Microsoft® SQL Server 2012 Unleashed

The Server Endpoint Layer

A networking feature in SQL Server 2012 adds an additional layer to the client/server network structure: Tabular Data Stream (TDS) endpoints. When you install (or upgrade to) SQL Server 2012, a default system endpoint is created on the server for each available protocol on the server. These endpoints cannot be dropped, and they are created regardless of whether the protocol is disabled or otherwise unavailable.

Note

The term endpoint in this context refers to the combination of a protocol selection, one or more IP addresses (or pipe names), and any associated port numbers.

These are the default system endpoints:

TSQL ...