COMPTIA A+ Practice Exam

The characteristic that defines TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) in comparison to UDP (User Datagram Protocol) is its connection-oriented nature. TCP establishes a connection between the sender and the receiver before data transfer begins, ensuring that both endpoints are ready for communication. This connection negotiation process involves a handshake mechanism, which helps to synchronize and manage the data transfer effectively. Furthermore, because TCP is connection-oriented, it guarantees the reliable delivery of data. It includes error checking, data ordering, and retransmission of lost packets, making it a suitable choice for applications where reliable communication is critical, such as web browsing, email, and file transfers. In contrast, UDP is designed for situations where speed is more important than reliability, allowing for faster data transfer with minimal overhead but without the guarantee that packets will arrive in order or even arrive at all. The other choices relate to attributes that describe how UDP works and do not apply to TCP. Therefore, the identification of TCP as a connection-oriented protocol that negotiates connections before transferring data is a key element that differentiates it from UDP.