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• Everything you do on the internet is done in packets. This means that every webpage that you receive comes as a series of packets, and every email you send to someone leaves as a series of packets. Networks that send or receive data in small packets are called packet-switched networks. Why is data divided into packets?

• For example, every Web page that you receive comes as a series of packets, and every e-mail you send leaves as a series of packets. Networks that ship data around in small packets are called packet switched networks. On the Internet, the network breaks an e-mail message into parts of a certain size in bytes.

• Data transmission on the Internet occurs through a packet-switching network. When transmitted, data on the Internet is broken down into smaller packages that are approximately 1500 bytes each. The packages used for Internet data transfer are formally known as packets.

• The structure of the network packet consists of three parts; header, payload and trailer. The header includes instructions about the data carried by the packet. The payload is the body of a packet, which is the actual data that the packet is delivering to the destination.

Sending is carried out through the hardware layer, which converts packet data into network signals. When a packet arrives at its destination, the data used to route the packet (port number, IP address, etc.) is removed, and the packet moves on through the new network’s protocol stack.

These instructions may include: 1 Length of packet (some networks have fixed-length packets, while others rely on the header to contain this information) 2 Synchronization (a few bits that help the packet match up to the network) 3 Packet number (which packet this is in a sequence of packets) More items...

The structure of the network packet consists of three parts; header, payload and trailer. The header includes instructions about the data carried by the packet. The payload is the body of a packet, which is the actual data that the packet is delivering to the destination.

Packet number (which packet this is in a sequence of packets) Protocol (on networks that carry multiple types of information, the protocol defines what type of packet is being transmitted: e-mail, Web page, streaming video)