TCP packets

There will be virtual connection established between server and client
in TCP. Whether TCP packets from server to client and client to server
follow the same route?

Ram wrote:
> There will be virtual connection established between server and client
> in TCP. Whether TCP packets from server to client and client to server
> follow the same route?

Probably.

Robert

In comp.os.linux.networking, Robert Harris wrote:

> Ram wrote:
>> There will be virtual connection established between server and client
>> in TCP. Whether TCP packets from server to client and client to server
>> follow the same route?
>
> Probably.

But not necessarily. That is the nature of routing with IP ("Internet
Protocol")

--
Lew Pitcher

Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | Registered Linux User #112576
http://pitcher.digitalfreehold.ca/ | GPG public key available by request
---------- Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing. ------

Ram <(E-Mail Removed)> writes:

> There will be virtual connection established between server and client
> in TCP. Whether TCP packets from server to client and client to server
> follow the same route?

You have no guarantee, but I'd be surprised if it didn't. What
application do you have where it would matter?

On Jun 3, 11:40*pm, Joe Pfeiffer <pfeif...@cs.nmsu.edu> wrote:
> Ram <ramashe...@gmail.com> writes:
> > There will be virtual connection established between server and client
> > in TCP. Whether TCP packets from server to client and client to server
> > follow the same route?
>
> You have no guarantee, but I'd be surprised if it didn't. *What
> application do you have where it would matter?

In most typical Internet scenarios, they won't. Many large Internet
providers use a routing strategy that is very similar to nearest exit.
This means when they receive a packet that is destined for another
provider, they hand it to that provider at the closest such handover
point.

So consider a situation where two computers have different providers
and there's a long haul involved (like across an ocean). If both
carriers meet on both sides of the long haul, the carrier that is
receiving the packet will typically wind up carrying the packet on the
long haul.

How else do you think you'd get a fair split if you have Cogent on the
West coast and I have Sprint on the East?

Or consider this: You have FooNet and I have NetFoo. FooNet has 1Gbps
Cogent and 45Mbps to Sprint, they prefer Sprint strongly for outbound
traffic. NetFoo has 1Gbps to Sprint and 100Mbps to Cogent; they prefer
Cogent strongly for outbound traffic. You think our packets round-
trips are likely to be symmetric?

DS