Like any field of computing, networking has its own terminology. This section provides definitions for some of the terms you'll come across.Packets and datagramsMany networking protocols transmit information as packets. Information being sent across the network is divided into small (hundreds of bytes usually) chunks of data, called packets. The networking software at the sending end will break the outgoing data into packets. When the packets arrive at their destination the networking software on the receiving machine will put them all back together.In some cases not all the packets will arrive at the destination using the same route. The packets may also arrive out of order, packet 50 might arrive before packet 49. The networking software handles all of this.Under TCP/IP packets are often referred to as datagrams. Ethernet, on type of networking hardware, refers to packets as frames.RoutingThe art of deciding which route data from one machine takes to get to another. In many cases their are multiple different possible routes that can be taken and the routing software must decide which to take.RouterResponsible for performing the routing for a network, a router is typically a device that connects multiple networks together. (The terms router, gateway and bridge are sometimes used interchangeably).GatewayA device that connects two totally different types of network. For example you might have a gateway machine sitting between an IPX network and a TCP/IP network. The gateway allows the two different networks to talk to each other by converting the protocols they are using.Connectionless and connection orientedNetworking transport protocols will often be described as being connection oriented or connectionless. A connection oriented protocol acts like a telephone connection. The sender contacts the receiver and asks are you ready to talk? If the receiver is ready a connection is formed and communication can take place. If the receiver isn'...
