Data Encapsulation

What Does Data Encapsulation Mean?

Data encapsulation refers to sending data where the data is augmented with successive layers of control information before transmission across a network. The reverse of data encapsulation is decapsulation, which refers to the successive layers of data being removed (essentially unwrapped) at the receiving end of a network.

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Techopedia Explains Data Encapsulation

When a network device sends a message, the message will take the form of a packet. Each OSI (open system interconnection) model layer adds a header to the packet. The packet is then covered with some information directing it onward to a destination; this is analogous to the address on a letter in which the actual message is carried inside the envelope. Similarly, the message in the packet is encapsulated with some information such as the address of next node, protocol information, the type of data and the source and destination addresses.

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Margaret Rouse

Margaret Rouse is an award-winning technical writer and teacher known for her ability to explain complex technical subjects to a non-technical, business audience. Over the past twenty years her explanations have appeared on TechTarget websites and she's been cited as an authority in articles by the New York Times, Time Magazine, USA Today, ZDNet, PC Magazine and Discovery Magazine.Margaret's idea of a fun day is helping IT and business professionals learn to speak each other’s highly specialized languages. If you have a suggestion for a new definition or how to improve a technical explanation, please email Margaret or contact her…