200-901 Network Fundamentals Practice Question
Which transport protocol is connection-oriented and ensures reliable delivery through acknowledgments and retransmissions?
⚠ Common exam trap
The trap is conflating application-layer protocols like HTTP with transport-layer reliability — candidates must recognize that HTTP's reliability is inherited from TCP, not inherent to HTTP itself.
Answer choices
Why each option matters
Answer the question above first, then reveal the full breakdown to understand why each option is right or wrong.
Correct answer & explanation
✓
TCP
TCP is connection-oriented: it establishes a session via the three-way handshake (SYN, SYN-ACK, ACK), then guarantees reliable, ordered delivery using sequence numbers, acknowledgments, and retransmission of lost segments. These mechanisms ensure data arrives intact and in order.
Answer analysis
Option-by-option breakdown
For each option: why learners choose it and why it is or isn't the right answer here.
- ✗
IP
Why it's wrong here
IP is a connectionless network-layer protocol offering best-effort delivery with no acknowledgments, sequencing or retransmission, so it cannot satisfy the reliability requirement. It is tempting because IP carries all internet traffic, and would be the answer if the question asked which protocol handles logical addressing and routing between networks.
- ✗
HTTP
Why it's wrong here
HTTP is an application-layer protocol that itself relies on TCP for connection handling and reliable delivery; it defines request-response semantics, not acknowledgments or retransmissions. It is tempting because HTTP traffic dominates networks, and would be correct if the question asked which protocol web browsers use to fetch resources.
- ✓
TCP
Why this is correct
TCP establishes a session via a three-way handshake before data transfer, then uses sequence numbers, acknowledgments and retransmission of lost segments to guarantee ordered, reliable delivery. This connection-oriented design directly satisfies the stem's requirement for acknowledged, retransmitted transport, unlike connectionless UDP.
- ✗
UDP
Why it's wrong here
UDP is connectionless and provides no acknowledgments, ordering or retransmission, so it cannot guarantee reliable delivery. It is tempting because UDP is a transport-layer protocol like TCP, and would be correct where low latency matters more than reliability, such as streaming, DNS queries or VoIP.
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JA
Written and reviewed by Johnson Ajibi, MSc IT Security
Senior Network & Security Engineer · founder of Courseiva
Last reviewed September 2026 · checked against the official Cisco exam blueprint
This 200-901 practice question is part of Courseiva's free Cisco certification practice question bank. Courseiva provides original exam-style practice questions with explanations, topic-based practice, mock exams, readiness tracking, and study analytics to help learners prepare for the 200-901 exam.