OSI Model Demystified
Understand how your data travels from app to wire
Why Do We Need Layers?
The OSI model divides network communication into 7 layers. Each layer has one job and doesn't care how other layers do theirs.
The Postal System 📮
✉️
You write a letter
The content you want to send
📦
Put it in an envelope
Add recipient's address
🎒
Mailbag at post office
Grouped for routing
🚚
Loaded onto truck
Physical transportation
The Network System 🌐
📱
Your message/data
Application Layer (7)
📦
Add port numbers
Transport Layer (4)
🌐
Add IP addresses
Network Layer (3)
⚡
Convert to signals
Physical Layer (1)
💡 Key Insight
Encapsulation: As data moves down the layers, each layer wraps the data with its own header (like putting a letter in an envelope, then in a mailbag, then on a truck). This is how a simple "Hello" message becomes hundreds of bytes by the time it reaches the wire.
Ready to see it in action?
Watch your message travel through all 7 layers