Introduction to TCP/IP

TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol, an industry standard protocol suite forming the basis of the Internet. TCP/IP Protocol ensures the smooth functioning of the Internet communication.

Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was developed in the 1970’s and the 1980’s as a standard protocols for linking hosts and networks into the Wide Area Networks (WANS). TCP/IP is an open networking standard that is independent from underlying physical network transport mechanisms. It uses a simple addressing scheme called IP addresses that allow billions of individual hosts to communicate with one another on the Internet. TCP/IP is also a routable protocol that is suitable for connecting dissimilar systems (such as Microsoft Windows and UNIX hosts) in heterogeneous networks and is the most common network transport in use today.

TCP/IP is a constantly evolving protocol suite whose development is steered by such bodies as the Internet Society (ISOC), the Internet Architecture Board (IAB), and the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). The various protocols, addressing schemes, and concepts of TCP/IP are defined in a series of documents called Requests for Comments (RFCs) issued by the IETF under an open standards process.

TCP/IP is a suite, or stack, of protocols that interconnect and work together to provide for reliable and efficient data communications across an internet work. The major protocols of the TCP/IP suite are:

1. Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)

2. User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

3. Domain Name System (DNS)

4. Internet Protocol (IP)

5. Address Resolutions Protocol (ARP)

6. File Transport Protocol (FTP)

7. Simple Mail Transport Protocol (SMTP)

8. Post Office Protocol (POP3)

9. Interactive Mail Access Protocol (IMAP)

10. Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)

11. Routing Information Protocol (RIP)

12. Open Shortest Path First (OSPF)

13. Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

14. TCP/IP Utilities (PING, Telnet, IPCONFIG, ARP, and more)