Layer 4 and Application-Layer Switching
Figure 18.8 shows the layered protocol model for TCP/IP. Transport layer (Layer 4) and application layer switching currently are applied to TCP/IP traffic.
Figure 18.8. TCP/IP Protocol layers.
Layer 3, the network layer, is supposed to include all of the functions needed to get data from its source to its destination. However, some of today's switches peek into the Layer 4 transport-layer header or even into application data during the routing process. The information that a switch gets from the upper layers is used in different ways by each vendor. All of the procedures are proprietary.
IP carries ...
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