TCP/IP is a set of protocols that allow hosts to connect to the Internet. It consists of two layers, TCP and IP, which work together to transmit data packets over the network connection. TCP/IP can also be used for internal networks, such as corporate intranets.
Connecting to the Internet has become so easy and intuitive these days that we tend to forget the technical aspects of things like loading pages and downloading files. Such operations still happen, even if the average user doesn’t think twice.
One such overlooked operation is TCP/IP. This often used but little understood set of operations stands for Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol. TCP/IP is the combination of the two and describes the set of protocols that allow hosts to connect to the Internet. Actually, TCP/IP is a combination of more than these two protocols, but the TCP and IP parts of TCP/IP are the main ones and the only ones that become part of the acronym describing the operations involved.
TCP/IP doesn’t just happen. It is an active process; a set of constant communications between private computers and Internet servers. When a computer tries to access the Internet, that computer’s TCP/IP operations send a series of signals to Internet servers looking for a connection. In almost all cases, the login is successful. Some exceptions would prevent access from being granted, but these exceptions are rare.
The two layers of TCP/IP are defined by separate explicit versions. The transmission control protocol is the top layer; the one that converts messages or files into data packets that are transmitted over the network connection to the target computer and then reassembled into messages or files that can be read by the target user. The lower layer of TCP/IP, Internet Protocol, provides the broadcast operation, configuring the address of the connection so that information goes to the right place. IP could work without TCP, even if it would be idle, but the reverse is not possible.
Despite the very obvious presence of the word Internet in the explicit version of TCP/IP, the set of protocols can also be used for internal use. Corporate intranets use TCP/IP protocols to set up a network within the company’s IT structure. No external connection develops, but connections are made between the company’s servers and/or mainframes and individual computers. This type of connectivity mimics the connection functionality of TCP/IP used for Internet connections.
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