View Source: TCP/IP - Waikato Linux Users Group

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An [Acronym] for __T__ransfer __C__ontrol __P__rotocol / __I__nternet __P__rotocol. The name of the network protocol stack on which the entire [Internet|InterNet] is built.

TCP/IP actually consists of a whole bunch of different protocols. At the lowest harware-independent layer (the ''network layer'') is [IP], which deals with getting packets of data from one machine to another and how to route them through other machines along the way, on a "best-effort" basis ''with no actual guarantee that they will make it to their destination''. On top of this are built [UDP] and [TCP], both of which are ''transport-layer'' protocols--they are how a program running on one machine can communicate with a program running on another machine. UDP, like the lower-level IP, makes no guarantees about reliable delivery or even that packets will arrive in the same order in which they were sent, whereas TCP is a full ''connection-oriented'' protocol which guarantees delivery and in the right order, or your money back.

There is another low-level protocol, [ICMP], which is concerned with reporting issues with the state of the network. The ping(8) command makes use of one type of ICMP message.

Then there is a whole bunch of ''application-level'' protocols, built on top of TCP or UDP, which are what people use to do actual work: [SMTP], [HTTP], [RTSP], [SSH] etc. [DNS] is also technically an application-level protocol, even though most users would view it as a part of the infrastructure of the Internet.

18 pages link to TCP /IP:

Last edited on Friday, May 5, 2006 10:09:32 pm by LawrenceDoliveiro

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