OSI MODEL

o OSI stands for Open System Interconnection is a reference

model that describes how information from a software application in
one computer moves through a physical medium to the software
application in another computer.
o OSI consists of seven layers, and each layer performs a particular
network function.

Characteristics of OSI Model:

o The OSI model is divided into two layers: upper layers and lower
layers.
o The upper layer of the OSI model mainly deals with the application
related issues, and they are implemented only in the software. The
application layer is closest to the end user. Both the end user and
the application layer interact with the software applications.
o physical layer is the lowest layer of the OSI model and is closest to
the physical medium. The physical layer is mainly responsible for
placing the information on the physical medium.

7 Layers of OSI Model

There are the seven OSI layers. Each layer has different functions. A list of
seven layers are given below:

1. Physical Layer
 2. Data-Link Layer
3. Network Layer
4. Transport Layer
5. Session Layer
6. Presentation Layer
7. Application Layer

1) Physical layer

o The main functionality of the physical layer is to transmit the

individual bits from one node to another node.
o It is the lowest layer of the OSI model.
o It establishes, maintains and deactivates the physical connection.
o It specifies the mechanical, electrical and procedural network
interface specifications.

Functions of a Physical layer:

 o Line Configuration: It defines the way how two or more devices
can be connected physically.
o Data Transmission: It defines the transmission mode whether it is
simplex, half-duplex or full-duplex mode between the two devices
on the network.
o Topology: It defines the way how network devices are arranged.
o Signals: It determines the type of the signal used for transmitting
the information.

2) Data-Link Layer

o This layer is responsible for the error-free transfer of data frames.

o It defines the format of the data on the network.
o It provides a reliable and efficient communication between two or
more devices.
o It is mainly responsible for the unique identification of each device
that resides on a local network.
o It contains two sub-layers:
o Logical Link Control Layer
o It is responsible for transferring the packets to the
Network layer of the receiver that is receiving.
o It identifies the address of the network layer protocol
from the header.
o It also provides flow control.
o Media Access Control Layer
 o A Media access control layer is a link between the
Logical Link Control layer and the network's physical
layer.
o It is used for transferring the packets over the network.

Functions of the Data-link layer

o Framing: The data link layer translates the physical's raw bit
stream into packets known as Frames. The Data link layer adds the
header and trailer to the frame. The header which is added to the
frame contains the hardware destination and source address.

o Physical Addressing: The Data link layer adds a header to the

frame that contains a destination address. The frame is transmitted
to the destination address mentioned in the header.
o Flow Control: Flow control is the main functionality of the Data-link
layer. It is the technique through which the constant data rate is
maintained on both the sides so that no data get corrupted.
o Error Control: . If any error seems to occurr, then the receiver
sends the acknowledgment for the retransmission of the corrupted
frames.
o Access Control: When two or more devices are connected to the
same communication channel, then the data link layer protocols are
used to determine which device has control over the link at a given
time.

3) Network Layer
 o It is a layer 3 that manages device addressing, tracks the location of
devices on the network.
o It determines the best path to move data from source to the
destination based on the network conditions, the priority of service,
and other factors.
o The Data link layer is responsible for routing and forwarding the
packets.
o Routers are the layer 3 devices, they are specified in this layer and
used to provide the routing services within an internetwork.
o The protocols used to route the network traffic are known as
Network layer protocols. Examples of protocols are IP and Ipv6.

Functions of Network Layer:

o Internetworking: An internetworking is the main responsibility of

the network layer. It provides a logical connection between different
devices.
o Addressing: A Network layer adds the source and destination
address to the header of the frame. Addressing is used to identify
the device on the internet.
o Routing: Routing is the major component of the network layer, and
it determines the best optimal path out of the multiple paths from
source to the destination.
o Packetizing: A Network Layer receives the packets from the upper
layer and converts them into packets. This process is known as
Packetizing. It is achieved by internet protocol (IP).

4) Transport Layer
 o The Transport layer is a Layer 4 ensures that messages are
transmitted in the order in which they are sent and there is no
duplication of data.
o The main responsibility of the transport layer is to transfer the data
completely.
o It receives the data from the upper layer and converts them into
smaller units known as segments.
o This layer can be termed as an end-to-end layer as it provides a
point-to-point connection between source and destination to deliver
the data reliably.

The two protocols used in this layer are:

o Transmission Control Protocol

o It is a standard protocol that allows the systems to
communicate over the internet.
o It establishes and maintains a connection between hosts.
o When data is sent over the TCP connection, then the TCP
protocol divides the data into smaller units known as
segments. Each segment travels over the internet using
multiple routes, and they arrive in different orders at the
destination. The transmission control protocol reorders the
packets in the correct order at the receiving end.
o User Datagram Protocol
o User Datagram Protocol is a transport layer protocol.
o It is an unreliable transport protocol as in this case receiver
does not send any acknowledgment when the packet is
 received, the sender does not wait for any acknowledgment.
Therefore, this makes a protocol unreliable.

