Transmission Control Protocol

Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) defines a certain way for messages to be handled on the internet as part of the TCP-IP protocol stack. As opposed to UDP, TCP assures receipt of messages by sending additional messages when packet?s are sent and recieved so each packet is verified. This takes a certain amount of extra processing power and bandwidth, but assures delivery, somewhat like registered mail at the post office.

Further reading:

• [RFC793]
• http://www.networksorcery.com/enp/protocol/tcp.htm