What you need to know about network protocols

How much do you know about network protocols? If this is a topic interesting for you have come to the right website, in this article we are going to detail what they are, their functions and their different types.

What are network protocols?

Network protocols or communication protocols are nothing more than a set of established standards and criteria that stipulate how the different components of an interconnection system are connected.

A network protocol embodies important information for the connection. For example, it provides notification of how the physical connection is established, determines how communication is to be started and completed, and determines how to deal with corrupted data.

Not only that, but it also protects the information against intrusion attacks and marks the eventual termination of the transmission.

What is the function of a communication protocol?

The main function of a network protocol is to establish the semantics and coordination of information exchange.

What does this mean? It means that the networked computers must act according to the parameters and criteria contemplated in the protocol in order to communicate with each other and to retrieve data that, for some reason, have not reached their destination.

Types of network protocols

What many network protocols beginners don’t know is that there are network protocols at each level or layer of the connection. The lower layer refers to the physical connectivity that contributes to the development of the network (radio waves, UTP cables…).

On the other hand, the most advanced layer is related to the applications used with the computer.

Within the different networks (such as the Internet, for example), there are several types of communication protocols. Do we know them?

• TPC/IP: Is a set of basic protocols for network connection, allowing the information transmission between several computers belonging to a network.
• HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol): Is used to retrieve information and perform indexed searches that allow intertextual jumps in an efficient manner.
• TCP (Transmission Control Protocol): It is intended for communications and is responsible for the assembly of data coming from the upper layers into standard packets.
• FTP (File Transfer Protocol): Used for remote file transfers, allowing digital files to be sent from a local (PC) to a remote location (server) or vice versa.
• SMTP: The protocol for simple mail transfer which is used countless times a day by users all over the planet, as it shapes the exchange of e-mail messages between a variety of devices.