What is a Protocol?
In information technology, a protocol (pronounced PROH-tuh-cahl,
from the Greek protocollon, which was a leaf of paper glued to a
manuscript volume, describing its contents) is the special set of rules that end
points in a telecommunication connection use when they communicate. Protocols
exist at several levels in a telecommunication connection. There are hardware
telephone protocols. There are protocols between each of several functional
layers and each corresponding layer at the other end of a communication. Both
end points must recognize and observe a protocol. Protocols are often described
in an industry or international standard.
On the Internet, there are the TCP/IP
protocols, consisting of:
- Transmission
Control Protocol (TCP),
which uses a set of rules to exchange messages with other Internet points at
the information packet level
- Internet Protocol
(IP), which uses a set of rules to
send and receive messages at the Internet address level
- Additional protocols that are usually packaged with a TCP/IP
suite, including the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and File
Transfer Protocol (FTP), each with defined sets of rules to use with
corresponding programs elsewhere on the Internet
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