Network Protocols Every Developers Should Know

Hello Friends- Hope you’re doing well.

Today we shall go over some of the super basics of networking that developers should know. This can be helpful when deciding load balancers and application gateways during system design.

TCP/IP -> Transmission Control Protocol/ Internet Protocol supports communication between different network devices on the internet. The TCP model is divided into five major layers, each containing specific needs and protocols.

Layers of TCP Model:

• Physical
  • Translates message bits into signals (electrical/ optical/ radio) based on the communication medium
  • Specify the topology (Bus, Star, Hybrid, Mesh, Ring) and mode (Simplex, Half-duplex, Full Duplex) etc.
• Data Link
  • It’s divided in two parts MAC (Media Access Control) and LLC (Logical Link Control)
  • MAC encapsulates IP Packets into Frames by adding a header (MAC address of source and target) and trailer (error checking data).
  • LLC does data flow control to avoid receiver getting overwhelmed and error control
• Network
  • Adds IP address to the data segments.
  • Some of the protocols used are IP (Internet Protocol, finds the best possible path for data delivery) and ICMP(Internet Control Message Protocol, responsible for error reporting).
• Transport
  • Does end-to-end connectivity and error-free data transmission. Protocols used in the Transport layer are TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol).
  • TCP is a connection-oriented and reliable protocol because it identifies errors and retransmits the damaged frames, and ensures data delivery in the correct order.
  • UDP is a connectionless protocol and lacks error checking and correction which makes it less reliable but more cost-efficient.
• Application
  • Uppermost layer, combines the OSI model’s session, presentation, and application layers. Users can interact with the application through this layer. Protocols used in the Application layer are HTTP/HTTPS, DNS, SMTP, FTP and TELNET
  • HTTP/HTTPS: Stateless, Client Sever Protocol, once connection established, request is raised to the server and server sends the data and connection terminated, Uses port 80 (HTTP) and 443 (HTTPS).  HTTPS uses  TLS (Transport Layer Security) and allows transferring the data in an encrypted form.
  • DNS(Domain Name System): Translates domain names to IP addresses.
  • SMTP(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol): Used to send Email messages.
  • FTP(File Transfer Protocol): Used to transfer files between computers.
  • TELNET(Telecommunication Network): Two-way communication protocol connecting a local machine to a remote machine.

Hope you found this useful. Feel free to share your comments.