# What is the TCP/IP Protocol Suite?

> The TCP/IP protocol suite is the family of interoperating protocols that underpins the internet and many private networks.

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## Content

Its name highlights Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol, but the suite includes many other protocols for link access, addressing, routing, transport, naming, configuration, diagnostics, and application communication.

The architecture is commonly described with link, internet, transport, and application layers, although diagrams vary. IP provides addressed, best-effort packet delivery across interconnected networks. TCP provides a reliable, ordered byte stream between endpoints, while UDP provides connectionless datagrams; applications select transports according to need.

### Key points

- **Layered design:** Each layer offers services to the layer above and uses the layer below, allowing technologies to change independently.
- **Internet layer:** IPv4 and IPv6 addressing and routing move packets between networks; ICMP supplies related control and error information.
- **End-to-end protocols:** Transport and application protocols define communication behavior beyond basic packet forwarding, with reliability, ordering, naming, and security handled according to protocol and application requirements.
- **Important limitation:** TCP/IP is not a security architecture, and neither a TCP connection nor an IP address proves a user, device, or service is trustworthy. Confidentiality, peer authentication, authorization, integrity, and abuse resistance require suitable protections at one or more layers.

### Related terms

[User Datagram Protocol (UDP)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/user-datagram-protocol/>) · [Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/open-systems-interconnection-model/>) · [Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/internet-control-message-protocol/>) · [Domain Name System (DNS)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/domain-name-system/>) · [Network traffic](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/network-traffic/>) · [Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)](<https://yellowcube.eu/glossary/border-gateway-protocol/>)

### Sources

[IETF RFC 1122: Requirements for Internet Hosts—Communication Layers](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc1122) · [IETF RFC 8200: Internet Protocol Version 6](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc8200) · [IETF RFC 9293: Transmission Control Protocol](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc9293) · [IETF RFC 4301: Security Architecture for the Internet Protocol](https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc4301)

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