312-50V13 · Question #365
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
The correct answer is B. Packet Sniffers operate on Layer 2 of the OSI model.. Packet sniffers primarily operate at Layer 2 of the OSI model by capturing raw data frames as they traverse the network medium.
Question
Options
- APacket Sniffers operate on the Layer 1 of the OSI model.
- BPacket Sniffers operate on Layer 2 of the OSI model.
- CPacket Sniffers operate on both Layer 2 & Layer 3 of the OSI model.
- DPacket Sniffers operate on Layer 3 of the OSI model.
How the community answered
(66 responses)- A5% (3)
- B92% (61)
- C2% (1)
- D2% (1)
Why each option
Packet sniffers primarily operate at Layer 2 of the OSI model by capturing raw data frames as they traverse the network medium.
Packet sniffers deal with logical data units (frames) and addressing, which are higher-level functions than the physical signaling and transmission at Layer 1.
Packet sniffers fundamentally capture frames from the network interface, which involves processing MAC addresses and frame headers, placing their primary operation at the Data Link Layer (Layer 2) of the OSI model.
While packet sniffers can analyze and dissect information from Layer 3 (IP) and above, their core function of capturing raw network data, including hardware addresses, occurs at Layer 2.
Operating exclusively at Layer 3 (Network Layer) would mean only processing IP packets; however, sniffers capture entire frames, including Layer 2 information, to extract higher-layer data.
Concept tested: OSI model layers for packet capture
Source: https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/support/docs/lan-switching/ethernet/100799-79.html
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