Advantages of using an OSI reference model

Advantages of using an OSI model include:

1. Prevents changes in one layer from affecting other layers.
2. Divides the network communication process into smaller and simpler components, thus aiding components development, design, and troubleshooting.
3. Allows multiple-vendor development through standardization of network components.
4. Encourages industry standardization by defining what functions occur at each layer of the model.
5. Allows various types of hardware and software to communicate

*Reference model: conceptual blueprint of how communications should take place.

*Binding: communication processes that are related to each other are bounded, or grouped together, at a particular layer.

Tips on network, routers, and switches

1. Plan your network design carefully.

2. Use network bridge in network to reduce collisions within broadcast domains and to increase the number of collision domains in your network.

3. Using hubs can contribute to traffic congestion.

4. Routers break up collision domains as well as broadcast domains.

5. Although bridges/switches are used to segment networks, they WILL NOT isolate broadcast or multicast domains.

6. Even though you have a switched network, you still need a router to provide your inter-VLAN communication or internetworking.

The OSI reference model and it's seven layers

The OSI reference model has seven layers:

Application layer (layer 7)
Presentation layer (layer 6)
Session layer (layer 5)
Transport layer (layer 4)
Network layer (layer 3)
Data Link layer (layer 2)
Physical layer (layer 1)