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I am wondering that between 2 hosts in LAN, when i send one file which weights 1Mb versus 1 file weights 0.3Mb from the first host to the second host using TCP/IP protocol, would the latter come first?
IMO, data will be truncated to many small ones, and therefore, 0.3Mb will be divided in a number of packets less than the case of 1Mb => it takes smaller time to be sent to the other host.

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  • Did any answer help you? If so, you should accept the answer so that the question doesn't keep popping up forever, looking for an answer. Alternatively, you can provide and accept your own answer.
    – Ron Maupin
    Dec 15, 2019 at 2:45

2 Answers 2

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You'd be correct. However I'd say that what you're referring to as a packet should be considered a file. This is because the data of the file will be truncated (as you put it) into smaller bites of data called packets. The maximum size of packets are measure in tens of bytes as opposed to megabytes.

But yes, all things being equal the smaller file will finish transferring first for the reasons you stated.

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  • you're right! i mean a file, not a packet. thanks for your answer.
    – KenNG
    May 1, 2019 at 8:35
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I am wondering that between 2 hosts in LAN, when i send one file which weights 1Mb versus 1 file weights 0.3Mb from the first host to the second host using TCP/IP protocol, would the latter come first?

Maybe. As with many things, the devil is in the details. For this discussion, let's presume all thing remain equal between the transfers (i.e. no congestion on the network, no packet loss, etc).

Yes it should, if the two transfers are completed in parallel. In other words, if both are sent independently at the same time.

No, if the transfers are completed in series. An applications may queue multiple transfer requests, and only start the second after the first has completed.

Or there may be a limit to the number of transfers that an application would run in parallel. Many web browsers and/or servers will enforce such a limitation, for example perhaps allowing the transfer of three files concurrently, and queuing additional files until one of the first three complete.

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