TCP/IP

Jennifer Lewis
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Introduction to TCP/IP
By definition, TCP/IP is a suite of protocols that allow any system to connect t
o any other system using any network topology. TCP/IP allows computers of differ
ent systems and architectures to communicate with one another without limitation
s. For example, your Dell PC at home running Windows XP can communicate with an
IBM Unix Class Server in Bangalore running AIX UNIX using TCP/IP. Before the adv
ent of the Internet, companies used a hierarchical system for their network comm
unications (see Figure 1). This hierarchical system was a single large system, s
ometimes called a mainframe, which acted as a “host” in the network. Nodes, either d
umb terminals or line printers, would connect to a device called a communication
s controller, which would act as the intermediary between the host and the nodes
. The host would communicate through the communications controller, and the comm
unications controller would relay the messages to the nodes.
Figure 1: The Hierarchical Network Architecture, a.k.a. the “mainframe architectur
e” (Hall, 3) In this illustration, the “dumb terminals” communicate through the commun
ications controller. The communications controller actually communicates with th
e mainframe, or host, and relays the messages back to the “dumb terminals”.
The problem with this method is many of these systems used proprietary network a
rchitectures and protocols. For example, IBM and DEC, two leading mainframe comp
uter manufacturers, use different architectures and protocols. All the equipment
used in this architecture had to be from the same manufacturer. Plus, it was di
fficult to interact with other networks of different architectures. National def
ense required a need for sharing computer resources without boundaries. In 1969,
ARPANET was created by the United States Defense Advanced Research Project Agen
cy. In order for computer resources to be able to share information without boun
daries, TCP/IP was launched in 1973 as a standard form of communication. As illu
strated in Figure 2, TCP/IP allowed all devices to be treated as fully functiona
l, selfaware network end-points, capable of communicating with any other device
directly, without having to talk to a central host first (Hall, 4).
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Figure 2: The Open Network Architecture with TCP/IP, a.k.a. the “anarchical archit
ecture” (Hall, 4)
Use of TCP/IP
How is TCP/IP used today? It is used in two types of communication: Internet com
munication and Internetwork communication. Internet communication is communicati
on throughout the global network of TCP/IP-based systems. Internetwork communica
tion is communication within the Local Area Network (LAN) or Wide Area Network (
WAN). Examples of Internet communication • E-mail – TCP/IP contains protocols to all
ow a node to send and receive e-mail. • Web browsing – TCP/IP protocols are used to
allow a node to use a web browser to go to a particular web site. • Sending and Re
ceiving files – TCP/IP protocols are used to allow a node to connect to a machine
and either upload (send) files to the machine or download (receive) files from t
he machine. Examples of Internetwork communication • Architecture-independent comm
unication – The LAN or WAN does not have to have the same manufacturers for all th
e devices, the same architecture, or the same operating systems on each device.
By using TCP/IP, machines of different architectures, such as mainframes and per
sonal computers, or machines running different operating systems, such as Window
s and Linux, can communicate with one another.
How It Works
TCP/IP is actually a software-based suite of protocols that perform different ty
pes of communication, such as sending e-mail. Each protocol communicates on a “por
t”, which is an open line on which the particular traffic communicates. If a machi
ne wants to act as a host, also known as a server, for a particular kind of comm
unication, the server will have a port open that will allow any requests to conn
ect to it. Figure 3 illustrates how client and server communication works in TCP
/IP communication.
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Figure 3: Simple Illustration of how TCP/IP communication works, using web brows
ing as an example.
TCP/IP Architecture
There are three layers in the TCP/IP Architecture model, which is displayed in F
igure 4:
Figure 4: The TCP/IP Architecture Model.
Internet The Internet layer is responsible for tracking the addresses of devices
on the network, determining how IP datagrams are to be delivered, and sending I
P packets from one host
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to another across a specific segment (Hall, 10). Example protocols in the TCP/IP
suite that operate in the Internet layer is ICMP (Internet Control Message Prot
ocol), which is a protocol for error-reporting, and ARP (Address Resolution Prot
ocol), which is a protocol that builds address mappings whenever address convers
ion is required (Hall, 18). Transport The Transport layer is where the communica
tion occurs. There are two protocols that are used for communication: TCP and UD
P. TCP provides a highly monitored and reliable transport service, while UDP pro
vides a simple transport with no error-correcting or flow-control services (Hall
, 10). The terms used when describing TCP and UDP are connection and connectionl
ess protocols. Connection, which is TCP, means that the destination computer has
to acknowledge the sending computer before the sending computer can send the me
ssage. Connectionless, which is UDP, means that the sending computer can send th
e message regardless of whether the sending computer received an acknowledgement
from the receiving computer or not. Application The application layer provides
the end-user applications with access to the data being passed across the transp
ort protocols (Hall, 11). These applications include: Simple Message Transfer Pr
otocol (SMTP), a protocol that sends e-mail; Post Office Protocol 3 (POP3), a pr
otocol that receives e-mail; Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP), a protocol that
allows computers to access data stored on a web server; and File Transfer Proto
col (FTP), a protocol that allows computers to upload and download files to and
from a server.
Is TCP/IP For You?
If you are setting up a network configuration that requires communication with o
ther networks, such as the Internet, and if your network will encounter growth,
then the answer is a resounding YES. TCP/IP is the standard used for network com
munication because it allows communication with devices, regardless of manufactu
rer, device type, or operating system.
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References
Hall, Eric (2000). Internet Core Protocols. Sebastopol, CA, USA: O’Reilly and Asso
ciates. Webopedia (2005). ARPANET. Retrieved 9 October 2005 from http://www.webo
pedia.com/TERM/A/ARPANET.html.