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TCP Protocol: What is it, what is it for and what do your initials mean in computer science and web pages?

TCP Protocol: What is it

For the beginnings of the Internet, all communication that existed was in a unidirectional way, that is, that only the sender of the information, not the receiver, was known . All this was necessary to make way for the change to improve the experience of the user and make two-way communications. According to this, they were developing the TCP protocol for the 70s.

TCPs or also known as Transmission Control protocols , have as their main function to inform of the destination of the data allowing the creation of secure connections .

According to all this, this type of protocol is used to securely establish a exchange of data between the sender and receiver . That is why here we will explain a little more all this operation.

What is the transmission control protocol (TCP) and what is it for on the Internet?

¿Qué es el protocolo de control de transmisiones (TCP) y para qué sirve en Internet?

TCP has become one of the most important protocols on the Internet , it was created for in 1973 and 1974 , where its function is to help different programs within the same data network can be composed of different computers, where each one uses this system to create a connection with each other, which will allow them to share different data.

All this guarantees that each of the data sent will be received by the receiver without any type of errors and correctly, where it also includes a mechanism that it will allow to differentiate each one of the applications within each equipment. This is how this offers very broad support to applications, such as web browsers, FTP clients, files , among others.

Therefore, this tool allows applications to communicate with each other as if all of them were connected to each other , where each of sends the data in a format that will be transmitted character by character , instead of being transmitted by packets.

History of TCP: How did this revolutionary originate and who created it? system?

Historia del TCP ¿Cómo se originó y quiénes crearon este revolucionario sistema?

This whole system was created for the 70s , this is how exactly in 1973 and 1974 all this was created by Vint Cerf and Robert Kahn . However, this project began to be carried out since the 1960s, when different researchers were looking for a way to share data in a safe and efficient way.

This is how for 1961, Leonard Kleinrock introduces what would be the packet switching . But, despite the fact that this project works very well, it was something that in the long term could be expensive and difficult . All this led to the beginning of a new alternative with a more reliable protocol . This is where Cerf and Kahn developed the TCP model .

This new model provided some advantages over those previously implemented, this is how it offered a lower resource consumption and could also be implemented at a cost much smaller . Thanks to these aspects and many others began to gain popularity and for the year 1983 would be integrated into version 4.2 of the UNIX operating system. This is how it ended up becoming the Internet standard.

What are the main functions and features of the TCP protocol?

This pattern ended up becoming one of the most important tools in the network , it had a set of functions and features that allowed to successfully carry out the information and application sharing between computers.

In this way, here are the main functions and features of this model:

Functions

TCP is considered as the intermediate layer between the Internet protocol (IP) and the application. Where all this requires primarily that each of the communications be secure, especially since it is taken into account that the IP layer provides a very unreliable datagram service .

That is why, this model implemented in the 70s adds key functions that allow communication between a sender and receiver in a secure way, without loss and error free.

This is how you can say that this model has been designed to handle end-to-end connections , they can exist from point-to-point connections , so which are also known as virtual circuits .

In this way, here we present its main functions:

  • Allows connection orientation , this is how two computers can establish a connection to exchange information without any error.
  • It has a Full-Duplex operation, where this model becomes a pair of vital circuits where each one has a specific address. Only the two synchronized end systems will be the ones who can use this circuit.
  • Offers a delivery receipt, that is, the receiver sends an acknowledgment indicating that he has received the packages sent by the sender.
  • Also note that the option of error Checking , it is used to verify that the packages do not have failures or problems .
  • Offers a packet recovery service where the receiver can request packet retransmission if necessary, is say, if the package has not been notified as received.
  • The recipient has the opportunity to discard some or all packages sent by the sender.

Features

Regarding the characteristics of this system we can find the following:

  • It gives the possibility that each of the data is formed in segments of varying length so that they can be delivered to the IP protocol .
  • It allows to place each of the segments in order when they come from the IP model .
  • It offers a monitoring of the data flow and in that way prevents a network saturation .
  • You can start and end a communication in a reliable and secure way .
  • Allow that different applications can circulate simultaneously under the same line .

How does it exceed the transmission control protocol to UDP?

¿En qué supera el protocolo de control de transmisiones al UDP?

Today the transmission control protocol is considered to be superior to the UPD , taking into account that the TCP is mainly based on the communication of securely and the integrity of each packet that travels over the Internet. While UDP , it is based on the transport used in IP networks.

In the case of UPD, is the one that provides an unreliable level of datagram transport, this is because it hardly adds the basic and necessary information so that point-to-point communication is given . This system is mainly used by applications such as RCP or NFS , but it is mainly used in control and transmission of audio and video over the network.

Meanwhile, that the TCP, does provide a reliable flow transport between applications, thus providing greater security in each of the shared information. It ensures that none of the packages present errors or losses and in turn maintains the order in which each of these packages arrive. This is how the TCP segment allows an overload in each of its 20-byte packets, while the UPD only of 8 bytes .

That is why the UPD is considered to be more important when it comes to obtaining a reliable speed , while TCP will ensure that information is received. want to share.

How does TCP work in world web browsing?

This model consists of a very simple operation that is based on three phases. The first one is about being able to establish a connection with the authorization of both parties. In this case, a procedural process called “Negotiation” is carried out in three steps.

Then it begins to carry out what is the transfer of information , being here where each of the parameters of the correct and secure exchange is established. Finally, the connection between the client and the server is carried out.

In that segment, each one of the data is delivered in the same order as it is sent, thus avoiding any disorder in the information or a separation of layers. In addition, it serves as a mechanism that allows differentiating each one of the receiving or transmitting apps within the same equipment, for this purpose the term or concept of “Port” is used.

What is a TCP port and what is its importance in the system?

Ports are mainly used to identify each of the sending or receiving applications of the system. Where each side of the connection has a number port partner which ends up being assigned by the sending or receiving app .

It should be noted that these ports are classified into three distinct categories: well-known ports, registered and dynamic and private ports.

Well-known ports

These are assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority , and usually range from 0 to 1023. All of them are used by each of the processes with privileges . Where the apps that use these ports are run as servers, and we can find the following: HTTP, FTP, SMTP, SSH.

Registered ports

They are frequently used by applications temporarily used when they connect to servers, but may also be due to some type of service that has been previously registered by a third party. These ranges are usually between 1024 and 49151.

Dynamic or private ports

In this case the range is between 49152 to 65535 , and can be used by the user apps, but is usually the least common of the three . It is important to mention that these ports do not have no meaning outside the TCP connection in which they were used.