Top 10 Protocols of Internet and Networking

If you think about it, the modern Internet that we are using right now won’t exist without the presence of protocols in the first place. Networking is responsible for providing you with access to the Internet. But these technologies will not work if the protocols are not there in the first place. A protocol does the job of providing communication and connection across the network.

In this article, we are going to find out different types of protocols and their use cases in the network. Besides, we are going to show you how these protocols are different from one another and what benefits they bring to the web when you use them. So let’s begin.

10 Common Protocols of the Internet

Given below are all the 12 main protocols that are holding our Internet together and working inside the network to make the transfer of data as fast as possible.

1. Address Resolution Pass (ARP)

With the use of ARP, the network gets to translate the IP address to Media Access Control (MAC) address. This needs to be done to help endpoints of the LAN to communicate with one another. ARP is necessary because both the IP and MAC addresses have different lengths. The IP addresses are 32-bit long, and IPv6 addresses are 128-bit long. On the other hand, if we look at the MAC address, it is 12 hexadecimal digits long that are split into six pairs. The translations have to take place for different devices to communicate with each other.

ARP is the one protocol that is required when a device tries to make a communication. This is because the hosting of LANs stores the translated addresses in its ARP cache. So this process has to be conducted when a new device joins the network.

Benefits of Using ARP Protocol

• With the use of ARP protocol, you can easily know the MAC address of your system if you have the IP address of the same machine.
• Every node doesn’t have to be configured as “known” MAC addresses. From this protocol, one can easily access the MAC address when they need it.
• The host of the network gets to store mappings or tables, which are also known as ARP tables or ARP caches. This can be used for connecting MAC, and IP addresses to each other.

2. Border Gateway Protocol (BGP)

BGP is responsible for making the Internet work. This protocol is used to control how packets are sent through the routers in autonomous systems. Here, more than one network runs in a single organization or provider, and they are connected to different networks as well. BGP can also be used for connecting different LANs over the Internet. The external BGP will be directing the number of network traffic from the number of ASes on the Internet, and it could also do vice versa. In addition to this, the internal BGP can perform the transfer of network traffic between the various endpoints with the use of a single AS.

Benefits of BGP

• BGP is the one that provides users and the network with the guarantee of stability, so the web can be used to quickly adapt and send the packets via another reconnection of the Internet. This can be quite advantageous if one of the network paths goes down.
• BGP is used for making routing decisions based on paths, rules, or network policies that are configured by the network administrators.
• Every single BGP router can maintain the standard routing table that can be used for giving directions to the data packets which are present in the transit.
• On the other hand, it uses the methodologies of client-server to transfer the routing information by sending the request to the server.
• The BGP will only update the router table information when there is some change, and it makes changes only in those areas which are affected by the update. Not to the whole table.

3. Domain Name System (DNS)

DNS is a database that is used for storing the website’s domain name. The ones which you type on the URL to access the website along with its corresponding IP addresses. DNS will translate the domain name into an IP address, and the translations are included in the DNS protocol. Even servers can cache the DNS data that is required to access the website. The DNS protocol comes present in the IP suite and details the specifications DNS uses to translate and communicate. DNS is one of those protocols that can quickly provide users with the information. Moreover, it gives you access to remote hosting and other types of resources across the Internet.

Benefits of DNS

• DNS is the only system present in the entire world right now, which makes it possible for you to browse the web. With this, you don’t need to memorize the IP address of a website.
• DNS protocol is like a tree where each node has a domain name, and the full domain name is a sequence of symbols that are present in the form of specified dots.
• DNS can provide a new IP address to the host via mapping if the host’s IP address changes due to some reason.
• Likewise, it allows companies to use the domain name hierarchy, which is independent of any form of IP address assignment process.

4. File Transfer Protocol (FTP)

FTP is one of the standard Internet protocols which are provided by TCP/IP that is used for sharing the files from one host to another. In most cases, the network uses it to transfer web page files from the creator of the computer. That actually works as a server for another computer connected via the Internet. Sending files from one system to the other might seem an easy task but during the transfer, you can have tons of problems.

For example, when you are sending files, the two computers might be following different file conventions. On the other hand, sometimes two different computers have different ways to represent the text and the data which is being sent over via the Internet. FTP gets over these issues with the help of establishing connections between the hosts. One is used for sending the data, and the second is used for controlling how the connection between the two computers works.

Benefits of Using FTP

• First, it is a connection-oriented protocol that comes with the implementation of robust control commands.
• The data is being sent via a separate TCP connection using the control commands, and this leads to a faster transfer of the data.
• The FTP comes with a simple implementation and use, which makes it a standardization for the universal application.
• It is easier for companies to set up FTP servers to store files. So they can be shared with other team members who are sitting across the building.
• Users from different operating systems will have no problem making connections with the FTP server or FTP protocol without any issues.

5. User Datagram Protocol (UDP)

It is a communication protocol that is used across the Internet when it comes to sending time-sensitive transmissions like video playback or DNS lookup. It accelerates the speed of communication by not forming a connection before sending the data. The data will be transferred with immense speed, but it could also lead to the loss of packets in transit. This could lead to the exploitation of data packets in the form of DDoS attacks.

UDP sends the data packets directly to the target computer without actually establishing a connection in the first place. As a result, it does not check whether the packets have arrived at the destination or not. Or if they have arrived in proper order or not. UDP is faster than TCP, but it is not as reliable as TCP.

Benefits of Using UDP

• For the UDP protocol to work, it does not require any form of connection to the receiver of data packets.
• The size of data packets in UDP is quite small in addition to the even smaller header.
• Both the multicast and broadcast transmissions are available in the UDP protocol.
• It does not wait for the ACK to send the data.
• The communication of data packets using the UDP protocol is much more efficient than any other form of the guaranteed delivery data stream.

