Web protocols? First of all, protocols are the rules that describe how clients and servers communicate across a network. There are several different protocols used by the Internet. The Internet uses several different protocols to communicate across the network.
The protocols used currently were developed many years ago, and are similar in concept to the rules of diplomatic interaction that dictate who speaks first, who bows to whom, and so forth. There are different kinds of web protocols to communicate between servers and clients.
- HTTP (Hypertext Transfer Protocol)
- File Transfer Protocol
- Electronic Mail (E-mail) using SMTP or POP or IMAP
- SMTP
- Telnet
Why are the protocols required in networking?
Generally, Internet protocol (IP), uses a set of rules to send and receive a message at the internet address level. The same way it works for servers and client base as well. Without having protocol it won’t be possible to transfer data from one point to another. So to resolve that particular issue we will use Web protocols.
#1 Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP)
In this where we are going to talk about the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP). HTTP is a protocol used to transfer Web pages from a Web server to a Web client.
The Web client is usually a Web browser. Specifically, HTTP is the set of rules required to exchange files, such as text, images, video, and multimedia content, across the Web.
An essential concept of HTTP is that files contain references to other files, so they are “linked” to one another. The files transferred by HTTP are HTML files and others that HTTP can serve.
Web servers are often called HTTP servers. Hypertext Transfer Protocol uses Port no: 80. According to Wikipedia,
The Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) is an application protocol for distributed, collaborative, and hypermedia information systems. HTTP is the foundation of data communication for the World Wide Web. Hypertext is structured text that uses logical links (hyperlinks) between nodes containing text.
It was actually introduced from 1990 to 1991 but the development of HTTP was initiated by Tim Berners-Lee at CERN in 1989.
#2 File Transfer Protocol
Web protocols are essential for communicating between client and server. We’ve even discussed HTTP protocol, FTP is another type of web protocol that helps to transfer files from one point to another.
File Transfer Protocol (FTP) FTP was originally developed to allow researchers to give one another access to programs and large data files. The early users protected most of their file access with simple user IDs and passwords, but many set aside small parts of FTP sites for anonymous, or general, access.
To obtain access to files through an anonymous FTP server, you use the general user ID “anonymous” and provide your e-mail address as the password. Anonymous FTP site access is so popular that many FTP clients connect you automatically.
FTP servers are scattered throughout the Internet and are generally accessible to anyone. Businesses have discovered many uses for FTP servers as efficient information, access and distribution points. For instance, when you download software programs and documents from Web sites, you are usually transferred to FTP sites for the actual download.
This process takes place transparently (e.g., the user is unaware of which protocol is downloading the program). FTP is also used to publish Web pages to a Web server. You simply upload your Web page files to an FTP server. After the upload is complete, Web browsers using HTTP can access your Web pages.
File Transfer Protocol uses Port No: 21 There are different File Transfer Protocol Softwares you can use to transfer files from one point to another.
- FileZilla
- WinSCP
- Cyberduck
- FireFTP
- CoreFTP
- Ftech
- etc…
#3 Electronic Mail
Electronic Mail has been developed by Ray Tomlinson and this is the method of exchanging messages between people using electronic devices. This is first used in the 1960s and 1970s, this works across computer networks and through the internet.
#4 SMTP
The Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is a communication protocol for electronic mail transmission. As an Internet standard, SMTP was first defined in 1982 by RFC 821 and updated in 2008 by RFC 5321 to Extended SMTP additions, which is the protocol variety in widespread use today.
#5 Telnet
Telnet is an application protocol used on the Internet or local area network to provide a bidirectional interactive text-oriented communication facility using a virtual terminal connection.