| In general, networking protocols and
the data traffic they support can be characterized as being either
connection-oriented or connectionless. Connection-oriented data
handling involves using a specific path that is established for the
duration of a connection. Connectionless data handling involves
passing data through a permanently established connection.
Advantages and disadvantages of each are addressed in the following
sections.
A reliable protocol is one that has
error correction, flow control, and retransmission capabilities
built into it. Unreliable protocols do not have these mechanisms,
and they depend on upper-layer protocols to provide reliability.
Most connection-oriented protocols are reliable (with some
exceptions) and most connectionless protocols are considered to be
unreliable.
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