< networking > (MTU) The largest number of bytes of "payload" data a frame can carry, not counting the frame's header and trailer.
A frame is a single unit of transportation on the data link layer . It consists of header data plus data which was passed down from the network layer (e.g. an IP datagram ) plus sometimes trailer data.
An Ethernet (V2) frame has a MTU of 1500 bytes but the size of the frame can be up to 1526 bytes (22 byte header, 4 byte CRC trailer).
See also fragmentation .
(2000-10-07)