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Software Engineering vocabulary · APIs, Networking and Security

OSI model

Meaning in software engineering, with examples

nounCore term

In software engineering, OSI model means: A reference model that splits network communication into seven layers, from the physical cable (layer 1) up to the application (layer 7), so that problems and technologies can be described clearly.

In Turkish: OSI modeli, OSI referans modeli

How it is used

Used in training, interviews and everyday shorthand. Engineers say 'it's a layer 1 issue' for a cable problem, or talk about layer 2 and layer 3 switches. The seven layers are physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation and application.

Example sentences

  1. Let's go through the OSI model from the bottom: is the cable even plugged in?

  2. In the interview they asked me to explain the seven layers of the OSI model.

Common collocations

  • OSI layer
  • layer 2
  • layer 3
  • OSI reference model
  • seven-layer model
  • TCP/IPThe family of protocols that the internet and almost all modern networks are built on, named after its two best-known members, TCP and IP.
  • protocolA set of agreed rules that defines how devices format, send, receive and check data, so that equipment from different vendors can talk to each other.
  • packetA small unit of data sent across a network, made of a header with addressing and control information and a payload that carries part of the actual content.
  • switchA device with many ports that connects computers, phones, printers and other equipment inside the same local network and forwards each frame only to the port where its destination is.
  • routerA device that connects different networks and decides, packet by packet, the best path for data to reach its destination, usually based on IP addresses.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: APIs, Networking and Security

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