What Is The TCP/IP Protocol?

Date First Published: 27th January 2022

Topic: Computer Networking

Subtopic: Internet Protocols

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty Level: 8/10

Short for the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol, TCP/IP describes a set of protocols that allow computers and other devices to send and receive data. It is how computers communicate with each other over the internet. The IP is responsible for obtaining the web address that data is transmitted to and once an IP address is found, TCP is in charge of data delivery.

How Does The TCP/IP Protocol Send Data?

Its purpose is to define how computers move data from one device to another. TCP/IP has a number of steps to ensure that the data between the two computers is correctly sent. One of the steps that TCP/IP uses for ensuring that data between the two computers is correctly sent is that all communication tasks of TCP/IP are divided into layers. The four layers include:

• Application layer - The top layer. These are the type of applications that require communication with the network. Examples of application-layer protocols are DHCP, IMAP, and HTTP.
• Transport layer - The fourth layer. It provides a reliable data connection between two devices and it is used for transferring data between applications. Examples of transport-layer protocols are TCP and UDP.
• Network layer - Also known as the internet layer, this is the third layer. It is used for transmitting data packets from one device to another from one or more networks. Examples of network-layer protocols are IP, ICMP, and ECN.
• Link layer - The first and lowest layer. It is the physical and logical network component used to interconnect hosts or nodes in the network. Examples of link-layer protocols are tunnelling protocols, PPP, and MAC.

In order to ensure that data between the two computers is correctly sent, TCP/IP breaks down each message into packets, which are then reconfigured on the receiving end. A data packet is a unit of information that is collected into one set for transmission through the internet.

Note:

When the packets are being transmitted between other computers, data packets are not private because they are vulnerable to being seen by others. It is highly recommended to avoid using public Wi-Fi when sending private data, such as financial data or personally identifiable information through protocols.

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