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Networking

How computers exchange data: from signals on a wire or radio channel up to the applications that use them.

Layers

Networking is organised in layers. Each layer uses the services of the one below and offers services to the one above.

OSI layer TCP/IP model Unit of data Examples
7 Application Application message HTTP, DNS, SSH
6 Presentation Application message TLS, encodings
5 Session Application message
4 Transport Transport segment / datagram TCP, UDP, QUIC
3 Network Internet packet IPv4, IPv6, ICMP
2 Data link Link frame Ethernet, Wi-Fi (MAC + LLC)
1 Physical Link bits copper, fibre, radio

Pages

  • MAC layer: addressing, frames and how devices share a medium