How is Handshaking and Acknowledgment take place in TCP ?

To establish a connection, TCP uses a 3-way handshake. Before a client attempts to connect with a server, the server must first bind to a port to open it up for connections: this is called a passive open. Once the passive open is established, a client may initiate an active open. To establish a connection, the three-way (or 3-step) handshake occurs: 1. The active open is performed by sending a SYN to the server. 2. In response, the server replies with a SYN-ACK. 3. Finally the client sends an ACK (usually called SYN-ACK-ACK) back to the server. At this point, both the client and server have received an acknowledgement of the connection. Example: 1. The initiating host (client) sends a synchronization (SYN flag set) packet to initiate a connection. Any SYN packet holds a Sequence Number. The Sequence Number is a 32-bit field in TCP segment header. For example let the Sequence Number value for this session be x. 2. The other host receives the packet, records the Sequence Number of x from the client, and replies with an acknowledgment and synchronization (SYN-ACK). The Acknowledgment Number is a 32-bit field in TCP segment header. It contains the next sequence number that this host is expecting to receive (x + 1). The host also initiates a return session. This includes a TCP segment with its own initial Sequence Number value of y. 3. The initiating host responds with a next Sequence Number (x+1) and a simple Acknowledgment Number value of y + 1, which is the Sequence Number value of the other host + 1.