TCP Common Applications and Server Port Assignments

In the overview of TCP in Chapter 45, you saw that the protocol originally included the functions of both modern TCP and IP. TCP was split into TCP and IP in order to allow applications that didn't need TCP's complexity to bypass it, using the much simpler UDP as a transport layer protocol instead. This bypass was an important step in the development of the TCP/IP protocol suite, since there are several important protocols for which UDP is ideally suited, and even some for which TCP is more of a nuisance than a benefit.

Most commonly, however, UDP is used only in special cases. I describe the two types of applications that may be better suited to UDP than TCP in Chapter 44: applications where ...

Get TCP/IP Guide now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.