The document discusses two reference models for networking - the OSI model and the TCP/IP model. The OSI model has 7 layers including physical, data link, network, transport, session, presentation and application layers. The TCP/IP model has 4 layers - application, transport, internet and link layers. Both models organize networking functions into logical layers to reduce complexity. While similar, the OSI model was designed before protocols existed while TCP/IP protocols like IP, TCP and UDP were developed first.