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Networking Fundamentals · Foundational

Connection-Oriented Communication

Communication in which a session is established before data transfer and delivery is tracked with acknowledgments.

Definition

Connection-oriented protocols set up state between endpoints, sequence data, acknowledge receipt, retransmit losses and tear down the connection when finished. TCP is the main example at Layer 4. The reliability costs extra overhead and latency compared with connectionless protocols.

Example

TCP performs a three-way handshake before an HTTPS session sends any data.

Exam tip

Reliable, ordered and acknowledged delivery points to TCP; best-effort and low-overhead points to UDP.

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