Transmission Control Protocol

A set of rules (protocol) used along with the Internet Protocol to send data in the form of message units between computers over the Internet. While IP takes care of handling the actual delivery of the data, TCP takes care of keeping track of the individual units of data (called packets) that a message is divided into for efficient routing through the Internet. Whereas the IP protocol deals only with packets, TCP enables two hosts to establish a connection and exchange streams of data. TCP guarantees delivery of data and also guarantees that packets will be delivered in the same order in which they were sent.

A connection-based Internet protocol that supports reliable data transfer connections Scope Note: Packet data are verified using checksums and retransmitted if they are missing or corrupted. The application plays no part in validating the transfer.