3.5b MD Network Protocols Flashcards
Not necessarily needed, only do if time
Network Protocol
A set of rules that allow two devices to communicate.
These are rules that govern how the network functions and how communication is carried out.
“TCP/IP
Transmission Control Protocol / Internet Protocol”
This sets rules for how devices on a network are connected. The TCP part manages the separation of a file into data packets to be sent across a network. It then manages the process of reassembling the data packets. The IP part gives each packet and address to allow it to reach its destination.
“UDP
User Datagram Protocol”
This protocol is an alternative to the Transmission Control Protocol. UDP is used over TCP when speed is a priority – it is referred to as a connectionless protocol that sends datagrams with no guarantee that they will arrive.
“HTTP
Hypertext Transfer Protocol”
This is used by web browsers to access websites. It allows the browser to communicate with a web server.
“HTTPS
Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure”
This is a more secure version of HTTP. It encrypts and decrypts web pages and data as it is sent using this protocol. It is used by banks and online shopping sites to keep personal data secure.
“FTP
File Transfer Protocol”
Used in conjunction with TCP/IP to transmit files across a network.
“POP
Post Office Protocol”
The POP3 protocol is used to retrieve emails from a server. An email server receives a user’s emails and they are then held on the server. Periodically, the user or the user’s email client checks the user’s mailbox on the server and downloads any mail using the POP3 protocol. When the email is downloaded, it is then deleted from the server by the protocol.
“IMAP
Internet Message Access Protocol”
IMAP works in a very similar way to POP3. One difference, though, is that the email is not deleted from the server when the email is downloaded, until the user chooses to delete it.
“SMTP
Simple Mail Transfer Protocol”
POP3 and IMAP are concerned with the downloading and reading of emails, but SMTP governs the sending of emails using a network.
Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is not a single protocol, but actually a family of protocols for wireless communications standardised by IEEE. The protocols are all begin with the prefix 802.11, where the first protocol was 802.11-1997, and as of 2013 the most recent is 802.11ac. The first Wi-Fi protocol used by the general public supported wireless transfer speeds of 11 Mbps (very slow) whereas the most recent protocols can theoretically reach up to speeds of 6 Gbps (almost 500x faster)!
Ethernet
Similar to Wi-Fi, Ethernet is an IEEE standardised family of protocols (beginning with 802.3) regarding the transmission of data over wired networks. The wires can either be copper or fibre optic – fibre-optic cables are normally used for linking your router to your Internet Service Provider, to increase the speed at which you can access the Internet.
