Data Transfer in a Network

Data transfer in a network differs slightly from the general data transfer compared to say data transfer in between two hard drives. There are two main ways in which they are transferred, Packet Switching and Circuit Switching.

Packet Switching

Here data is transferred in the form of packets, thus the name Packet Switching. Every data ‘packet’ is sent along with a sequence number, source, destination address and check sum. Here the data travels along different routes to the destination and it is then reconstructed at the destination:

Advantages

As the data is transferred along different routes the entire network is used efficiently.
Better Security – As the packets are transferred along different routes, in case the transfer route is tapped it is impossible to retrieve complete messages as they are being transferred along different routes.
Packet switching is also cheaper relatively as the cost of connectivity is based on the amount of data transferred and not on the distance.

Circuit Switching

In circuit switching the route of transfer must be established before data has been transferred. Once the transfer is initiated the line must be kept open until the data has been transferred and cannot be used by other users.

Advantages

Data transmission is faster as it directly arrives at the destination, unlike packet switching which arrives along different routes.
It also saves the further processing and time that packet switching requires, as data does not have to be reconstructed at the destination.

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