DOES INTERNET USES PACKET SWITCHING AS A DEFAULT FOR DATA TRANSMISSION ?
Yes, Internet uses packet switching technique as a default transmission technique. As the Commission has defined the Internet as “a global, packet switched network that enables interconnection between networks using the Internet Protocol.” While this is true, it is only part of the story.
The IP is not used just for interconnecting existing provider networks-it extends all the way to the end users of these networks. Put differently, end-user devices utilize the Internet as a packet-switched network directly-unless blocked by a firewall or similar device, every Internet-connected computer can send messages to every other Internet-connected computer in the same native IP format.
Anything sent from one computer to another over the Internet is divided up into smaller pieces called packets, instead of getting sent all at once.For a packet to reach its intended destination, routers have to forward it from one network to the next until it finally arrives at the network that contains its destination IP address. That network will then forward the packet to that address and the associated device.
Before routers can forward a packet to its final IP address, they must first determine where the packet needs to go. Routers do this by referencing and maintaining a routing table, which tells them how to forward each packet. Each router examines the packet’s headers, consults its internal routing table, and forwards the packet to the next network. A router in the next network goes through the same process, and the process repeats until the packet arrives at its destination.
This approach to routing works well for most purposes; most of the Internet runs using IP addresses and routing tables. However, some users or organizations want their data to travel faster over paths they can directly control.
Is there any advanced option available to communicate data ??
Yes, the additional protocol used on the internet is Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) .As the data need to be transfered on a large scale and in less time ,MPLS uses data forwarding technology that control the network traffic as well as increase speed .When data enters traditional IP network , it moves along the prescribe address based on long network address .With this method each router on which data packet lands makes its own decision based on routing table ,On the other hand MPLS assigns label to each packet to sent along predetermined path.
But how does routing work in MPLS?
In typical Internet routing, each individual router makes decisions independently based on its own internal routing table. Even if two packets come from the same place and are going to the same destination, they may take different network paths if a router updates its routing table after the first packet passes through. However, with MPLS, packets take the same path every time.
In a network that uses MPLS, each packet is assigned to a class called a forwarding equivalence class (FEC). The network paths that packets can take are called label-switched paths (LSP). A packet’s class (FEC) determines which path (LSP) the packet will be assigned to. Packets with the same FEC follow the same LSP.
Each packet has one or more labels attached, and all labels are contained in an MPLS header, which is added on top of all the other headers attached to a packet. FECs are listed within each packet’s labels. Routers do not examine the packet’s other headers; they can essentially ignore the IP header. Instead, they examine the packet’s label and direct the packet to the right LSP.
Because MPLS-supporting routers only need to see the MPLS labels attached to a given packet, MPLS can work with almost any protocol (hence the name “multiprotocol”). It does not matter how the rest of the packet is formatted, as long as the router can read the MPLS labels at the front of the packet.
MPLS is a simple secure telecommunication solution,as we do not have to deal with encryption or special hardware .MPLS can be serve as a backbone of cost effective and secure telecommunication.Moverover MPLS is a flexible network solution that allows companies to scale and customize their solution .
When compare to all the other routing techniques available MPLS is still the fastest data carrying technique available.
