I am very new to networking and I am currently trying to get my head around the order things happen in relation to the OSI stack. I know that the Transport layer takes the data stream and converts it into segments before handing it to the Network layer where a header is added relating to the IP address creating a packet before passing this packet to the Data Link layer where a header and footer are added including the MAC addresses creating a frame before finally being passed to the Physical layer in order to be converted into bits and sent along the network.
The part I am struggling with is where in the process certain protocols are involved. For example, TCP performs the three way handshake, supposedly at layer 4 (Transport), does this mean that the SYN is sent to the destination machine at this layer before waiting for the ACK so that the data can be sent later on from the Physical layer? Does the SYN have to go down the stack to be sent by the Physical layer and in turn the ACK back up the stack of the host before the actual data is sent again by the Physical layer?
Another example is ARP, when an ARP request is sent out by the Data Link layer in order to find the MAC address of the destination machine, is this sent out before the frame is created at layer 2?
I am unsure as to whether the only communication on the network is done at the Physical layer or if each layer interacts with the network relating to different protocols, as the data moves down the stack?
I have not been able to find a good video or diagram of the actual real world order that things happen so does anyone have a suggestion?