Osi Model

UNDERSTANDING THE OSI MODEL AND THE RELATIONSHIP WITH TCP/IP

The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a reference tool for understanding data

communications between any two networked systems. It divides the communications processes into

seven layers. Each layer both performs specific functions to support the layers above it and offers

services to the layers below it. The three lowest layers focus on passing traffic through the network to

an end system. The top four layers come into play in the end system to complete the process.

This presentation will provide you with an understanding of each of the seven layers, including their

functions and their relationships to each other. This will provide you with an overview of the network

process, which can then act as a framework for understanding the details of computer networking. Also

this paper will explain how the 802 specifications expanded the OSI reference model by dividing the

data link layer into two layers.

Finally, this paper will draw comparisons between the theoretical OSI model and the functional

TCP/IP model. Although TCP/IP has been used for network communications before the adoption of the

OSI model, it supports the same functions and features in a differently layered arrangement.

The history of the development of the OSI model is, for some reason, a little-known story. Much of

the work on the design of OSI was actually done by a group at Honeywell Information Systems, headed

by Mike Canepa, with Charlie Bachman as the principal technical member. This group was chartered,

within Honeywell, with advanced product planning and with the design and development of prototype

systems.

In the early and middle '70s, the interest of Canepa's group was pr...

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...mputer systems

communicate with one another in the world wide web or in a corporate setting.

Personally, I have found that the OSI model relates to just about everything that I have done as an

IT consultant. During computer migrations and configuring desktops to be networked on the corporate

land, enables the workstations to communicate via the OSI model and the TCP/IP model. Having to

map network drives enables users to have extra disk space other than just their hard drive to store data.

When a user retrieves data from a network drive, the total process is through the seven layers of the

OSI model. Configuring email accounts enables users to communicate via email transactions, a process

that uses the OSI model and the TCP/IP model.

References

1. Network Plus Guide to Networks (2002)

2. Ethernet Tutorial (2001)

3. Microsoft's guide to the OSI model (2004)