> > err, chaps, that is part of the tcp protocol. all tcp connections follow
> > that behaviour, be it http, ssh, smtp, pop and stuff. udp is a
> > connectionless protocol and doesnt. udp examples include dns, RADIUS,
> > and some p2p networks.
>
> i never implied otherwise.  there are other protocols besided TCP and UDP,
> i'm not familiar with all of them.  i expect some are ACKing, and others
> are ACKless.  HTTP was just an example of the former.
>

Err... which others are you thinking of?

TCP/IP and UDP/IP are your two choices on top of raw IP.

Anything else is at a higher osi layer protocol...

Anything that uses TCP by definition uses ACK's for packet flow control -
regardless of whether the application protocol is http, ftp, smb or other...

Any ACK in udp is an application construct and beyond the ability of a
typical firewall to know anything about as the ack is part of the payload...

Does this help?

m/