Networking Self-Teaching Guide: OSI, TCP/IP, LANs, MANs, WANs, Implementation, Management, and Maintenance

Chapter 5. The TCP/IP Protocol Suite

	I dwell in Possibility.
	--Emily Dickinson

TCP/IP is the name that refers to the group of protocols that it encompasses. This group of protocols is known as the TCP/IP protocol suite. It's called TCP/IP because of the two main protocols that are part of the group: TCP and IP. The TCP/IP protocol suite is also known as the Internet protocol suite, as TCP/IP is pretty much the backbone of the Internet (and the majority of all networks out there).

There are many good books that cover the TCP/IP protocol suite. Some of these are multivolume, so that might give you an idea of the amount of information that is covered in the standard. TCP/IP can be considered the most widely used standard of the Internet, much as Ethernet is the dominant LAN standard. In addition to multiple standards, TCP/IP also includes any applications, tools, and transmission media used in the network to pass datagrams. As a matter of fact, RFC 1180, "A TCP/IP Tutorial," states that the term internet technology is more appropriate than TCP/IP when defining the purpose of the standard.

As we discussed in Chapter 1, "Introduction to Networking," the processes and standards contained in the TCP/IP protocol suite are mapped to one of four layers.^[159] These layers are based on the four-layer model of DARPA. Every layer within the TCP/IP reference model is cross-referenced to the seven-layer OSI reference model.

The TCP/IP protocol suite allows data communication to take place. No matter ...