SSC IMD SA 2017 – Question 163

Because TCP processes cannot read and write data at the same speed, which of the following is required for storage?

• Packets
• Buffers
• Segments
• Stacks

Detailed Explanation:

The correct answer is b) Buffer (बफ़र).

In the Transport Layer, TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) provides reliable, stream-oriented data transmission:

• Sending and receiving application processes rarely read or write data at the exact same rate. For example, a fast producer application may write data much faster than a network can transmit it, or a sender may transmit faster than the receiver’s application process can consume it.
• To handle this speed disparity and prevent data loss, TCP requires Buffers (बफ़र) at both ends:
  • Send Buffer: Holds data created by the sending application until it is packetized into segments and positively acknowledged by the receiver.
  • Receive Buffer: Holds incoming data segments until the receiving application process reads them.
• These buffers are directly used to implement TCP’s Flow Control mechanism via the sliding window protocol.