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The OSI Model and The Pony Express Essay example

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The OSI Model and The Pony Express The Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) reference model is essential to the world of computer networking. The model was created in 1977 by the International Standards Committee, in response to a difficulty that was facing computer networkers at the time (Shelly, Cashman, and Serwatka 142). In order to understand the difficulty, one must first realize that computer networks consist of computer hardware, the software that is to be used in conjunction with this hardware, and the medium (such as wiring or cabling) that will interconnect the computing devices that are in the network. The computer networker’s job is to determine which hardware, software, and medium types will create the network that will …show more content…

In fact, the OSI model was such a perfect solution to the difficulty that the model is still used today (Shelly, Cashman, and Serwatka 142).
One may wonder why the OSI model is so successful. The author believes that the OSI model’s manner of network-function organization is the cause of OSI’s great success: the model defines clearly each function that is essential in inter-computer communications, as well as the relationship between each of these functions. The author will further contend that the scope of OSI’s method of communication-functions organization is not limited to inter-computer communications. Rather, the model’s clear method of organizing the elements of a communications system is an efficient tool for analyzing the elements of any method of communication. The author will now demonstrate this point by evaluating the functionality of the Pony Express according to the layers of the Open Systems Interconnection reference model.

By prefacing the analysis of the Pony Express with some background information, a better analysis of the Pony Express system can be performed. Therefore, a short description of the Pony Express will be included at this point. The Pony express opened for business in April 1860, and was operational for sixteen months (Oslin). Its purpose was to transport large volumes of mail across the mid-western and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States, areas that were unpopulated at the time (Dicerto 4). Furthermore, the Pony Express

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