In the OSI networking model, Data Link Control (DLC) is the service provided by the

data link layer The data link layer, or layer 2, is the second layer of the seven-layer OSI model of computer networking. This layer is the protocol layer that transfers data between nodes on a network segment across the physical layer. The data link layer ...

. Network interface cards have a DLC address that identifies each card; for instance,

Ethernet Ethernet () is a family of wired computer networking technologies commonly used in local area networks (LAN), metropolitan area networks (MAN) and wide area networks (WAN). It was commercially introduced in 1980 and first standardized in 1 ...

and other types of cards have a 48-bit

MAC address A media access control address (MAC address) is a unique identifier assigned to a network interface controller (NIC) for use as a network address in communications within a network segment. This use is common in most IEEE 802 networking tec ...

built into the cards' firmware when they are manufactured. There is also a

network protocol A communication protocol is a system of rules that allows two or more entities of a communications system to transmit information via any kind of variation of a physical quantity. The protocol defines the rules, syntax, semantics and synchroniza ...

with the name Data Link Control. It is comparable to better-known protocols such as

TCP/IP The Internet protocol suite, commonly known as TCP/IP, is a framework for organizing the set of communication protocols used in the Internet and similar computer networks according to functional criteria. The foundational protocols in the suit ...

or AppleTalk. DLC is a transport protocol used by IBM SNA mainframe computers and peripherals and compatible equipment. In computer networking, it is typically used for communications between network-attached printers, computers and servers, for example by HP in their

JetDirect HP Jetdirect is the name of a technology sold by Hewlett-Packard that allows computer printers to be directly attached to a Local Area Network. The "Jetdirect" designation covers a range of models from the external 1 and 3 port parallel print ser ...

print servers. While it was widely used up until the time of

Windows 2000 Windows 2000 is a major release of the Windows NT operating system developed by Microsoft and oriented towards businesses. It was the direct successor to Windows NT 4.0, and was released to manufacturing on December 15, 1999, and was officiall ...

, versions from

Windows XP Windows XP is a major release of Microsoft's Windows NT operating system. It was released to manufacturing on August 24, 2001, and later to retail on October 25, 2001. It is a direct upgrade to its predecessors, Windows 2000 for high-end and ...

onward do not include support for DLC.

External links

Generic DLC Environment Overview

Microsoft DLC protocol in Windows 2000

Microsoft TechNet: The Data Link Control Interface
30.3.2013

References

{{reflist OSI protocols