How Does Information Travel through The Internet

The Internet is based on packet-switched protocols. Information is carried in packets, which can be imagined as small parcels being passed from computer to computer. Large chunks of data are usually broken up into several smaller packets before being sent through the network. The delivery mechanism or protocol, that is used to encode the packet ensures safe transit, and provides a way of reconstructing the data when it reaches its destination. The protocols used on the Internet are referred to as TCP/IP, standing for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol.

As a switched network, the physical connections between computers do not matter as far as Internet traffic is concerned — the protocols ensure that guaranteed information delivery is more important than speed or use of a particular route. This means that a sequence of packets might arrive out of order, with some traveling through the net by a faster, shorter route than others. TCP/IP provides the means for your software to piece together those packets into meaningful data. The ability to take different routes through the network is a fundamental part of the original design of TCP/IP, as it allows the Internet to route around damaged areas of the network.

Data is divided up into packets

Data routes across the Internet can be switched to avoid congestion

Entire mechanism is handled by the TCP/IP protocols