TCP/IP stands for Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol. It is a set of standardised rules that uses a client-server model of communication in which a user or machine (a client) requests a service by a server in the network.
The IP protocol ensures that each computer or node connected to the Internet is assigned an IP address, which is used to identify each node independently. It can be considered to be the adhesive that holds the whole Internet together. TCP ensures that the message or data is broken into smaller chunks, called IP packets. Each of these packets are routed (transmitted) through the Internet, along a path from one router to the next, until it reaches the specified destination. TCP guarantees the delivery of packets on the designated IP address. It is also responsible for ordering the packets so that they are delivered in sequence.
There are many redundant connection paths in the Internet, with backbones and ISPs connecting to each other in multiple locations. So, there are many possible paths between two hosts. Hence, two packets of the same message can take two different routes depending on congestion and other factors in different possible routes. When all the packets finally reach the destination machine, they are reassembled into the original message at the receiver’s end.
