When it comes to network traffic analysis, there are a few key things you need to keep in mind. First, you need to have a clear understanding of what network traffic is and how it flows. Second, you need to be able to identify different types of traffic and understand how they can impact your network. And third, you need to be able to troubleshoot problems that may arise with your network traffic.
So, what exactly is network traffic? Network traffic refers to the data that flows through your network. This data can include everything from email and web browsing data to file sharing and streaming video. All of this data is transported from one point to another across your network using a variety of protocols, including TCP/IP, UDP, and HTTP.
In order to effectively monitor and analyze your network traffic, you need to have a clear understanding of how it works. To do this, let’s take a look at the anatomy of a typical packet. A packet is the basic unit of data that is sent across a network. It contains three main components:
-The header: This contains information about the source and destination of the packet, as well as other control information.
-The payload: This is the actual data that is being carried by the packet.
-The trailer: This contains error checking information that is used to ensure that the data in the packet has not been corrupted during transit.
Now that we understand the basics of how packets are structured, let’s take a look at how they are sent across a network. When you send or receive data over a network, it is broken down into small pieces called packets. Each packet contains two parts: the header and the payload.
The header contains information about where the packet came from (the source IP address) and where it’s going (the destination IP address). It also includes other control information such as the protocol being used (TCP or UDP) and the size of the payload.
The payload is the actual data being carried by the packet. This can be anything from an email message to an image file. Once the packets arrive at their destination, they are reassembled into their original form so that they can be read or used by their intended recipient.
Now that we’ve seen how packets are structured and how they travel across networks, let’s take a look at some of different types of traffic that you might encounter on your own network. The most common type of traffic is TCP traffic. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) is responsible for ensuring that packets are delivered reliably from one point to another. UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is another common type of traffic which provides a best-effort delivery service; meaning that there is no guarantee that UDP packets will actually reach their destination (this can be useful for streaming video or audio where lost packets aren’t necessarily noticeable). Other less common types of traffic include ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) which is used for diagnostic purposes and IGMP (Internet Group Management Protocol) which is used for multicast applications such as streaming video or audio to multiple recipients simultaneously. Understanding these different types of traffic will help you when it comes time to troubleshoot issues on your network; as we’ll see in the next section. ICMP messages are also sometimes called “ping” requests; and you may have noticed before when running command line tools like “traceroute” Utilizing a tool like Wireshark will give thorough explanations for all types – but these programs aren’t always necessary
