Can you list the key characteristics of the TCP protocol?
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Answer from AI
Key characteristics of the TCP (Transmission Control Protocol):
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Reliable data transfer: TCP ensures guaranteed delivery of data in the correct order, using acknowledgments (ACK) and retransmission of lost packets.
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Connection establishment (handshake): Before data transfer, a three-way handshake is performed to establish a connection between the client and server.
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Stream data transfer: TCP treats data as a continuous stream of bytes, breaking it into segments for transmission.
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Congestion control and flow management: TCP regulates the data transfer rate to avoid network congestion and buffer overflow at the receiver.
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Sequence numbering: Each byte of data has a sequence number, allowing the correct order to be restored and lost segments to be detected.
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Duplicate acknowledgment and timeouts: Used to detect and retransmit lost or corrupted segments.
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Connection termination: TCP ensures proper termination of the connection through a four-way handshake.
These characteristics make TCP a reliable transport layer protocol, widely used for applications requiring guaranteed data delivery (e.g., web, email, file sharing).