Before any data can be TRANSMITTED through the TCP protocol, a reliable connection MUST be established. A "three-way handshake" is the process that TCP uses to establish this connection.

This process cannot be thoroughly described within the context of this article. BRIEFLY, three frames identify a three-way handshake. In the first frame, Computer1 sends a frame to Computer2 with the TCP SYN flag set. In the second frame, Computer2 sends a frame back to Computer1 with both the SYN and ACK flags set. In the third frame, Computer1 sends a frame to Computer2 with the ACK flag set. Any two computers exchange these three packets every TIME they set up a TCP connection.

Before any data can be transmitted through the TCP protocol, a reliable connection must be established. A "three-way handshake" is the process that TCP uses to establish this connection.

This process cannot be thoroughly described within the context of this article. Briefly, three frames identify a three-way handshake. In the first frame, Computer1 sends a frame to Computer2 with the TCP SYN flag set. In the second frame, Computer2 sends a frame back to Computer1 with both the SYN and ACK flags set. In the third frame, Computer1 sends a frame to Computer2 with the ACK flag set. Any two computers exchange these three packets every time they set up a TCP connection.