HP-UX 11i System Administration Handbook and Toolkit, Second Edition

An Overview of IEEE802.3, TCP/IP

In order to understand how the networking on your UNIX system works, you first need to understand the components of your network that exist on your UNIX system. Seven layers of network functionality exist on your UNIX system, as shown in Figure 12-1. I cover the bottom four layers at a cursory level so that you can see how each plays a part in the operation of your network and, therefore, be more informed when you configure and troubleshoot networking on your UNIX system. The top layers are the ones that most UNIX system administrators spend time working with because those layers are closest to the functionality to which you can relate. The bottom layers are, however, also important to understand at some level, ...