Dictionary · Networking Fundamentals
OSI Model
OSI — Open Systems Interconnection
Models · Beginner
A seven-layer reference model that separates network communication into physical signaling, frames, routing, transport, sessions, data format, and applications.
It is a shared map of networking jobs, from the cable up to the application. People use the layers to say where a problem lives, not because data must pass through seven separate boxes.
Picture it
Use the stack to name where a problem lives. A real message is not handed between seven separate products.
Example: A technician says a duplex mismatch is a data-link problem, while a wrong gateway is a network-layer problem.
Common misconception
- The layers are a teaching and troubleshooting map. A real packet is not handed between seven different products.