- System Design
- A checksum is a small block of data that’s derived from another block of digital data. It’s used to detect errors that may have been introduced during transmission or storage. A checksum is generated by running a cryptographic hash function on a piece of data. The sender uses a checksum generator to generate the checksum, and the receiver uses a checksum checker to validate whether the correct data is received. The receiver performs a 1’s complement arithmetic sum of all the frames, including the checksum. If the complement result is 0, the receiver assumes that no error has occurred. Checksums are often used to verify data integrity, but they are not relied upon to verify data authenticity.