Tifanie Charboneau

Tracing a packet from keyboard to the reader’s display screen

A person types in an open format. In this case- someone is sending an email to their friend. They seek out an online site on google.com. The computer, at layer 7, sticks an HTTP- a HyperText Transfer Protocol- tag on the request. This is like sticking a travel stamp on a passport.

The Presentation layer takes place inside the computer. The Request is formatted and then encrypted with TLS- Transport Layer Security Protocol. The TLS protocol uses a handshake, and certificates and keys to encrypt all the information so that it remains private between the sender and receiver.

The Session Layer manages opening and closing of ports and sockets, both within the single computer and between two computers. These are the stevedores of the computer interaction stack. They manage how much information gets transmitted. They shut down and disconnect sessions.

The Transport Layer segments the data. One million pounds of coal can be shipped from the mine to the city. It goes in multiple train cars, not in one large heap on one large coal car. In the same way, information gets segmented. Each segment has a TCP- Transmission Control Protocol- header. The header is like the top segment of a business letter. It has the same information, more or less. There is an address for the sender, and a name and address for the receiver. There’s other information, but that is the best analogy.

The Network Layer is the post office layer. It is where the network provider tags the information with IP- Internet Protocol- addresses. This is the information the router uses to send the information onward on the network to the next router. Routers are more public. Routers find switches, and switches are the private space. Routers move packets of information.

The Data Link Layer has a tag on the information, too. This is the tag that is based on the individual computer’s MAC- Medium Access Control- number. The MAC number is burned on to the computer’s NIC- Network Interface Card- that connects the computer to the internet.

The Physical Layer- this is the layer of wires and connectors, metal spun fine as thread, and sand spun into glass, to make ropes that wrap around our entire world.

A traditional financial services firm was scheduled to close in three months time. The office had ten years worth of financial documents, a depressed sales staff and a failed office culture.

The top sales person at the corporation was a salesman who worked from home with a laptop with a VPN connection to the corporate private cloud.

The contract was to watch the phone and receive packages. The contractor confirmed with the regional manager a desperate plan to copy the top salesperson. The office was first cleared of out of date sales documents- a clear SEC violation. The remaining paperwork was scanned into the corporate headquarters private cloud. Each salesperson was given a private file drive. The files were governed by Federal Trade Commission privacy policies, to comply with regulations from the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act.

The sales team had been confined to selling products at the main office. The conference room was forbidding. The office was hidden off a high congested traffic road. People did not want to show up for a high pressure sales pitch in an uncomfortable, forbidding conference room after fighting through traffice, and then getting lost on the way to the office. This was before widespread driving navigation applications on cellphones. Just getting an appointment with a prospective client was a hard sales pitch.

After being untethered from the office and equipped with laptops that could securely load both all the sales documents and pamphlets and all of the customers’ information and contracts, the sales team was able to close enough business to keep the business not just afloat, but flourishing. The company did not close. Within six months they had moved to a new, more modern address. The company tripled its sales staff.

Each salesperson set appointments and then drove out to the customers’ preferred venue. People were hearing about the financial plans in the comfort of their own home. They were more willing to sign up for the offers. The current customers were more interested in increasing their investments. The sales staff made more money.

The higher end salesmen then decided to pursue institutional customers. They would pack their laptop and fly to a distant city and make a sale to a union fund, or business pension fund. They would fly out as soon as there was interest. Their velocity and commitment increased sales.

The company grew exponentially.