What happens when packets arrive at the user's network interface card (NIC)?

What happens when packets arrive at the user's network interface card (NIC)?

• A. They are reassembled in the correct order and handed to the browser
• B. They are discarded if out of order
• C. They are immediately displayed as images
• D. They are stored on disk before processing

Answer: (A)

When data arrives at the NIC, it’s handed up to the operating system’s network stack. For protocols like TCP, the segments can arrive out of order because they may take different routes or lines of travel. The TCP layer buffers these segments, reorders them into the original sequence, and reassembles the data stream so that the browser receives a continuous, correctly ordered stream. Only after this reassembly is the data passed to the browser to display or process. So the best description is that packets are reassembled in the correct order and handed to the browser. Packets aren’t simply discarded for being out of order, they aren’t displayed immediately as images, and they aren’t normally stored on disk as part of the normal processing path.

When data arrives at the NIC, it’s handed up to the operating system’s network stack. For protocols like TCP, the segments can arrive out of order because they may take different routes or lines of travel. The TCP layer buffers these segments, reorders them into the original sequence, and reassembles the data stream so that the browser receives a continuous, correctly ordered stream. Only after this reassembly is the data passed to the browser to display or process. So the best description is that packets are reassembled in the correct order and handed to the browser. Packets aren’t simply discarded for being out of order, they aren’t displayed immediately as images, and they aren’t normally stored on disk as part of the normal processing path.