networks

networks

1. packets

   • All data on the Internet is split up into small chunks called packets
   • Each packet is numbered and sent independently
   • This means that each packet may end up taking a completely different route through the mesh
   • The packets are re-assembled on the other side

2. Routing

   • Route-finding algorithms are used to determine which route through the mesh will have the lowest cost, and therefore take least time
   • As the costs change because nodes become more or less busy, new routes are needed
   • Before we can transmit, we need to decide what route the data is going to take
   • In order to do this, each node continually tests its connections and assigns them a “cost” – a lower cost means faster connection