OSI Reference Model Module
Standards Overview Lesson
Welcome to the Standards Overview lesson.
Click Next to get started.
After completing this lesson, you will be able to achieve these objectives.
Networking standards are documented agreements containing technical specifications or other precise criteria
used consistently as rules, guidelines, or definitions of characteristics. Networking standards ensure that
materials, products, processes, and services are fit for their purpose.
Before there were networking standards, most manufacturers designed and developed their own systems,
hardware, and software as "purpose-built systems".
These systems were often unable to communicate or exchange data with systems built by a different
manufacturer or even another generation of the system developed by the same manufacturer!
Networking standards have been developed to ensure that diverse hardware and software in a network can
interoperate smoothly.
Networking standards accurately define the interaction and interrelation of the various components of the network
architecture and enable multi-vendor interoperability.
Networking standards contribute to making life simpler, and to increasing the reliability and effectiveness of the
goods and services we use.
Adherence to networking standards ensures full compatibility among open systems to foster healthy competition
among producers, and offer real options to users, since competition is a powerful catalyst for innovation, improved
productivity, and cost-cutting.
There are numerous agencies and organizations tasked with developing standards for all aspects of data and
networking.
Here are some examples.
You've completed the lesson. You can now achieve these objectives.
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The Seven Layer Model Lesson OSI Reference Model Module
The Seven Layer Model Lesson
Welcome to the Seven Layer Model lesson.
Click Next to get started.
After completing this lesson, you will be able to achieve these objectives.
Prior to standardization of the network industry, many systems had their own method of communication.
Networking standards had to be developed and the ISO introduced the OSI model, commonly known as the
Seven Layer model.
The Seven Layer model offers many benefits. Here are a few.
The Seven Layer model is a conceptual model used to describe standards of communication functions within a
networking system.
The upper three layers, the application layers, focus on the programmatic functions of network systems.
The lower four layers, the data flow layers, focus on the networking or data flow of networks systems.
The transport layer, or Layer 4, is the primary interface between the programmer and the networker.
Here are the upper layers of the Seven Layer model.
Here are the data flow layers of the Seven Layer model.
Host-to-host communication, often referred to as peer-to-peer communication, sends data from a host to the
corresponding layer on another host or horizontal communication.
Because connectivity occurs at the physical layer, the data must be programmatically moved down the stack
layers, sent across the physical layer, and sent up the stack layers on the receiving device.
This is called vertical communication, and is often referred to as encapsulation down the layers and decapsulation
up the layers or stack.
The upper layer, or Applications layers, of the Seven Layer model, generate data. The generated data is handed
down to the Transport layer, where it is divided and encapsulated into segments.
Segments are passed down to the Network layer, where they are encapsulated into packets that are addressed
with the logical address of the destination.
Packets are then passed down to the Data Link layer, where they are encapsulated in frames that are addressed
with the physical address of the next device in the network path.
Finally, the frames are converted to bits, which are most commonly represented as either ones or zeroes, and
sent across the media.
On the receiving device, the opposite occurs.
At the Physical layer, the bits are collected into frames, and the frames are passed up to the Data Link layer.
The packets are removed from the frames, and are then passed up to the Network layer.
From the Network layer, the segments are handed up to the correct Transport layer.
Finally, the Transport layer hands the data up to the correct application.
The TCP/IP model is the most common protocol stack. It is what operates on the internet.
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OSI Reference Model Module The Seven Layer Model Lesson
Now, take a moment to compare the TCP/IP protocol model against the OSI model.
Application layer
The OSI model Layers 5 through 7 map to a single TCP/IP Application layer. This Application layer is often
referred to as Layers 5 through 7.
Transport layer
The OSI model Layer 4 maps to the TCP/IP Transport layer, which is often referred to as Layer 4.
Internet layer
The OSI model Layer 3, or the Network layer, maps to the TCP/IP Internet layer. This is why the world wide web is
called the "internet", because it operates at the Internet layer in the TCP/IP model. Note that the Internet layer and
its addressing is often referred to as Layer 3 IP addressing, in order to differentiate it from Layer 2 MAC
addressing.
Network layer
The OSI model Layers 1 and 2 map to a single TCP/IP Network Access layer or Link layer.
Click Next to continue.
As the data moves down the stack, encapsulation occurs, and each layer defines a PDU.
The application data produced by the upper layers can be very large, so the Transport layer often needs to break
up the data into smaller segments, so that it will fit into individual packets.
The Transport layer then prepends a transport header, which includes an application or port number.
When the segment is passed down to the Network layer, the packet header is prepended with the logical address
of the destination.
The packet is sent down the Data Link layer. The Data Link layer might prepend an LLC header to provide for
acknowledged delivery of the frame, if needed, but will prepend a MAC header and an FCS trailer to the frame.
The frame is sent over the media as bits.
Click each button to explore an example of data encapsulation.
Example Part 1
The user types an email message, and the email application generates data.
Example Part 2
The data is passed down to the Transport layer, where the segment/TCP header is prepended.
Example Part 3
The segment is passed down to the Network layer, where the network/IP header is prepended to the packet.
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The Seven Layer Model Lesson OSI Reference Model Module
Example Part 4
The packet is passed down to the Data Link layer, and is encapsulated into a frame with a frame header and a
frame trailer.
Example Part 5
The frame header and frame trailer become ones and zeros, or bits, at the Physical layer, and the bits are sent
over the media.
What happens when the data is decapsulated? Click the buttons from bottom to top, to explore a data
decapsulation example.
Example Part 6
The MAC header and FCS trailer are verified and removed. If there is an LLC, it is inspected and removed.
Example Part 7
The packet is then passed up to the appropriate IP layer, either IPv4 or IPv6, where the IP header is inspected and
removed.
Example Part 8
The segment is then passed up to the Transport layer, where the TCP header is used to verify flow control,
perform error checking sequencing, and evaluate the segment for possible retransmission.
Example Part 9
The data is then sent up to the correct application, resulting in an email.
You've completed the lesson. You can now achieve these objectives.
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