TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol. It is a set of rules and protocols that enable data communication between computers. It was developed in the mid-1970s and widely adopted in the early 1980s.

TCP/IP provides the necessary framework for two points connecting over a network to exchange information. It consists of 2 Layers.

Transport Layer

The Transmission Control Protocol is responsible for ensuring reliable data exchange between applications. This is to ensure that data is not lost. TCP confirms that the sent message is indeed the received message. TCP takes on the task of opening a communication channel between two computers. It breaks up data into small pieces of information as needed, confirms correct delivery and reassembles them at destination.

Network Layer

The other, equally important task is to send the data to the right recipient. It is the responsibility of the Internet Protocol, which determines how the data finds its intended destination through interconnected networks. In other words, IP sets the roadmap that data should follow. IP ensures that all packets contain the necessary information so that each node can be forwarded to the next.

How TCP/IP Works

TCP is enabled with every network request/response. For example, in an HTTP request, TCP takes over as soon as the browser knows where the request should be directed, that is, after DNS resolution is complete. Depending on the socket provided (IP address and server port combination), the request reaches the destination computer and application over the network. The required communication channel is opened and the data is split into appropriately sized packets. Then it is sent to the server. As the server processes the request and prepares the response accordingly, TCP ensures that this particular connection channel remains open until the response successfully reaches the origin of the request.

When moving data, TCP / IP protocols annotate sections with additional information (headers) in order to successfully perform all the above tasks. Headers contain information about the partition sequence number, a number (checksum), to allow confirmation of data validity and verification of information about the sender and receiver.