Here at ACT, we always strive to ensure that our members are able to stay up to date on the latest policy issues involving the internet. However, we also recognize that the issues and terminology used in these discussions can get very complicated.
To make sure that everybody is able to participate in ongoing policy discussions in an educated way, ACT is instituting a wide-ranging series of informational blog posts. We are combining these with a series of educational talks to Members and staffers in Congress, which we are calling ACT Tech Talks. This series will provide a basic look into otherwise complex concepts and policies.
Today, we’re going to get right down to basics of the internet: how networks work. This will include a discussion on internet infrastructure and how data is sent across a network.
What is a Packet?
Everything you do on the internet uses packets. You may have even heard of the internet referred to as a “packet switched network.” But what is this mysterious “packet” that people talk about? Every piece of data–every e-mail, every web page, every Netflix movie–travels across the wires of the internet in the form of packets.
A packet is a small piece of data containing the following:
- A header showing the address of the sender, the address of the recipient, and the amount of information being transmitted.
- A payload containing the actual information being transmitted.
- A trailer that tells the recipient “this is the end of the packet,” and which contains error correction information.
A typical e-mail might be split into 75-100 packets. One of the strengths of the internet is that these packets can take any number of paths to their destination. If one path hits an internet data “traffic jam,” some of the packets may be rerouted around the jam, and then be reassembled into the correct order on the other side.
Video is Huge
Transferring an e-mail, or even a small video, across the internet is fairly straightforward. However, the process gets much more complicated when users want to download or stream large movies. You can imagine what would happen on a stormy winter day on the east coast, when millions of workers find themselves at home on a workday because of the snow, and they all turn on Netflix.
- One Netflix movie can take between 4.5 and 9 GB of data.
- That amount of data is the equivalent of 60-120,000 e-mails, or 4.7–9.4 million packets.
If you multiply that figure by the total number of people streaming video at once, you quickly realize how easy it would be to clog up a network and prevent other necessary data from reaching its destination.
The Internet Requires a Lot of Infrastructure
For the internet to function properly, a huge amount of hardware is needed. Just the simple act of a consumer accessing a website requires the following:
- Server computers, routers, and switches.
- A high-bandwidth connection to the internet.
- Ultra high broadband cables crisscrossing the country, known as the internet “backbone.”
- Internet Service Provider (ISP) servers and related hardware.
- Broadband cabling to millions of homes: the “last mile” of the internet.
These various pieces of hardware require a great deal of capital expenditures from every company involved in the process of getting an e-mail, or a web page, or a streaming movie to show up on your screen. In addition to the initial capital outlay, all that hardware requires constant maintenance and upgrades, costing companies billions of dollars every year.
Your Feedback
We would love to hear what you think about this series. If you have any questions or feedback, or if you have suggestions on future topics of Tech Talks, please leave us a comment or e-mail us at [email protected].
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