Introduction
To recap from my previous related post, Internet Protocol (IP) allows different networks to communicate amongst one another to form the vast Internet we know and use, today.
This post will go even further into the weeds of IP, and how data is split for efficient transfer across different routes.
Packets
So we've established that IP tells routers where information is from and where it's going to, but another crucial part of Internet Protocol is to do with packets.
Information, like an email or text, isn't sent as one big chunk--this would be inefficient since any problems with sending that data would cause a blockage to any other data behind it in that same route.
Rather, IP splits data into packets, which store:
identification information
IP address, origin, destination, etc.
a part of the data itself
So, in short, instead of sending on large delivery truck through a freeway, which has a higher chance of getting stuck in traffic, IP uses smaller cars with lower chances of blockage, instead!
Another thing to consider is if data gets dropped (basically routers can't handle it and forget about it), sending one or two cars is easier and more fail-safe than sending the whole truck again.
We'll talk more about what happens if data does get dropped in a later post, which is not the responsibility of IP.
Connectionless Protocol
Another plus point of IP is that it doesn't choose a designated path for packets from the origin to the destination.
Instead, packets can be re-routed through different routers if there is too much traffic in one specific path (much like GPS).
Yet more, these smaller cars (packets) can be sent across different routers and converge at the same destination to reduce traffic in one congested router, unlike the larger trucks, which can only traverse a single router.
Final Thoughts
So, in summary:
data can be split into packets
increases efficiency of data transfer
IP uses connectionless protocol
Thanks for reading!
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