Network Part 2 - The Cost of a TCP Handshake

Published: April 13, 2026 Picture a ticket drop. Tens of thousands of people clicking at the same moment. The server collapses — before a single byte of real data has moved. That's the strange part. Nothing was actually exchanged yet. So what wore the server out? There's work that has to happen before the data can flow. Until that work is done, the transaction hasn't started. It can't. Every transaction has a setup cost. Verifying the other party. Aligning on terms. Confirming readiness on both