TCP/IP - a protocol independent of the LAN technology.
  Current standard coming out of Unix systems.

  Alternative protocols such as Novell's SPX/IPX lost favor.

  TCP - Transmission Control Protocol: 

    Transport layer    

    establishes a virtual connection between source and destination 
      applications on the "Internet".
   
    transfers a complete file between your PC and turing.cs.niu.edu,
      the file is broken standard size packets, addressed and numbered.

      TCP is responsible for breaking up, sequencing, and reassembling file. 

    directs packets to specific service or client application on a node
      via port IDs.

  IP - Internet protocol: specifies the configuration of individual 

    Internent/Network layer.

    packets of data and successful delivery of such between hops of
    the "Internet".  
  
    IP makes sure each packet generated by TCP is moved along the 
      "Internet" without corruption. 
 
    Uniquely identifies (IP@) nodes across the 'Internet'.


  IPX/SPX - inter-network packet exchange, sequenced packet exchange was
    a Novell protocol similar to TCP/IP but followed the ISO/OSI protocol
    more closely.  

    Although, IPX/SPX superior on a LAN, it did not scale well on very large 
    systems (Internet).

    TCP/IP superior between LANs and won out as defacto protocol.

    IPX - Internet packet exchange
    SPX - sequenced packet exchange.

  Quic - an alternative TCP layer protocol.

  RINA - recursive internetwork architecture, alternative to TCP/IP


Internet Layer

Provides :

  Addressing independent of hardware implementation.

  Routing through hops.

  Packetizing protocols.

  Node to node delivery of individual packets.

  Does NOT deal with successful end to end delivery of a transaction.
    Thus is termed 'unreliable'. 
  

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