6.03 Internet Architecture and Packet Switching

6.3 Internet Architecture and Packet Switching Curriculum Page

Internet Architecture and Packet Switching: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fbAAUlcUdU7swJxViovyQhqDIL_N4MtblDnbeyKS0Sc/edit?usp=sharing

POGIL Worksheet: https://docs.google.com/document/d/17spsE-McF5qP4lG-2al0Qzr77eydZFKiD484BS_U7gE/edit?usp=sharing

1. (POGIL Activity 1) How does the geographical distance between the source and destination hosts on a network affect latency?

The data being sent travels through wires and cables to get to a destination, so the farther apart the destination hosts on a network, the longer the latency time could potentially be because there is a larger distance to travel.

2. What are the benefits of packet switching?

The benefits of packet switching are that the data is broken up into small parts and sent to the correct location, so it is easier for computers to process the smaller packets of data than a large amount of data.

3. (POGIL Activity 2) Missing Packets. What should happen if a packet goes missing? Who (which layer) would handle this? What action would they have to take? And what additional information would be needed in the packet in order to handle it?

If a packet goes missing it should be sent again, and it the job of the link layer to handle this. The link layer should make a copy of the packet at the source, and it needs information on what the packet is and where it is going.

4. (POGIL Activity 2) Security/Privacy. As the packets are being transmitted through the network, can people other than the sender and receiver read the messages? What methods can we use to protect the message?

It is possible to intercept a message and have other people read it. To stop this from happening, messages are encrypted so that only the sender and receiver can read what they say and nobody else can.