Provides properly sequenced and error free transmission. Concerned with message priority, status, and data congestion. Routes messages using the best path available. If you hear someone talking about the MAC address of a network card, they are referring to the hardware address of the card. The 802.3, 4, 5, and 12 standards apply to this layer. IEEE divided this layer into the two following sublayers. Also controls the timing of the network transmission. Puts data in frames and ensures error free transmission. Concerned with the connection between the computer and the network. The layers are arranged here from the lower levels starting with the physical (hardware) to the higher levels.
This concept was developed to accommodate changes in technology. Each layer is considered to be responsible for a different part of the communications. This is a seven layer architecture listed below. The International Standards Organization (ISO) has defined a standard called the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model.
