sockets - Should I resend or reconnect if the acknowledgement for a sent message is missing?

Question

In a distributed system, to ensure the peer has received a message correctly, we may use application level acknowledgement mechanism (ACK).

But when the client and the server is connecting via TCP or WebSocket, if the application level ACK for a sent message is not received by the sender, does it mean the connection is broken and should be reconnected?

Is it possible for the data or application level ACK is missing from application level but actually successfully transmitted in TCP level? (In this case, resending the message may be economical.)

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/65848616/should-i-resend-or-reconnect-if-the-acknowledgement-for-a-sent-message-is-missin

Answer 1

By tracking the suggested related questions, I have found some good answers on why application level ACK is necessary:

Are application level Retransmission and Acknowledgement needed over TCP?

Can websocket messages get lost or not?

if my application is using tcp protocal? then do i need a retry mechanism in my Application?

So if application level of problem may cause the message (or its application level ACK) can't be received successfully, a retry may be a meaningful remedial measurement.