Data Transmission and Packet Switching

Once we know how networks are organized, the next question is how data actually moves across them. This lesson covers the mechanics of transmission: the protocols that govern it, how large messages are split into packets, how those packets are switched across a network, and the factors such as bandwidth, transmission media, and compression that determine how fast and how much data can travel.

Protocols

Definition: A protocol is an agreed set of rules that governs how data is formatted, transmitted, received, and acknowledged between devices, so that both ends of a communication interpret it in the same way.

Protocols define details such as the size and structure of messages, how errors are detected and corrected, how devices identify one another, how the speed of transmission is agreed,