Internet Control Message Protocol

From Computing and Software Wiki

The Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is mainly responsible for the sending of error messages to indicate any issues that occur between networked entities on the internet. ICMP is a special-purpose message mechanism, and is considered a required part of the Internet Protocol (IP) which must be included in every IP implementation. Much like other network traffic, ICMP messages travel across the internet in the data portion of IP datagrams. The Internet Control Message Protocol can only report the error back to the original source of the datagram, it is the source's responsibility then to relate the error to a program or take other action to solve the problem. The major advantage of allowing hosts to use ICMP is that it provides a single mechanism for all control and information messages.^[1]

References

1. Douglas E. Comer (2000). "Internetworking with TCP/IP Vol.1: Principles, Protocols, and Architecture". Internet Protocol: Error and Control Messages(ICMP) 129-145, Prentice Hall

See also

• Internet Protocol
• Denial Of Service Attacks
• Smurfing

External links

Internet Control Message Protocol - DARPA Internet Program Protocol Specification

--Collim 21:26, 4 April 2009 (EDT)