Packet routing is the process of directing individually addressed data packets across interconnected networks toward their destination. As packets travel independently, intermediate forwarding devices examine each packet's destination IP address and forward it hop by hop along the best available path until it reaches the destination endpoint to be reassembled.

Packet Routing

A router is a specialized network hardware device that interconnects different computer networks and selects the optimal path for forwarding data packets based on their destination IP addresses, such as bridging a local area network (LAN) to the Internet.

Router

IPv4 and IPv6 are two versions of Internet Protocol addressing. IPv4 addresses use a format such as 192.168.1.5 and yield approximately 4 billion distinct addresses. Because global address capacity was depleted, IPv6 was introduced with significantly longer addresses to support a vastly larger number of connected devices.

IPv4 and IPv6

A network packet is a small, individually addressed unit of data transmitted across a computer network. Large transmissions are divided into these distinct packets, each labeled with source and destination addresses, enabling them to navigate independently across intermediate routers hop by hop before being reassembled in the correct sequence at the destination.

Network Packet

An Internet Protocol (IP) address is a logical network-layer identifier assigned to a device to enable addressing and the routing of packets across multiple interconnected networks. Rather than identifying a permanent physical hardware interface or pinpointing an individual's exact physical location, an IP address typically specifies a device's network or regional presence.

IP Address

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the core network protocol responsible for addressing and routing data packets from a source to a destination across multiple interconnected networks. IP operates on a best-effort delivery model, meaning it endeavors to forward packets but provides no inherent guarantee regarding packet arrival, delivery order, or transmission speed.

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