A number of protocols can be implemented at this layer depending on whether you are establishing local area network ( LAN) or wide area network ( WAN) connections between stations.ĭata-link protocols are responsible for functions such as addressing, frame delimiting and sequencing, error detection and recovery, and flow control.įor LANs, the Project 802 standards of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) separate the data-link layer into two sublayers:
It ensures that data is transferred reliably between two stations on the network. The data-link layer establishes and maintains the data link for the network layer above it. MAC addresses are used at this layer, and bridges and network interface cards ( NICs) operate at this layer. Data-link Layer is the second layer of the 7 layers OSI model, which converts frames of data into raw bits for the physical layer and is responsible for framing, flow control, error correction, and retransmission of frames.