Functions of Transport Layer:

o Service-point addressing: The transport layer adds the header

that contains the address known as a service-point address or port
address. The responsibility of the network layer is to transmit the
data from one computer to another computer and the responsibility
of the transport layer is to transmit the message to the correct
process.
o Segmentation and reassembly: When the transport layer
receives the message from the upper layer, it divides the message
into multiple segments, and each segment is assigned with a
sequence number that uniquely identifies each segment.
o Connection control: Transport layer provides two services
Connection-oriented service and connectionless service. A
connectionless service treats each segment as an individual packet,
and they all travel in different routes to reach the destination. A
connection-oriented service makes a connection with the transport
layer at the destination machine before delivering the packets. In
connection-oriented service, all the packets travel in the single
route.
o Flow control: The transport layer also responsible for flow control
but it is performed end-to-end rather than across a single link.
o Error control: The transport layer is also responsible for Error
control. Error control is performed end-to-end rather than across the
single link. The sender transport layer ensures that message reach
at the destination without any error.

5) Session Layer
 o It is a layer 3 in the OSI model.
o The Session layer is used to establish, maintain and synchronizes
the interaction between communicating devices.

Functions of Session layer:

Dialog control: Session layer acts as a dialog controller that creates a

dialog between two processes or we can say that it allows the
communication between two processes which can be either half-duplex or
full-duplex.

Synchronization: Session layer adds some checkpoints when

transmitting the data in a sequence. If some error occurs in the middle of
the transmission of data, then the transmission will take place again from
the checkpoint. This process is known as Synchronization and recovery.

6) Presentation Layer

o A Presentation layer is mainly concerned with the syntax and

semantics of the information exchanged between the two systems.
o It acts as a data translator for a network.
o This layer is a part of the operating system that converts the data
from one presentation format to another format.
 o The Presentation layer is also known as the syntax layer.

Functions of Presentation layer:

o Translation: It converts the data from sender-dependent format

into a common format and changes the common format into
receiver-dependent format at the receiving end.
o Encryption: Encryption is needed to maintain privacy. Encryption is
a process of converting the sender-transmitted information into
another form and sends the resulting message over the network.
o Compression: Data compression is a process of compressing the
data, i.e., it reduces the number of bits to be transmitted. Data
compression is very important in multimedia such as text, audio,
video.

7) Application Layer

o An application layer serves as a window for users and application

processes to access network service.
o It handles issues such as network transparency, resource allocation,
etc.
o An application layer is not an application, but it performs the
application layer functions.
o This layer provides the network services to the end-users.

Functions of Application layer:

o File transfer, access, and management (FTAM): An application

layer allows a user to access the files in a remote computer, to
 retrieve the files from a computer and to manage the files in a
remote computer.
o Mail services: An application layer provides the facility for email
forwarding and storage.
o Directory services: An application provides the distributed database
sources and is used to provide that global information about various
objects.

TCP/IP model
o The TCP/IP model was developed prior to the OSI model.
o The TCP/IP model is not exactly similar to the OSI model.
o The TCP/IP model consists of five layers: the application layer, transport
layer, network layer, data link layer and physical layer.
o The first four layers provide physical standards, network interface,
internetworking, and transport functions that correspond to the first four
layers of the OSI model and these four layers are represented in TCP/IP
model by a single layer called the application layer.
o TCP/IP is a hierarchical protocol made up of interactive modules, and each
of them provides specific functionality.

Here, hierarchical means that each upper-layer protocol is supported by

two or more lower-level protocols.

Functions of TCP/IP layers:

Network Access Layer

o A network layer is the lowest layer of the TCP/IP model.

o A network layer is the combination of the Physical layer and Data Link
layer defined in the OSI reference model.
o It defines how the data should be sent physically through the network.
o This layer is mainly responsible for the transmission of the data between
two devices on the same network.
o The functions carried out by this layer are encapsulating the IP datagram
into frames transmitted by the network and mapping of IP addresses into
physical addresses.
o The protocols used by this layer are ethernet, token ring, FDDI, X.25,
frame relay.

Internet Layer

o An internet layer is the second layer of the TCP/IP model.

o An internet layer is also known as the network layer.
o The main responsibility of the internet layer is to send the packets from
any network, and they arrive at the destination irrespective of the route
they take.
Following are the protocols used in this layer are:

IP Protocol: IP protocol is used in this layer, and it is the most significant

part of the entire TCP/IP suite.

