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Knowledge / Computer Science

Computer Networks

Protocols and systems that move information between connected computational devices.

By Siddhant Krishna · Published 2026-10-06 · Updated 2026-10-06

01

Layered Architecture

Networking is commonly organized into layers so that each layer provides abstractions and services to the layer above it.

  • Application layer: protocols such as HTTP and DNS.
  • Transport layer: end-to-end communication using mechanisms such as TCP and UDP.
  • Network layer: addressing and packet forwarding using IP.
  • Link layer: communication across directly connected network segments.
  • Physical layer: transmission of signals over physical media.

02

TCP and IP

IP provides packet-based internetworking with addressing and routing. TCP adds a connection-oriented byte stream with reliability, ordering, retransmission, and congestion-control mechanisms.

03

The Web

Web applications commonly use HTTP for application-level request and response communication. DNS provides a distributed naming system that maps domain names to network information.

References

  1. Kurose & Ross, 9th edition, Pearson, 2025.
    https://www.pearson.com/en-us/subject-catalog/p/computer-networking/P200000013385
  2. ACM, IEEE Computer Society, and AAAI, CS2023 Final Report.
    https://csed.acm.org/

Related

Distributed SystemsSystems composed of multiple communicating computers that coordinate without shared global memory or a single execution clock.Computer SecurityProtecting computational systems, information, identities, and networks against unauthorized behavior and failure.
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