Topic covered: OSI Model & TCP/IP Model

OSI Model
The International Standards Ogranization (ISO) first introduced the Open Systems
Interconnection (OSI) model standard for data communication in the late 1970s. Its primary
purpose is to provide a model which facilitates communication between different systems
without requiring changes to the logic of the underlying hardware and software.

OSI is not a protocol, but a model for designing network architecture in a way that is flexible,
robust, and interoperable.

The OSI model consists of seven layers, shown below:

The Seven Layer of the OSI Reference Model

Layer Function Description
7 Application Selects appropriate service for applications (user interface).
6 Presentation Provides code conversion and data reformatting.
5 Session Co-ordinates interaction between end-to-end application
processes.
4 Transport Provides end-to-end data integrity and quality of service.
3 Network Switches and routes information to the appropriate network
device.
2 Data Link Transfers units of information to other end of the physical link.
1 Physical Performs transmission/reception on the network medium.

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In more detail, the layers perform the following functions, from the highest layer to the
lowest:

Application Layer
The application layer is the layer closest to the user. It provides information services to
support the application processes which reside outside of the OSI model.

The presentation layer ...This is a layer, usually part of an operating system, that converts
incoming and outgoing data from one presentation format to another (for example, from a
text stream into a popup window with the newly arrived text). Sometimes called the syntax
layer.

Session Layer
The session layer allows two applications to synchronize and manage their data exchange. It
sets up a communication channel between two application or presentation layers for the
duration of the network transaction, manages the communication, and terminates the
connection. This is known as a session.
Transport Layer
The transport layer is the interface between the layers concerned with application issues, and
those concerned with data transport issues. It provides the session layer with reliable message
transfer facilities. It also offers transparent transfer of data between end stations, error
recovery, and flow control. You could say that it provides a transparent pipe for the
interchange of information, supporting whatever level of reliability is appropriate for the
application.

The network layer ...This layer handles the routing of the data (sending it in the right
direction to the right destination on outgoing transmissions and receiving incoming
transmissions at the packet level). The network layer does routing and forwarding.

Data link layer- The data link layer transforms the physical layer signal to a reliable link,
shielding the layers above from any actual errors (transmission then appears error free). It
breaks the stream of bits down into manageable units called frames.

Physical Layer- The physical layer coordinates the transmission of bit streams over the
physical medium. It transmits encoded signals -- either elecrical or optical -- over the
connection. It receives data from the data link layer to send over a network, and also passes
data back to the data link layer when it receives a signal.

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 TCP/IP Model
With the growth of the Internet, the Transfer Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)
has taken ground as the dominant representation for network design. OSI is actually more
robust, but TCP/IP is the primary model used in common practice today.

Instead of OSI's seven layers, TCP/IP includes only five layers this figure below depicts the
difference between the two:

The layers perform the same duties as in OSI, however, OSI's top three levels are combined
into the single Application layer in TCP/IP. It carries out all of the same functionality as
those three layers in OSI.

Layer Transformations
The layers in the two models above work together by encapsulating and decapsulating data,
and passing the results onto the next layer so that it can be transferred from a user application
down to a transmitted signal, and then transformed back again into data useable by a user
application at the other end of the connection.

In the sending computer, application data is transformed in the presentation layer from
familiar text to binary data in preparation for being converted to a transmittable signal (in
TCP/IP, this is a part of the generalized application layer). After that point each layer receives
that binary data and wraps its own header around the data, encapsulating it into a message the
corresponding layer at the receiving computer can understand. These headers contain flags
and values that those layers use for managing the transmission of the messages. For instance,
the network layer's IP datagram header contains values for source and destination IP
addresses.

As the message progresses down through the layers, each layer encapsultes the data it

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receives into the format of its own message, and sends it to the layer below. This repeats until
the message is sent to the physical layer, where it is transformed for the last time into an
electrical or optical signal, and it is sent towards its destination.

When the signal arrives at its destination, that signal is first sent up to the data link layer
where it is decoded, and then the message goes up through the layers in reverse order
compared to the sending computer. In the receiver, each layer decapsulates the messages,
meaning that it examines the values in the headers, performs any necessary actions, and then
removes the payload in the message and sends that to the layer above it. This repeats until the
message is sent to the user application on the receiving host, and at that point the message is
in a format useable to that application.

Comparison Of OSI and TCP /IP model:

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