Following are the responsibilities of this protocol:

o IP Addressing: This protocol implements logical host addresses known as

IP addresses. The IP addresses are used by the internet and higher layers
to identify the device and to provide internetwork routing.
o Host-to-host communication: It determines the path through which the
data is to be transmitted.
o Data Encapsulation and Formatting: An IP protocol accepts the data
from the transport layer protocol. An IP protocol ensures that the data is
sent and received securely, it encapsulates the data into message known
as IP datagram.
o Fragmentation and Reassembly: Fragmentation can be done by the
sender or intermediate router. At the receiver side, all the fragments are
reassembled to form an original message.
o Routing: When source and destination are on the distant network, then
the IP datagram is sent indirectly. This can be accomplished by routing the
IP datagram through various devices such as routers.

ARP Protocol

o ARP stands for Address Resolution Protocol.

o ARP is a network layer protocol which is used to find the physical address
from the IP address.
o The two terms are mainly associated with the ARP Protocol:
o ARP request: When a sender wants to know the physical address
of the device, it broadcasts the ARP request to the network.
o ARP reply: Every device attached to the network will accept the
ARP request and process the request, but only recipient recognize
the IP address and sends back its physical address in the form of
ARP reply. The recipient adds the physical address both to its cache
memory and to the datagram header

ICMP Protocol
 o ICMP stands for Internet Control Message Protocol.
o It is a mechanism used by the hosts or routers to send notifications
regarding datagram problems back to the sender.
o A datagram travels from router-to-router until it reaches its destination. If
a router is unable to route the data because of some unusual conditions
such as disabled links, a device is on fire or network congestion, then the
ICMP protocol is used to inform the sender that the datagram is
undeliverable.
o An ICMP protocol mainly uses two terms:
o ICMP Test: ICMP Test is used to test whether the destination is
reachable or not.
o ICMP Reply: ICMP Reply is used to check whether the destination
device is responding or not.
o The core responsibility of the ICMP protocol is to report the problems, not
correct them. The responsibility of the correction lies with the sender.

Transport Layer
The transport layer is responsible for the reliability, flow control, and
correction of data which is being sent over the network.

The two protocols used in the transport layer are User Datagram
protocol and Transmission control protocol.

o User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

o It provides connectionless service and end-to-end delivery of
transmission.
o It is an unreliable protocol as it discovers the errors but not specify
the error.
o User Datagram Protocol discovers the error, and ICMP protocol
reports the error to the sender that user datagram has been
damaged.
o UDP consists of the following fields:
Source port address: The source port address is the address of
the application program that has created the message.
Destination port address: The destination port address is the
address of the application program that receives the message.
Total length: It defines the total number of bytes of the user
 datagram in bytes.
Checksum: The checksum is a 16-bit field used in error detection.
o UDP does not specify which packet is lost. UDP contains only
checksum; it does not contain any ID of a data segment.

o Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

o It provides a full transport layer services to applications.
o It creates a virtual circuit between the sender and receiver, and it is
active for the duration of the transmission.
o TCP is a reliable protocol as it detects the error and retransmits the
damaged frames. Therefore, it ensures all the segments must be
received and acknowledged before the transmission is considered to
be completed and a virtual circuit is discarded.
o At the sending end, TCP divides the whole message into smaller
units known as segment, and each segment contains a sequence
number which is required for reordering the frames to form an
original message.
o At the receiving end, TCP collects all the segments and reorders
them based on sequence numbers.

Application Layer

o An application layer is the topmost layer in the TCP/IP model.

o It is responsible for handling high-level protocols, issues of representation.
 o This layer allows the user to interact with the application.
o When one application layer protocol wants to communicate with another
application layer, it forwards its data to the transport layer.
o There is an ambiguity occurs in the application layer. Every application
cannot be placed inside the application layer except those who interact
with the communication system. For example: text editor cannot be
considered in application layer while web browser using HTTP protocol to
interact with the network where HTTP protocol is an application layer
protocol.

Following are the main protocols used in the application layer:

o HTTP: HTTP stands for Hypertext transfer protocol. This protocol allows us
to access the data over the world wide web. It transfers the data in the
form of plain text, audio, video. It is known as a Hypertext transfer
protocol as it has the efficiency to use in a hypertext environment where
there are rapid jumps from one document to another.
o SNMP: SNMP stands for Simple Network Management Protocol. It is a
framework used for managing the devices on the internet by using the
TCP/IP protocol suite.
o SMTP: SMTP stands for Simple mail transfer protocol. The TCP/IP protocol
that supports the e-mail is known as a Simple mail transfer protocol. This
protocol is used to send the data to another e-mail address.
o DNS: DNS stands for Domain Name System. An IP address is used to
identify the connection of a host to the internet uniquely. But, people
prefer to use the names instead of addresses. Therefore, the system that
maps the name to the address is known as Domain Name System.
o TELNET: It is an abbreviation for Terminal Network. It establishes the
connection between the local computer and remote computer in such a
way that the local terminal appears to be a terminal at the remote system.
o FTP: FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. FTP is a standard internet
protocol used for transmitting the files from one computer to another
computer.