Home › GATE CSE › computerscience › Computer Networks › An IP datagram larger than the network MTU (Maxi…
An IP datagram larger than the network MTU (Maximum Transmission Unit) is
Arejected by sending host as too large
Bcompressed to fit MTU at sender
Cfragmented and reassembled at the destination
Dencrypted before sending
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. fragmented and reassembled at the destination
1. IP FRAGMENTATION (RFC 1180 §5): when a datagram is too large for the next-hop link's MTU, the router splits it into multiple fragments.
2. Each fragment has its own IP header (with the SAME source, destination, and identification) plus a fragment offset.
3. Fragments are REASSEMBLED at the FINAL DESTINATION, not at intermediate routers.
4. Modern best practice (path MTU discovery): hosts try to avoid fragmentation by discovering the smallest MTU along the path.
5. Options A, B, D are not how IP handles oversize datagrams.
_Source: RFC 1180 "A TCP/IP Tutorial", §5 (Internet Protocol — Fragmentation)._
Related questions
What does DNS do?How many bits are in an ETHERNET MAC address?The role of a ROUTER (in the IP layer) is toWhat is the function of the SUBNET MASK in IPv4?UDP is preferred over TCP for applications that needWhich port number is conventionally used by HTTP (cleartext)?The PORT NUMBER range isTCP establishes a connection via the THREE-WAY HANDSHAKE. The sequence of segments is