Layer 4 Protocols

Abstract

Chapter 10 discussed the Linux IPsec subsystem and its implementation. In this chapter, I will discuss four transport layer (L4) protocols. I will start our discussion with the two most commonly used transport layer (L4) protocols, the User Datagram Protocol (UDP) and the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), which have been used for many years. Subsequently, I will discuss the newer Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) and Datagram Congestion Control Protocol (DCCP) protocols, which combine features of TCP and UDP. I will start the chapter with describing the sockets API, which is the interface between the transport layer (L4) and the userspace. I will discuss how sockets are implemented in the kernel and how data flows from the userspace to the transport layer and from the transport layer to the userspace. I will also deal with passing packets from the network layer (L3) to the transport layer (L4) when working with these protocols. I will discuss here mainly the IPv4 implementation of these four protocols, though some of the code is common to IPv4 and IPv6.