Consider a DNS [10] system, one where a client sends a request to a server, and expects a small amount of data in return. A diagram of the transaction can be seen in figure 4.1. This diagram is very similar to a UDP request. In comparison to the TCP 3-Way Handshake in figure 3.2 it can be seen that there is an equal number of packets that are required for this transaction and the 3-Way Handshake. Whereas with TCP there are three packet transmissions associated with the establishment of a connection alone (nine altogether), there are in total three packet transmissions associated with the whole process, in this case, a saving of 66% in packets transferred compared to TCP (obviously in cases where a large amount of data is being transferred, there will be more packets transmitted and thus a decrease in the percentage saving).
Timing experiments have shown that there is a slightly longer time required for T/TCP than for UDP [18], but this is a result of the speed of the computer, and not the network. As computers get more powerful, the performance of T/TCP will approach that of UDP.
Figure 4.1: Time Line of T/TCP Client-Server Transaction