This is an installment of Ten Minute Tech; where I pick a technology related subject and then write a paragraph or two about what I know. I then pick and read a reference article related to the subject and then write another paragraph or two about what I learned. This edition’s topic is about the Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model (OSI Model).

Before

To be honest with you there is not a lot that I remember about this model outside of the fact that it exists. If I can recall my college days properly the OSI Model was developed as a way to standardize transmission methods for networks.

Article: Open Systems Interconnection Basic Reference Model

After

As I understand it is an abstraction to describe communication and network protocol design. It is broken into seven layers, with each layer having its own set of responsibilities. It is a logical representation of network based transmission and is used only as a theoretical model. The model was designed by the International Organization for Standardization in the 1970’s and has been a major influence in the design of most modern day transmission protocols.

I am not going to describe each layer in detail here; the article itself does a nice job of describing it as well as provides a table showing where modern protocols operate in order to handle communication. Since this model is just a logical design model, most modern day protocols operate on several levels of the model.

There was a good reference to an article that helps describe the function at each level of the model by putting it in terms of James Bond transporting a secret message.
James Bond Meets The 7 Layer OSI Model