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, one of the major building blocks of the Internet.
A reliable byte stream is not the only reliable service paradigm which computer network communication protocols provide, however; other protocols (e.g. SCTP) provide a reliable message stream, i.e. the data is divided up into distinct units, which are provided to the consumer of the data as discrete objects.
Famous quotes containing the words reliable and/or stream:
“The toddler’s wish to please ... is a powerful aid in helping the child to develop a social awareness and, eventually, a moral conscience. The child’s love for the parent is so strong that it causes him to change his behavior: to refrain from hitting and biting, to share toys with a peer, to become toilet trained. This wish for approval is the parent’s most reliable ally in the process of socializing the child.”
—Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)
“Ask me no more: thy fate and mine are sealed;
I strove against the stream and all in vain;
Let the great river take me to the main.
No more, dear love, for at a touch I yield;
Ask me no more.”
—Alfred Tennyson (1809–1892)