OSI Reference Model

2012 Jan 19


OSI Reference Model
Layer Description
OSI
Layer
Comment TCP/IP Equivalent
Layer Description

Details
Application7 Does not include user applications, but rather provides the interface between those applications and the network's services. For example, and email client uses this layer to generate a request to the email server. Process/
Application
Presentation6 Manages the way data is encoded. Provides translation between otherwise incompatible data-encoding schemes (e.g. ASCII vs EBCDIC, different floating point representations, as well as encryption and decryption). Process/
Application
Session5 Relatively unused - many protocols bundle this functionality into their transport layers. Manages flow of communications between two computer systems. Determines whether communications can be uni- or bi-directional. It also ensures that one request is completed before a new one is accepted.
Process/
Application

Host-to-Host
Transport4 Responsible for end-to-end integrity of transmissions, including through routers (which layer 2 does not do). Also provides resequencing of packets that may arrive out of order (e.g. due to different paths) before passing contents to session layer. Host-to-Host
Network3 Establish route to be used between originating and destination computers. Optional, and only required if computer systems are separted by a router, or the application requires some service, or capability of either this or transport layer. Has no error detection/correction and relies on layer 2 for that. Routable protocols include IP, Novell IPX, and AppleTalk.
Internet

Network
Access
Data Link2 Provide successful delivery of data transmitted and received: (1) Destination node verifies integrity of received frame and send and ACK. (2) Originating node must receive an acklowledging receipt of frame. Network
Access
Physical1 Electrical and optical signalling of bits, including voltages, media type, impedance, and physical shape of connector Network
Access
Transmission
Media
0 Coaxial cable, fiber, photons, etc. - not included in usual definition of layer 1 Network
Access

TCP/IP Details

                            Web request, email, etc. packet
                           +-------------------------------+
                           |                               |
                           +-------------------------------+

                    Transport layer creates the TCP segment    \
                  +--------+-------------------------------+   |
                  | Header |                               |   |
                  +--------+-------------------------------+   |
                                                                > TCP/IP Stack
                      Network layer creates the IP datagram    |
         +--------+--------+-------------------------------+   |
         | Header | ...... |                               |   |
         +--------+--------+-------------------------------+   /

                  Data link/Physical layer creates the Ethernet frame
+--------+--------+--------+-------------------------------+---------+
| Header | ______ | ...... |                               | Trailer |
+--------+--------+--------+-------------------------------+---------+

Routers Move the packet across the network, from hop to hop
(use lower 3 layers, do not require Transport or APplication layers).

2005-2012