What is TCP/IP Protocol?

TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is a set of Internet-based network protocols that allow data transmission between computer networks.

What is TCP/IP in Networking?

There are more than 100 protocols in this cluster, the most popular of which is HTTP/HTTPS. In addition, ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) is used for address resolution, FTP (File Transfer Protocol) for file transfers, SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) for sending and receiving e-mails, and Telnet protocol for accessing remote computers.

History of Transmission Control Protocol

The Internet Protocol Family was the result of work done by the Advanced Defense Projects Research Agency (DARPA) in the early 1970s. After the construction of pioneer ARPANET in 1969, DARPA began working on a large number of data transmission technologies. In 1972, Robert E. Kahn was hired by DARPA’s Office of Computing Techniques, where he worked in satellite and radio wave packet communication, recognizing the important value of communication in these two ways. In the spring of 1973, Vint Cerf, the developer of the ARPANET protocol, joined the Network Control Program (NPC) to create an open interconnection architecture to Kahn, thereby designing next-generation ARPANET protocols.

In the summer of 1973, Kahn and Cerf had reached a basic overhaul, where the differences between the network protocols were hidden using a Communication Protocol, and moreover, the network was no longer responsible for the reliability of communication, as in ARPANET. Cerf has recognized the value of Hubert Zimmerman and Louis Pouzin, the creators of the CYCLADES network since their work was greatly influenced by the design of this network.

A computer called a router is equipped with an interface for each network and sends datagrams between them. Requirements for these routers are defined in RFC 1812.

This idea was implemented in more detail by Cerf’s research group at Stanford from 1973 to 1974, resulting in the first TCP specification. For this reason, DARPA was hired by BBN Technologies, Stanford University, and University College London to develop operational versions of the protocol on different hardware platforms. Thus, four different versions were developed: TCP v1, TCP v2, the third was divided into two TCP v3 and IP v3 in the spring of 1978, and then the version of TCP/IP v4 was stabilized – it is still the standard protocol used on the Internet.

In 1975, the first communication test was conducted between Stanford University and University College London (UCL) between two networks with TCP/IP protocol. In 1977, another communication test was performed using a TCP/IP between three different networks in the United States, the UK, and Norway. Between 1978 and 1983 several different TCP/IP protocol prototypes were developed in many research centers. The complete migration of the ARPANET network to the TCP/IP protocol was officially finalized on January 1, 1983, when the protocols were permanently enabled.

In March 1982, the U.S. Department of Defense declared the TCP/IP protocol the standard of communication between military networks. In 1985, the Internet Management Center (Internet Architecture Board IAB) held a workshop so that it developed the protocol, which contributed to an increase in its commercial use.

Kahn and Cerf were rewarded with the Presidential Freedom Medal on November 10, 2005, for their contribution to American culture.

On January 1, 2020, the TCP/IP Protocol was 37 years old.

TCP Packet Structure

The TCP packet is encapsulated by the TCP header, which specifies routing, such as the addresses and destination of the datagram, and consists of the following fields:

• Port of Source.
• Port of Destination.
• Sequence Number.
• Confirmation Number.
• Data Scrolling.
• A Reserved Field.
• Control Bit.
• Window.
• Checksum.
• Urgency Indicator.
• Options.
• Compensation.

IP Package Structure

IP is the protocol responsible for classifying and distributing packets. Each incoming or outgoing IP packet is called a datagram. IP protocol generates datagrams by encapsulating the load with the sender’s source IP address and the receiver’s IP address. The IP datagram consists of the following fields:

• Version.
• Header Length.
• Priority and Type of Service.
• Total Length.
• ID.
• Summary of Indicators.
• Scroll Fragment.
• Time of Life.
• Protocol.
• Checksum.
• Destination Address.
• Options and Fill.

Advantages

The TCP/IP packet is designed for routing and has a high degree of reliability, suitable for large and medium networks and business networks. It is used around the world to connect to the Internet and web servers. It supports standard tools to analyze network performance.

Disadvantages

TCP/IP is more difficult to configure and maintain than NetBEUI or IPX/SPX; It is also a bit slower in networks with low average traffic volume. However, it can be faster on networks with heavy traffic that many frames need to be routed.

Practical Application

TCP/IP is used in business networks, such as university campuses and business complexes, in small or home networks where they use many routers and connections to host or UNIX computers, and even in mobile phones and home automation.

How Does It Work?

Protocols such as TCP/IP determine the way personal computers communicate with each other over networks such as the Internet. These protocols work together and are commonly known as a protocol stack.

Each protocol stack is designed to achieve a specific purpose in sending and receiving computers. Therefore, the TCP stack also combines application, presentation, and session stacks into one stack also referred to as an application stack.

The TCP application layer configures the data being sent so that it can forward to the transport layer, which is the sub-stack and handles the operations performed by the OSI model’s applications, presentations, and sessions.

The next layer is responsible for the data transfer and is the transport layer that ensures that the sent and received data are the same, that is, no errors occur when sending the data.

TCP divides the data it receives at the application layer into a segment and adds a header with the information that will be used when data is received to ensure that the segments can be correctly combined into their original form.

The third layer enters the data in IP datagrams and prepares it for delivery by determining the full Internet address. The IP protocol runs on the Internet layer, also called the network layer.

It adds an IP address with a header to each segment and includes information such as the IP address of the sending and receiving computers, the length of the datagram, and the sequence of its sequence.

Since the packets have to be split into smaller packets, a sequence number is added and then reassembles them correctly.

   Related Articles

♦ What is WAN?
♦ Cisco History
♦ What is EGP?
♦ What is a MAN?
♦ What is VoIP?