Bandwidth and latency represent two distinct network performance metrics that are frequently confused:

- **Bandwidth**: The volume of data that can be transferred across a network per unit of time, typically measured in data per second.
- **Latency**: The duration of delay involved in transmitting data from its origin to its destination.

A common misconception is that increasing bandwidth will always reduce latency. However, a high-bandwidth connection with substantial delay will still feel slow and laggy, as greater channel capacity does not eliminate the transit delay of individual transmissions.

Comparison of Bandwidth and Latency

The cloud is not an abstract or immaterial concept without physical infrastructure; rather, it consists of physical data centers housing computer hardware owned and operated by remote providers, which users and applications access across the network.

The Cloud

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) is a secure version of HTTP that encapsulates standard HTTP communication inside Transport Layer Security (TLS) encryption. By encrypting web traffic, HTTPS prevents intermediate parties from intercepting, reading, or tampering with page content exchanged between a browser and a server. However, HTTPS does not conceal all online activity; while page contents remain protected, unencrypted DNS lookups can still disclose which domain names and websites a user visits. HTTPS connections typically operate over port 443 and serve as the default communication standard for modern websites.

HyperText Transfer Protocol Secure

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a logical address used to route data packets across multiple interconnected networks. IPv4 addresses use a numeric format (such as 192.168.1.5) yielding about 4 billion possible addresses, whereas IPv6 uses longer addresses to provide a vastly larger pool. Rather than pinpointing a physical location, an IP address designates a network or region, and multiple host devices can share a single public address via Network Address Translation (NAT).

IP Address

A Media Access Control (MAC) address is a permanent hardware address burned into a device's network interface card. It functions to uniquely identify a device on a local network segment and facilitate direct data transfer between locally connected devices.

MAC Address

A network packet is a formatted, indivisible unit of data transmitted independently across a computer network. When digital information is prepared for network transmission, larger data streams are divided into packets, each bearing header metadata with source and destination addresses so intermediate routing devices can direct them toward their destination and the receiving host can reassemble them.

Network Packet

The Domain Name System (DNS) is an Internet service that serves as a directory or "phone book" for network communication. It translates human-readable domain names (such as example.com) into the numeric IP addresses required by host machines to locate and communicate with each other, eliminating the need for users to memorize numerical addresses.

Domain Name System

The TCP three-way handshake is an ordered connection-establishment procedure that occurs between two hosts before application data is transferred. The sequence consists of three steps:
1. The initiating client transmits a SYN ("synchronize") message requesting to open a connection.
2. The server responds with a SYN-ACK message acknowledging the client's request and agreeing to establish the connection.
3. The client replies with a final ACK message, confirming receipt and finalizing connection establishment.

Only after this three-step exchange concludes successfully does actual data payload transfer begin.

TCP Three-Way Handshake

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) both operate on top of IP at the transport layer, but they represent opposite architectural trade-offs between reliability and transmission speed:

- **Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)** focuses on accuracy and ordered delivery. It establishes a connection via a three-way handshake, sequences data packets, confirms delivery with acknowledgments, retransmits lost packets, and adjusts transmission rates to prevent network congestion. It is selected when every byte must arrive without error, such as for web browsing, email, and file downloads.
- **User Datagram Protocol (UDP)** prioritizes low latency and timeliness. It foregoes connection setup, acknowledgments, and retransmission mechanisms, transmitting data packets immediately. It is selected for real-time services like live video broadcasts, voice communications, and multiplayer online gaming, where late-arriving packets are obsolete and skipping lost data is preferable to pausing the transmission.

Comparison of TCP and UDP

The Internet is the world's largest Wide Area Network, consisting of a decentralized network of millions of independent networks that interconnect and communicate through standardized, shared protocols.

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