Please Whitelist This Site?

I know everyone hates ads. But please understand that I am providing premium content for free that takes hundreds of hours of time to research and write. I don't want to go to a pay-only model like some sites, but when more and more people block ads, I end up working for free. And I have a family to support, just like you. :)

If you like The TCP/IP Guide, please consider the download version. It's priced very economically and you can read all of it in a convenient format without ads.

If you want to use this site for free, I'd be grateful if you could add the site to the whitelist for Adblock. To do so, just open the Adblock menu and select "Disable on tcpipguide.com". Or go to the Tools menu and select "Adblock Plus Preferences...". Then click "Add Filter..." at the bottom, and add this string: "@@||tcpipguide.com^$document". Then just click OK.

Thanks for your understanding!

Sincerely, Charles Kozierok
Author and Publisher, The TCP/IP Guide


NOTE: Using software to mass-download the site degrades the server and is prohibited.
If you want to read The TCP/IP Guide offline, please consider licensing it. Thank you.

The Book is Here... and Now On Sale!

Get The TCP/IP Guide for your own computer.
The TCP/IP Guide

Custom Search







Table Of Contents  The TCP/IP Guide
 9  TCP/IP Lower-Layer (Interface, Internet and Transport) Protocols (OSI Layers 2, 3 and 4)
      9  TCP/IP Transport Layer Protocols
           9  Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

Previous Topic/Section
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
2
3
Next Page
TCP/IP Transport Layer Protocol (TCP and UDP) Addressing: Ports and Sockets
Next Topic/Section

TCP and UDP Overview and Role In TCP/IP
(Page 2 of 3)

The Solution: Two Very Different Transport Protocols

Fixing this problem was simple: let the network layer (IP) take care of basic data movement on the internetwork, and define two protocols at the transport layer. One would provide a rich set of services for those applications that need that functionality, with the understanding that some overhead was required to accomplish it. The other would be simple, providing little in the way of classic layer-four functions, but it would be fast and easy to use. Thus, the result of two TCP/IP transport-layer protocols:

  • Transmission Control Protocol (TCP): A full-featured, connection-oriented, reliable transport protocol for TCP/IP applications. TCP provides transport-layer addressing to allow multiple software applications to simultaneously use a single IP address. It allows a pair of devices to establish a virtual connection and then pass data bidirectionally. Transmissions are managed using a special sliding window system, with unacknowledged transmissions detected and automatically retransmitted. Additional functionality allows the flow of data between devices to be managed, and special circumstances to be addressed.

  • User Datagram Protocol (UDP): A very simple transport protocol that provides transport-layer addressing like TCP, but little else. UDP is barely more than a “wrapper” protocol that provides a way for applications to access the Internet Protocol. No connection is established, transmissions are unreliable, and data can be lost.

By means of analogy, TCP is a fully-loaded luxury performance sedan with a chauffeur and a satellite tracking/navigation system. It provides lots of frills and comfort, and good performance. It virtually guarantees you will get where you need to go without any problems, and any concerns that do arise can be corrected. In contrast, UDP is a stripped-down race car. Its goal is simplicity and speed, speed, speed; everything else is secondary. You will probably get where you need to go, but hey, race cars can be finicky to keep operating.

Key Concept: To suit the differing transport requirements of the many TCP/IP applications, two TCP/IP transport layer protocols exist. The Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) is a full-featured, connection-oriented protocol that provides acknowledged delivery of data while managing traffic flow and handling issues such as congestion and transmission loss. The User Datagram Protocol (UDP), in contrast, is a much simpler protocol that concentrates only on delivering data, to maximize the speed of communication when the features of TCP are not required.



Previous Topic/Section
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP)
Previous Page
Pages in Current Topic/Section
1
2
3
Next Page
TCP/IP Transport Layer Protocol (TCP and UDP) Addressing: Ports and Sockets
Next Topic/Section

If you find The TCP/IP Guide useful, please consider making a small Paypal donation to help the site, using one of the buttons below. You can also donate a custom amount using the far right button (not less than $1 please, or PayPal gets most/all of your money!) In lieu of a larger donation, you may wish to consider purchasing a download license of The TCP/IP Guide. Thanks for your support!
Donate $2
Donate $5
Donate $10
Donate $20
Donate $30
Donate: $



Home - Table Of Contents - Contact Us

The TCP/IP Guide (http://www.TCPIPGuide.com)
Version 3.0 - Version Date: September 20, 2005

© Copyright 2001-2005 Charles M. Kozierok. All Rights Reserved.
Not responsible for any loss resulting from the use of this site.