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Network Protocols

There are three main types of network protocols:

  1. Communication protocols include basic data communication tools like TCP/IP and HTTP.
  2. Management protocols maintain and govern the network through protocols such as ICMP and SNMP.
  3. Security protocols include HTTPS, SFTP, and SSL.

Communication Protocols

These protocols formally describe the formats and rules by which data is transferred over the network. This is a must-have for exchanging messages between your computing systems and in telecommunications, applying to both hardware and software. Communication protocols also handle authentication and error detection as well as the syntax, synchronization and semantics that both analog and digital communications must abide by to function.

HTTP – One of the most familiar protocols, hyper text transfer protocol (HTTP) is often referred to as the protocol of the internet. HTTP is an application layer protocol that allows the browser and server to communicate.

TCP – Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) separates data into packets that can be shared over a network. These packets can then be sent by devices like switches and routers to the designated targets.

UDP – User Datagram Protocol (UDP) works in a similar way to TCP, sending packets of data over the network. The key difference between the two is that TCP ensures a connection is made between the application and server, but UDP does not.

IRC – Internet Relay Chat (IRC) is a text-based communication protocol. Software clients are used to communicate with servers and send messages to other clients. This protocol works well on networks with a large number of distributed machines.

Management Protocols

Network management protocols help define the policies and procedures used to monitor, manage and maintain your computer network, and help communicate these needs across the network to ensure stable communication and optimal performance across the board.

SNMP – Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is used to monitor and manage network devices. This TCP-based protocol allows administrators to view and modify endpoint information to alter behavior of devices across the network. SNMP relies on the use of agents to collect and send data to an overarching SMNP manager, which in turn queries agents and gets their responses.

ICMP – Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) is primarily used for diagnostic purposes. Managed devices on the network can use this protocol to send error messages, providing information regarding network connectivity issues between devices.

Security Protocols

SSL – A Secure Socket Layer (SSL) is a network security protocol primarily used for ensuring secure internet connections and protecting sensitive data. This protocol can allow for server/client communication as well as server/server communication. Data transferred with SSL is encrypted to prevent it from being readable.

SFTP – Secure File Transfer Protocol (SFTP), as its name might suggest, is used to securely transfer files across a network. Data is encrypted and the client and server are authenticated.

HTTPS – Secure Hypertext Transfer Protocol is the secure version of HTTP. Data sent between the browser and server are encrypted to ensure protection.

References

  • https://www.cdw.com/content/cdw/en/articles/networking/types-of-network-protocols.html