6. Post Office Protocol (POP)

This is a type of computer networking and the Internet standard which is used for extracting and retrieving emails via remote mail server for the access of the host machine. This is an application layer protocol present in the OSI model that enables the users to send and receive emails. POP is the backbone of email communication in the entire world. The email software of the client will integrate the POP to make the connection to the remote email server. From there, it will download the email messages to the recipient’s machine.

POP takes the help of TCP/IP protocol to stack up the network connection and work with the Simple Transfer Protocol (SMTP). This provides end-to-end email communication, where POP will take out the message, and then SMTP will send it to the server. In 2012, POP got a new version which is POP3. This one is used in most of the email client/ server communication architecture.

Benefits of POP

• With the POP protocol, the emails will be downloaded to the user’s computer, meaning a user can read the emails even when they are not connected to the Internet.
• Opening up the file attachments is pretty quick and easy because they are already downloaded with the email.
• With the use of POP, there is less server storage space required. That is because all the emails are stored in the local storage of your system.
• The storage capacity of the emails is limited only by the sheer size of the storage you have in the system.
• The POP protocol is one of the most famous ones. As a result, they are pretty easy to install and configure according to your requirements.

7. HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP)

HTTP is the one that is designed for sending the hypertext among two or more systems that are present on the Internet. HTML tags are also used for the creation of links. They can be in any form, such as text, image, or even GIF. HTTP works on the principles of client-server. As a result, it allows the client system to create a connection with the server to make a request. The server will respond to the request sent by the client.

HTTP is considered to be a stateless protocol, which means each command is independent of the other command. It is the client who is always going to initiate the request first to the server. For example, the client wants to access a specific web page. The response from the server will send the information related to the website. If the page is not working, the server will send the alternative message, which is “that page does not exist”.

Benefits of HTTP

• HTTP follows one of the most advanced schemes of addressing, as it provides recognizable names to the IP addresses for the IP address to be well defined on the Internet.
• HTTP comes with the ability to download the extensions or plugins to showcase the relevant data.
• When we are using HTTP, each file gets downloaded from the independent connection. Once the downloading is finished, the link is terminated. This leads to only a single element of the web page being transferred. This also makes the chances of interception during the transfer of files almost null.
• When the page is loaded for the first time, all the information will be stored in the cache. After that, when you visit the page once again, it will be loaded in a much shorter time.

8. Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP)

This protocol is used for sending and receiving emails. The problem with SMTP is that it lacks the ability to queue up the messages at the receiving end. That’s why it is used with more than one protocol, such as POP and IMAP. SMTP performs the sending and the receiving of the mails in three easy steps of a client-server model.

The email server first takes the help of SMTP to send a message from the email client. The email client could be Outlook, Gmail, Yahoo, and more. After that, the email server uses SMTP as a relaying service so that it can send the email to the email server present at the receiver’s end. The receiving email server will use the IMAP to download the incoming mail and then send it to the inbox of the recipient.

Benefits of Using SMTP

• To receive the emails, all you need to do is enter the credentials, and it will work.
• When there is an error or failure in sending the email, there will be a message that provides the information as to why your email was not sent successfully.
• SMTP is the one that provides easy-to-use transactional emails. All you have to do is perform the exchanging of ceremonial, and the emails will work. It is totally the opposite of APIs, where you need to write down the code.

9. Internet Protocol (IP Address)

An IP address is a unique number that is used to identify the device that is present on the Internet or even on a local network. The IP is a set of rules which governs the format of the data being sent via the Internet. The IP addresses are the identifiers that allow the information to be sent between various devices. In the IP address, each number can range from 0 to 255. Here is an example of IP address 192.158.1.38. The full range of IP addresses ranges from 0.0.0.0 to 255.255.255.255. These numbers are not random in any way possible. They are assigned by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA).

All devices will find, send, and exchange information using these IP addresses. The IP address works like any other language. As it provides communication using the set guidelines to pass down the information. The use of an IP address happens all the time, but you are not able to see it because it happens behind the scenes.

Benefits of Using a Dedicated IP Address

• With a private IP address, you are not exposed to the malware present on the Internet. For a small business, having a dedicated IP address can be a valuable advantage while dealing with sensitive content.
• The private address is not connected to the external network. Thus, it is not vulnerable to the technical difficulties which are present outside the network.
• You can make changes to the website whenever you want. You get to screen the circumstance proactively whenever something happens to your email specialist or your ISP.
• There are several options for you to choose from when using a dedicated IP address. These specs are under your immediate control. As a result, you have the power to overthrow the dangers that could impact your website.

10. Telnet

Telnet is the protocol to connect with your computer remotely. It also helps in providing a two-way, collaborative, and text-based communication channel between the two systems. It is one of the common client-server-type protocols which is used to open up the command line on a remote computer. The owner of the system will use this service to ping a port to see whether it is open or not. Telnet works on the principle of virtual terminal connection protocol. This acts like a physical terminal that is connected to the machine. A user will connect to the device via Telnet, which is also known as Telnetting into the given system. They will be given the option to provide a username and password combination to access the system remotely.

Benefits of Telnet

• Telnet can be used by you for sending and receiving information from one computer to the other.
• It can be used to help you with the administration of the network elements.
• Due to user authentication requirements, it is hard for a hacker to break into the system.
• Every client and the server implements a Network Virtual Terminal (NVT).
• You can also use automation test facilities which can be given to users on a shared basis.

Conclusion

So these were the top 10 protocols of the current Internet and networking. Most of these are working right now to provide you with enough networking abilities to read this article with ease. But keep in mind, there are more protocols than just 10, and here we have provided you with the most important ones. For more, you can check out our website and learn about specific protocols with ease.