OSI Reference Model for Not Yet Techies

"Computer Careers: Working With This Basic Generic Description of the 7 Layers of Networks"

by Richard Stooker, President Info Ring Press and author of Secrets of Changing to a Computer Career

OSI Reference Model is a theoretical but useful description of sending data from one point to another through a network. It does not fit all networks (such as TCP/IP) but the OSI Reference Model still helps us talk in common terms about how networks work. Nearly all manufacturers of network-related products describe how and where their hardware and software work in terms of this standard architecture.

OSI Reference Model was the result of a collaborative effort between most major manufacturers and was first issued in 1978. It was revised in 1984. It was adopted as an official standard by the International Organization of Standards (ISO) and is Recommendation X.200 of the ITU-TS.

To simplify the discussion of networks and the functions of various areas of them, the OSI Reference Model divided them into 7 separate layers

This also makes the process of troubleshooting problems easier. It stands for Open Systems Interconnection and describes the foundation of how networks work.

The seven OSI Reference Model layers are:

7. Application

6. Presentation

5. Session

4. Transport

3. Network

2. Data Link

1. Physical

The top four OSI Reference Model layers are used when a packet passes from or to the network user. The lower three layers are used when a message passes through the host computer.

Next: Packet switching

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