Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model is a framework that standardizes the functions of a communication system into distinct layers, enabling interoperability among different systems regardless of their internal technology. Its purpose is to facilitate the seamless interaction of diverse communication systems through standardized protocols. The OSI model divides communication processes into seven layers, each serving the layer above it while being supported by the layer below. For instance, a layer responsible for ensuring error-free data transmission provides the necessary path for higher-layer applications and relies on the lower layer to handle packet transmission. Within the model, layers at the same level are conceptually linked by horizontal connections.
Layer 1: Physical Layer
This is concerned with the nature of the physical media (metal or optical cable, free-space microwave, etc.) used to send signals, the nature of the signals themselves, and so on.
A major issue is the form of the medium, both in terms of the materials it uses and its topology. A basic wired Ethernet, for example, consists of cable conducting electrical signals; the connections could also be wireless. More complicated networks, including Ethernets, may consist of more than one cable, with all of them connected via a hub. The latter has become common even at the household level.
Layer 2: Data Link Layer
The data link layer provides node-to-node data transfer—a link between two directly connected nodes. It detects and possibly corrects errors that may occur in the physical layer. It defines the protocol to establish and terminate a connection between two physically connected devices. It also defines the protocol for flow control between them.
Layer 3: Network Layer
The network layer provides the functional and procedural means of transferring variable length data sequences (called packets) from one node to another connected in “different networks”. A network is a medium to which many nodes can be connected, on which every node has an address and which permits nodes connected to it to transfer messages to other nodes connected to it by merely providing the content of a message and the address of the destination node and letting the network find the way to deliver the message to the destination node, possibly routing it through intermediate nodes. If the message is too large to be transmitted from one node to another on the data link layer between those nodes, the network may implement message delivery by splitting the message into several fragments at one node, sending the fragments independently, and reassembling the fragments at another node. It may, but does not need to, report delivery errors.
Message delivery at the network layer is not necessarily guaranteed to be reliable; a network layer protocol may provide reliable message delivery, but it need not do so.
Layer 4: Transport Layer
The transport layer provides the functional and procedural means of transferring variable-length data sequences from a source to a destination host, while maintaining the quality of service functions.
The transport layer controls the reliability of a given link through flow control, segmentation/desegmentation, and error control. Some protocols are state- and connection-oriented. This means that the transport layer can keep track of the segments and re-transmit those that fail delivery. The transport layer also provides the acknowledgement of the successful data transmission and sends the next data if no errors occurred. The transport layer creates segments out of the message received from the application layer. Segmentation is the process of dividing a long message into smaller messages.
Layer 5: Session Layer
The session layer controls the dialogues (connections) between computers. It establishes, manages and terminates the connections between the local and remote application. It provides for full-duplex, half-duplex, or simplex operation, and establishes procedures for checkpointing, suspending, restarting, and terminating a session. In the OSI model, this layer is responsible for gracefully closing a session, which is handled in the Transmission Control Protocol at the transport layer in the Internet Protocol Suite. This layer is also responsible for session checkpointing and recovery, which is not usually used in the Internet Protocol Suite. The session layer is commonly implemented explicitly in application environments that use remote procedure calls.
Layer 6: Presentation Layer
The presentation layer establishes context between application-layer entities, in which the application-layer entities may use different syntax and semantics if the presentation service provides a mapping between them. If a mapping is available, presentation protocol data units are encapsulated into session protocol data units and passed down the protocol stack.
This layer provides independence from data representation by translating between application and network formats. The presentation layer transforms data into the form that the application accepts. This layer formats data to be sent across a network. It is sometimes called the syntax layer. The presentation layer can include compression functions. The Presentation Layer negotiates the Transfer Syntax.
Layer 7: Application Layer
The application layer is the OSI layer closest to the end user, which means both the OSI application layer and the user interact directly with the software application. This layer interacts with software applications that implement a communicating component. Such application programs fall outside the scope of the OSI model. Application-layer functions typically include identifying communication partners, determining resource availability, and synchronizing communication. When identifying communication partners, the application layer determines the identity and availability of communication partners for an application with data to transmit. The most important distinction in the application layer is the distinction between the application-entity and the application. For example, a reservation website might have two application-entities: one using HTTP to communicate with its users, and one for a remote database protocol to record reservations. Neither of these protocols have anything to do with reservations. That logic is in the application itself. The application layer per has no means to determine the availability of resources in the network.
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