this post was submitted on 22 Nov 2025
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ISO/OSI is a neatly separated model mostly used on theory.
In practice, actual network stacks are often modeled after a simpler model that is called TCP/IP. Which despite the name is not actually TCP specific.
Here's the general description and correspondence to ISO/OSI:
Or, you can just not care about how the actual software stack is separated, and continue to use the most complete model, knowing that everyone will understand what you when you say "layer 2/3/4" anyway.
Plus, some could say that the TCP/IP model is equally unfit because the Linux network subsystem doesn't care about layers.
Edit: I hope the formatting of that table isn't broken on your client, because it is on mine