Microsoft KB Archive/87029

= SMTP: Explanation of TCP/IP =

Article ID: 87029

Article Last Modified on 10/30/2006

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APPLIES TO


 * Microsoft Mail Gateway to SMTP 3.0

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This article was previously published under Q87029



SUMMARY
TCP/IP is a protocol suite containing two protocols: Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and Internet Protocol (IP).

TCP is a connection oriented protocol that compensates for the underlying network's lack of reliability. It ensures the correct sequence of packets and provides end-to-end acknowledgment.

IP is a connectionless protocol. Each packet contains routing information that allows the network nodes to route the packet toward its destination. The nodes themselves do not try to understand the packet data.

TCP functionality is comparable with that of the Open Systems Interconnection's (OSI's) transport service class 4; that is, TP4.

