What is TCP? How does it work? What is the 3-way handshake?

TCP 3-way handshake or three-way handshake is a process that is used in a TCP/IP network to make a connection between server and client.

A three-way handshake is primarily used to create a TCP socket connection. It works when:

• A client node sends an SYN data packet over an IP network to a server on the same or an external network. The objective of this packet is to ask/infer if the server is open for new connections.
• The target server must have open ports that can accept and initiate new connections. When the server receives the SYN packet from the client node, it responds and returns a confirmation receipt – the ACK packet or SYN/ACK packet.
• The client node receives the SYN/ACK from the server and responds with an ACK packet.