TCP/IP versus OSI

Two vendor-independent network protocols that have risen to the top of the list of contenders for the title of ´the´ standard are described and compared. They are the transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP), which was developed in the late 1960s as a research project conducted by the US Department of Defense, and the open systems interconnection reference model (OSIRM, or simply OSI), developed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in the mid-1970s. A brief discussion of the various types of physical networks is given as background. The basic structure of the two protocols and the way they go about achieving their respective ends are examined. It is concluded that the OSI model is better structured than TCP/IP. However, TCP/IP is the older of the two protocols and has had time to develop a substantial user base, especially in the Unix community, where it has already become an unspoken standard and clearly dominates the market.<>