Network reference models

Networking models and their importance

Network models define a set of network layers and how they interact. There are several

different network models depending on what organization or company started them. The most

important two are:

 The TCP/IP Model - This model is sometimes called the DOD model since it was

designed for the department of defense It is also called the internet model because

TCP/IP is the protocol used on the internet.

 OSI Network Model - The International Standards Organization (ISO) has defined a

standard called the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model. This is a

seven layer architecture listed in the next section.

Importance networking models

Network model is concerned with how different systems communicate over networks

It defines network activities into rough categories:

 Ways that applications talk to their peer applications, such as electronic mail message

interchange defined by application protocols such as the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol(SMTP)
  Methods for moving bytes from network endpoint to network endpoint, using end-to-end

protocols such as the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

 Techniques for moving (i.e., routing) packets from intermediate point (i.e., routers inside the

network "cloud"

 Mechanisms for sharing a network medium, and for connecting individual device-level network

interfaces to physical media.

T3.5) OSI model and different layers

Importance and illustration of ISO Model

International Standards Organization/Open System Interconnection (ISO/OSI) model is a

standard reference model for communication between two end users in a network. It can be

helpful to have a basic understanding of how your network works in order to troubleshoot future

problems.

It would be difficult to overstate the importance of the OSI model. Virtually all networking

vendors and users understand how important it is that network computing products adhere to

and fully support the networking standards this model has generated. When a vendor‘s products

adhere to the standards the ISO model has generated, connecting those products to other

vendors‘ products is relatively simple. Conversely, the further a vendor departs from those

standards, the more difficult it becomes to connect that vendor‘s products to those of other

vendors.
In addition, if a vendor were to depart from the communication standards the model has

engendered, software development efforts would be very difficult because the vendor would

have to build every part of all necessary software, rather than being able to build on the

existing work of other vendors.

The first two problems give rise to a third significant problem for vendors: a vendor‘s products

become less marketable as they become more difficult to connect with other vendors‘

products.

Thus, the ISO model defines a networking framework for implementing protocols according to

seven layers. Each layer is functionally independent of the others, but provides services to the

layer above it and receives services from the layer below it.

The layers are in two groups. The upper four layers are used whenever a message passes

from or to a user. The lower three layers are used when any message passes through the host

computer. Messages intended for this computer pass to the upper layers. Messages destined for

some other host are not passed up to the upper layers but are forwarded to another host.
The seven ISO layers are explained in more detail below:

Layer 7— The application layer: This is the layer at which communication partners are

identified, quality of service is identified, user authentication and privacy are considered, and any

constraints on data syntax are identified. (This layer is not the application itself, although some

applications may perform application layer functions). It represents the services that directly

support applications such as software for file transfers, database access, email, and network

games.

Layer 6—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). This layer also manages security

issues by providing services such as data encryption and compression. It‘s sometimes called the

syntax layer.

Layer 5—The session layer: This layer allows applications on different computers to establish,
use, and end a session/connection. This layer establishes dialog control between the two

computers in a session, regulating which side transmits, and when and how long it transmits.

Layer 4—The transport layer: This layer handles error recognition and recovery, manages

the end-to-end control (for example, determining whether all packets have arrived) and error-

checking. It ensures complete data transfer.

Layer 3—The network layer: This layer handles the routing of the data, addresses messages and

translates logical addresses and names into physical addresses. It also determines the route from

the source to the destination computer and manages traffic problems (flow control), such as

switching, routing, and controlling the congestion of data packets.

Layer 2—The data-link layer: This layer package raw bit from the Physical layer into frames

(logical, structures packets for data). It is responsible for transferring frames from one

computer
to another, without errors. After sending a frame, it waits for an acknowledgment from the

receiving computer.

Layer 1—The physical layer: This layer transmits bits from one computer to another and

regulates the transmission of a stream of bits over a physical medium. This layer defines how the

cable is attached to the network adapter and what transmission technique is used to send data

over the cable.

Every time a new level of abstraction for a layer is necessary; every layer has well

defined functions, the functions of each layer must be chosen in the objective of the

international standardization of protocols. Boundaries between layers must be chosen

so as to minimize the flows of data through interfaces.

The low layers (1, 2, 3 and 4) are necessary to the routing of information between the

two concerned ends and depend on the physical medium. The higher layers (5, 6 and 7)

are responsible for the data processing relative to the management of exchanges between

information processing systems. In addition, layers 1 to 3 intervene between close

machines, but not between ending machines that can be separated by several routers. On

the contrary, layers 4 to 7 intervene only between distant hosts.

TCP/IP and OSI Network Model Comparisons

The OSI model and the TCP/IP models were both created independently. The TCP/IP

network model represents reality in the world, whereas the OSI mode represents an

ideal. With that said, the TCP/IP network model matches the standard layered network

model as it should.

The following figure shows the relationship between the OSI model and the TCP/IP model.
The TCP/IP network model has four basic layers:

 Network interface (layer 1): Deals with all physical components of

network connectivity between the network and the IP protocol

 Internet (layer 2): Contains all functionality that manages the movement

of data between two network devices over a routed network

 Host-to-host (layer 3): Manages the flow of traffic between two hosts or

devices, ensuring that data arrives at the application on the host for which

it is targeted

 Application (layer 4): Acts as final endpoints at either end of a communication

session between two network hosts