STUDY GUIDE FOR LEARNING MODULE IV
AN OVERVIEW OF TCP/IP, PROTOCOLS, and the OSI MODEL
Under construction!  Will be developed throughout the Summer, 1999.
INTRODUCTION

      The fourth learning module is a rather ambitious attempt to help the learner understand the complexities of the TCP/IP suite of protocols.  To say that the Internet is complex is the "mother of all understatements"!  Because it is such a complex interaction of programs, each implementing subtly different protocols, it is useful to compare the TCP/IP protocol suite to a theoretical model of communication protocols, the "OSI model."  However, discussion of this model introduces more complexity.  I think there is a balance somewhere between not mentioning the OSI model and covering it in detail.  That balance is what I try to reach with this learning model, enough OSI model to help understand TCP/IP but not so much that would divert attention away from the focus of this course, the Internet.

COMMENTS:

  1. It is risky to give analogies, but I'll run that risk because if one wants to understand the mysteries of the Internet, it is critical to understand the idea of protocols.  A data communication protocol is a set of rules, defined on paper,  that govern the transmission of data between two devices; in the case of TCP/IP the devices are on a network.  It is thought provoding to think of the "communications protocol" that you and I are using to communicate these ideas in this document.
    1. In class I ask this question and students typically say that "English is our protocol", and I respond "You are on the right track, but English really is a language, not a protocol."
    2. Then I continue, "However, English is our means of communication, and the communications themselves  implement a protocol; in fact one could say (rather loosely) that these words you are reading use English and implement the 'protocols of English'".  Then I ask, "From a simple viewpoint, what are the 'protocols of English communication'?"  You should try to answer this question, yourself, before reading the next item.
    3. After some guided discussion, the class agrees that if there were "protocols of English", they would include the _________ of English words and the __________ which governs how the words are organized into sentences.  I think this is the best analogy that can give you insight into the prococols governing communications between two network devices.  Remember, however, that the protocols (rules defined on paper) must be "implemented", either in software or hardware, like I implement the "protocols of English" in this document.