This study represents an exploration of the advantages of compression of data for storage and transmission .The significance of compressing data cannot be overestimated in light of the mushrooming applications and globalization of communication.
The study traces the development of communication networks in terms of their diversity of applications that we feel in our daily lives. Several compression algorithms have been developed to make transmission and storage of data more efficient as the volume of data transmitted grew. The study discusses the distinguishing features of these algorithms in terms of their applications. Simulation is an important tool for modeling a network to determine its performance characteristics. The study outlines the components of the simulation topology, i.e., nodes, links and arcs and simulation methodology pertaining to link utilization, WAN cloud, and message sources as a backdrop to simulation of data transmission. The core of the study is the analysis and discussion of simulation results. Simulations are done for different applications, i.e., e-mail using Huffman coding.