Indeed, SCTP is used mostly in the telecom area. Traditionally, telecom switches use SS7 (Signaling System No. 7) to interconnect different entities in the telecom network. For example – the telecom provider’s subscriber data base(HLR), with a switch (MSC), the subscriber is connected too (MSC).
The telecom area is moving to higher speeds and more reachable environment. One of these changes is to replace SS7 protocol by some more elegant, fast and flexible IP-based protocol.
The telecom area is very conservative. The SS7 network has been used here for decades. It is very a reliable and closed network. This means a regular user has no access to it.
The IP network, in contrast, is open and not reliable, and telecoms will not convert to it if it won’t handle at least the load that SS7 handles. This is why SCTP was developed. It tries:
- to mimic all advantages of the SS7 network accumulated over the decades.
- to create a connection-oriented protocol better than TCP in speed, security, and redundancy
The latest releases of Linux already have SCTP support.