What are packets?

Answer 1

small packages

Answer 2

It turns out that everything you do on the Internet involves packets. For example, every Web page that you receive comes as a series of packets, and every e-mail you send leaves as a series of packets. Networks that ship data around in small packets are called packet switched networks.
On the Internet, the network breaks an e-mail message into parts of a certain size in bytes. These are the packets. Each packet carries the information that will help it get to its destination -- the sender's IP address, the intended receiver's IP address, something that tells the network how many packets this e-mail message has been broken into and the number of this particular packet. The packets carry the data in the protocols that the Internet uses: Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP). Each packet contains part of the body of your message. A typical packet contains perhaps 1,000 or 1,500 bytes.

Each packet is then sent off to its destination by the best available route -- a route that might be taken by all the other packets in the message or by none of the other packets in the message. This makes the network more efficient. First, the network can balance the load across various pieces of equipment on a millisecond-by-millisecond basis. Second, if there is a problem with one piece of equipment in the network while a message is being transferred, packets can be routed around the problem, ensuring the delivery of the entire message.

Answer 3

When a workstation wishes to send data, it uses the client network software to enclose the data in a 'packet' containing a 'header' and a 'trailer'.

The header and trailer contain information for the destination computer. For example, the header contains the address of the destination computer.

The exact form the packets take is determined by the protocol the network uses.


When a data packet is put onto the network by a workstation, each computer on the network examines the packet to see who it is intended for. The packet quickly dissipates if it is not recognised, allowing other packets to be sent.

The rate at which packets can be sent is called the 'bandwidth' (this has a somewhat different meaning to how bandwidth is normally used).
As an example, a bandwidth of 10 Megabits per second means that ten million individual 1s and 0s can pass through the network in one second.

Answer 4

In computer terms, a "packet" is a small chunk of data shipped around the network, with information on the front saying where it's coming from and where it's going to. Each packet is routed separately (as opposed to, for instance, most phone systems, where a connection is made for the entire call at the start)

On the Internet, packets usually contain anywhere from 0 to 1500 or so bytes of data, with some 40 to 80 bytes of addressing information on the front (things like your IP address, the IP address of the computer you want to contact, etc). An IP address is a set of numbers assigned to each computer (for example, 127.0.0.1, or 192.168.1.1). Your computer sends out a packet, and labels it "destination 10.254.128.5", and sends it across the first hop to a "router", which is just a specialized computer that looks at it and says "I know what direction to send 10.254.128.5 packets". and it sends them the next hop. That router than sends them along, etc, until a router actually hands it to the computer at 10.254.128.5. Most paths in the Internet are anywhere from 5 to 30 or so hops in length.

Answer 5

Since networks are prone to errors, with many protocols, if you encounter an error, all information sent is lost or incomplete. A way to alleviate this is by breaking information sent into small "packets." They are sent with sequencing information, so that way, if a packet or two are lost in network errors, the receiving machine can request the missing ones again.

Answer 6

A packet is a small bit of information that is sent from computer to computer. There are many different types of packets such as a UDP packet.

Answer 7

A packet is a like a box having many files inside it and in order to open and use these files you have to extract this box and save the files.. cuz the files are in this box in a minimum size (zip files)..

Answer 8

Anything that is sent over the internet is broken into small 'packets'...and then reassembled at the destination.

Answer 9

Main Entry: pack·et
Pronunciation: 'pa-k&t
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English pekette, pakat, from Anglo-French pacquet, of Germanic origin; akin to Middle Dutch pak pack
1 a : a small bundle or parcel b : a small thin package

Answer 10

well a packet is a small package

Answer 11

Yet here is another vague question we should give insite on.

In what reference are you REFERRING TO?

A packet of sugar?
A Package?
Or bits of information transmitted thru the internet?