Data transfer protocols: what are the differences?

[Carder]

The Internet is very large and complex. But at a basic level, this is just a connection between different computers (not just personal ones). This communication consists of network data transfer protocols — a set of rules that defines the order and features of information transfer for specific cases.

There are a lot of protocols. The main ones are described below.

IP - Internet Protocol​

The transmission Protocol that first connected individual computers to a single network. The most primitive one on this list. It is unreliable, i.e. it does not confirm the delivery of packets to the recipient and does not control data integrity. Over the IP Protocol, data is transmitted without establishing a connection.

The main task of this protocol is datagram routing, i.e. determining the path of data across network nodes.

The most popular version at the moment is IPv4 with 32-bit addresses. This means that 4.29 billion IPv4 addresses can be stored on the Internet. The number is large, but not infinite. Therefore, there is an IPv6 version that will help solve the problem of address overflow, because there will be 2 ^ 128 unique IPv6 addresses (a number with 38 characters).

TCP/IP - Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol​

This is the TCP and IP Protocol stack. The first ensures and controls reliable data transmission and monitors its integrity. The second one is responsible for routing for sending data. The TCP Protocol is often used by more complex protocols.

UDP - User Datagram Protocol​

A protocol that allows data transfer without first creating a connection between them. This protocol is unreliable. In it, packages may not only fail to arrive, but may also arrive out of order or be duplicated altogether.

The main advantage of the UDP Protocol is the speed of data delivery. This is why network latency-sensitive applications often use this type of data transfer.

FTP - File Transfer Protocol​

File transfer Protocol. It was used back in 1971-long before the advent of the IP protocol. Currently, this Protocol is used for remote access to hosting services. FTP is a reliable Protocol, so it guarantees data transfer.

This protocol operates on the principle of a client-server architecture. The user is authenticated (although in some cases it can connect anonymously) and gets access to the server's file system.

DNS​

This is not only the Domain Name System, but also the Protocol without which this system could not work. It allows client computers to request the IP address of a site from the DNS server, and also helps to exchange databases between DNS servers. This Protocol also uses TCP and UDP.

HTTP - HyperText Transfer Protocol​

Initially, the protocol for transmitting HTML documents. Now it is used for transmitting arbitrary data on the Internet. It is a client-server communication Protocol without storing intermediate state. The client is most often a web browser, although it can also be, for example, a search robot. In most cases, the HTTP Protocol uses TCP / IP to exchange information.

HTTP has an HTTPS extension that supports encryption. Data in it is transmitted over the cryptographic TLS Protocol.

NTP - Network Time Protocol​

Not all transmission protocols are needed to exchange the classical type of information. NTP is a Protocol for syncing the device's local clock with network time. It uses the Marzullo algorithm. This allows the Protocol to select a more accurate time source. NTP works on top of UDP — so it manages to achieve high data transfer rates. The Protocol is quite resistant to changes in network latency.

The latest version of NTPv4 is capable of achieving 10ms accuracy on the Internet and up to 0.2 MS on local networks.

SSH - Secure Shell​

Protocol for remote control of the operating system using TCP. In SSH, all traffic is encrypted, and with the ability to choose an encryption algorithm. This is mainly used for transmitting passwords and other important information.

SSH also allows you to handle any other transfer protocols. This means that in addition to remote computer control, any files or even an audio/video stream can be passed through the protocol.

SSH is often used when working with hosting services, when the client can remotely connect to the server and work from there.