TCP/IP First-Step [Electronic resources] نسخه متنی

Chapter 4. TCP/IP: The Networking Protocol That Changed the World

What You Will Learn

After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer the following questions:

What are TCP/IP's major architectural components?

Which architectural components occupy the host-to-host layer of the TCP/IP reference model?

How does IP relate to the other protocol components in the TCP/IP architecture?

What five most important network-oriented functions does IP provide?

What seven most important network-oriented functions does TCP provide?

Which TCP/IP component is considered an unreliable, or best-effort, protocol?

What's the difference between reliable and best-effort delivery?

Under what circumstances would you prefer a best-effort delivery instead of a guaranteed, or reliable, delivery?

TCP/IP has changed the world. Okay…so the earth is still round and mostly covered with water; a good communications protocol can't change some things. TCP/IP has revolutionized the way people around the world communicate, share information, and transact business. The Internet gets all the publicity, but the TCP/IP suite of protocols labors quietly, behind the scenes, to make it all possible!

This chapter introduces you to TCP/IP's major structural components, their roles in the communication process, and their relation to each other. You see how they work together to support other applications that need to communicate. TCP/IP does this so well that you almost don't know it is there!