provides the abstractions that applications need to use the network. Without the transport layer, the whole concept of layered protocols would make little sense. In this chapter, we will study the transport layer in detail, including its services and choice of API design to tackle issues of reliability, ...
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