This isn't really an opinion. However, it's not a simple question, either. Technically, 64k (65535) is the maximum size of an IP datagram. Some implementations have used a signed 16 bit integer for this field, which effectively limits it (in those cases) to 32k (32768). There is also a maximum packet size imposed by the lower layer(s) as well. For ethernet, that limit is 1500 bytes. Packets larger than this are fragmented. As long as the IP stack supports fragmentation (most do), then you can send a large packet, and the sending IP layer will split it up for you and the receiving IP layer will put it back together again. Of course, there is a possibility that the resulting packets will arrive out of order, and the IP stack has to handle this as well, by buffering the fragments until they are all received and then reassembling them. In addition, now that we live in a paranoid world, there are firewalls and other devices which have been configured to drop fragments, or simply poorly implemented so that they drop them. In conclusion, the answer is, "it depends...". On Wed, 2003-10-08 at 20:15, jshankar wrote: > Hello, > > What is the size of IP datagram on linux operating system. > > Is it 65535 bytes. > > Please let me know your opinion. > > > Thanks > Jay > > - > : send the line "unsubscribe linux-net" in > the body of a message to majordomo@vger.kernel.org > More majordomo info at http://vger.kernel.org/majordomo-info.html -- Lawrence MacIntyre 865.574.8696 lpz@ornl.gov Oak Ridge National Laboratory High Performance Information Infrastructure Technology Group
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