Definition - What does Packet Switching mean?

Packet switching is a digital network transmission process in which

data is broken into suitably-sized pieces or blocks for fast and
efficient transfer via different network devices. When a computer
attempts to send a file to another computer, the file is broken into
packets so that it can be sent across the network in the most
efficient way. These packets are then routed by network devices to
the destination.

Definition - What does Router mean?

A router is a device that analyzes the contents of data packets transmitted within a
network or to another network. Routers determine whether the source and
destination are on the same network or whether data must be transferred from one
network type to another, which requires encapsulating the data packet with routing
protocol header information for the new network type.

A routing algorithm is a set of step-by-step operations used to direct Internet traffic

efficiently. When a packet of data leaves its source, there are many different paths it can
take to its destination. The routing algorithm is used to determine mathematically the
best path to take.
Protocol:Is a system of rules that explain the correct conduct and procedures to be followed
in formal situations

Definition - What does Protocol mean?

A protocol is a set of rules and guidelines for communicating data. Rules are defined
for each step and process during communication between two or more computers.
Networks have to follow these rules to successfully transmit data

In today’s world, there are number of people communicating the number of different languages
they use, the number of different machines they use, the number of ways in which they transmit
data and the different software they use.

We would never be able to communicate worldwide if there were no ‘standards’ governing the
way we communicate and the way our machines treat data. These standards are sets of rules.

There are rules governing how data is transferred over networks, how they are compressed, how
they are presented on the screen and so on. These set of rules are called protocols. There are
many protocols, each one governing the way a certain technology works. For example, the IP
protocol defines a set of rules governing the way computers use IP packets to send data over the
Internet or any other IP-based network. It also defines addressing in IP. Likewise, we have other
protocols like:
Definition - What does Transmission Control Protocol/Internet
Protocol (TCP/IP) mean?
Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) is the language a computer
uses to access the internet. It consists of a suite of protocols designed to establish a
network of networks to provide a host with access to the internet.

TCP: Transmission Control Protocol, used for the reliable transmission of data over a network.

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol, used for transmitting and displaying information in the form
of web pages on browsers.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol, used for file transfer (uploading and downloading) over the Internet.

Ethernet: Used for data transmission over a LAN.

Wi-Fi: One of the wireless protocols.

IP: Internet Protocol is the primary network protocol used on the Internet, developed in the
1970s. On the Internet and many other networks, IP is often used together with the Transport
Control Protocol (TCP) and referred to interchangeably as

TCP/IP: IP supports unique addressing for computers on a network. Most networks use the
Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4) standards that features IP addresses four bytes (32 bits) in
length. The newer Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6) standard features addresses 16 bytes (128
bits) in length.

Data on an Internet Protocol network is organized into packets. Each IP packet includes both a
header (that specifies source, destination, and other information about the data) and the message
data itself.IP functions at layer 3 of the OSI model. It can therefore run on top of different data
link interfaces including Ethernet and Wi-Fi.

FTP: File Transfer Protocol (FTP) lives up to its name and provides a method for copying files
over a network from one computer to another. More generally, it provides for some simple file
management on the contents of a remote computer. It is an old protocol and is used less than it
was before the Word Wide Web came along. Today, its primary use is uploading files to a Web
site. It can also be used for downloading from the Web but, more often than not, downloading is
done via HTTP.

Layer 4. Application Layer

Application layer is the top most layer of four layer TCP/IP model. Application layer is present on the top of the Transport layer. Application
layer defines TCP/IP application protocols and how host programs interface with Transport layer services to use the network.

Application layer includes all the higher-level protocols like DNS (Domain Naming System), HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol),
Telnet, SSH, FTP (File Transfer Protocol), TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol), SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), SMTP
(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) , DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol), X Windows, RDP (Remote Desktop Protocol) etc.

Layer 3. Transport Layer

Transport Layer is the third layer of the four layer TCP/IP model. The position of the Transport layer is between Application layer and Internet
layer. The purpose of Transport layer is to permit devices on the source and destination hosts to carry on a conversation. Transport
layer defines the level of service and status of the connection used when transporting data.
The main protocols included at Transport layer are TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol).

Layer 2. Internet Layer

Internet Layer is the second layer of the four layer TCP/IP model. The position of Internet layer is between Network Access
Layer and Transport layer. Internet layer pack data into data packets known as IP datagrams, which contain source and destination address
(logical address or IP address) information that is used to forward the datagrams between hosts and across networks. The Internet layer is
also responsible for routing of IP datagrams.

Packet switching network depends upon a connectionless internetwork layer. This layer is known as Internet layer. Its job is to allow hosts to
insert packets into any network and have them to deliver independently to the destination. At the destination side data packets may appear in
a different order than they were sent. It is the job of the higher layers to rearrange them in order to deliver them to proper network
applications operating at the Application layer.

The main protocols included at Internet layer are IP (Internet Protocol), ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol), ARP (Address Resolution
Protocol), RARP (Reverse Address Resolution Protocol) and IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol).

Layer 1. Network Access Layer

Network Access Layer is the first layer of the four layer TCP/IP model. Network Access Layer defines details of how data is physically sent
through the network, including how bits are electrically or optically signaled by hardware devices that interface directly with a network
medium, such as coaxial cable, optical fiber, or twisted pair copper wire.

The protocols included in Network Access Layer are Ethernet, Token Ring, FDDI, X.25, Frame Relay etc.

The most popular LAN architecture among those listed above is Ethernet. Ethernet uses an Access Method called CSMA/CD (Carrier Sense
Multiple Access/Collision Detection) to access the media, when Ethernet operates in a shared media. An Access Method determines how a
host will place data on the medium.

IN CSMA/CD Access Method, every host has equal access to the medium and can place data on the wire when the wire is free from network
traffic. When a host wants to place data on the wire, it will check the wire to find whether another host is already using the medium. If there
is traffic already in the medium, the host will wait and if there is no traffic, it will place the data in the medium. But, if two systems place
data on the medium at the same instance, they will collide with each other, destroying the data. If the data is destroyed during transmission,
the data will need to be retransmitted. After collision, each host will wait for a small interval of time and again the data will be retransmitted.

What is a domain name?

A domain name is your website name. A domain name is the address where Internet users can access your website. A
domain name is used for finding and identifying computers on the Internet. Computers use IP addresses, which are a
series of number. However, it is difficult for humans to remember strings of numbers. Because of this, domain names
were developed and used to identify entities on the Internet rather than using IP addresses.

A domain name can be any combination of letters and numbers, and it can be used in combination of the various domain
name extensions, such as .com, .net and more.

The domain name must be registered before you can use it. Every domain name is unique. No two websites can have
the same domain name. If someone types in www.yourdomain.com, it will go to your website and no one else's.