Reliable byte stream

A reliable byte stream is a common service paradigm in computer networking; it refers to a byte stream in which the bytes which emerge from the communication channel at the recipient are exactly the same, and in exactly the same order, as they were when the sender inserted them into the channel.

The classic example of a reliable byte stream communication protocol is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP), one of the major building blocks of the Internet. TCP provides applications with a reliable, in-order byte-stream service.

A reliable byte stream is not the only reliable service paradigm which computer network communication protocols provide, however; other protocols, such as SCTP, provide a reliable message stream, in which the data is divided into distinct units and delivered to the consumer of the data as discrete objects.