Network Protocols


Network Protocols are rules that are agreed upon for data transmission between hardware and/or software on computer networks. Whether you know it or not, protocols play an important role in our daily lives because without them, there would not be any successful communication between devices. This is similar to the way language works in facilitating a conversation between people.

Properties of Network Protocols include:

  • Message format
  • Distinguish the start and end of a message
  • Dealing with corrupt messages
  • Detecting a loss connection
  • Ending a connection or session

The most common type of Network Protocols used today is the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and the Internet Protocol (IP).

Transmission Control Protocol

TCP defines the rules that devices must obey at a high level such as a web browser on a computer and a web server. To establish a connection between devices before sending any data TCP uses a three-way handshake to ensure a successful connection was made.

The key factors over other Network Protocols include:

  • A sequence number is added to help the destination host rearrange the data.
  • Retransmission of data when transmission fails to be received
  • Duplicate packets are discarded
  • Vary the speed and flow of data by allocating amounts of be sent of its next transmission

Internet Protocol

IP defines how communication between devices occurs at a low level such as from a computer to another computer. Commonly, people refer to the IP Address which is how this protocols distinguishes between a host and source computer. In recent years there has been a growth and diverse use of IP including the development of Internet Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) and its use in International VoIP.

Handshaking

A typical property in most protocols is the concept of handshaking. Handshaking is at its basic level just a confirmation from one party that it has received the message sent by another party. 

This is how handshaking works:

  1. Party one sends a request for data
  2. Party two sends the requested data
  3. Party one confirms that they have received the requested data

According to specific protocols that implement handshaking, if one of the last two steps fails, party one would send a request for data again or party two will send the requested data again. 

Protocols are fundamental to the success of any network and without its implementation all networks would fail. Not only is it important to implement Network Protocols but it is necessary to understand how they function to identify common errors within a network.



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