How Does the Internet Work?
Working of the Internet is based on a series of protocols. A protocol is a set of rules or a kind of agreement, wherein two parties agree to abide by a set of rules. In this case, these rules govern the transmission and reception of data, to and from a computer from a party and situated at some unknown location.
To know how protocols work, it's important to understand the protocol layers. The network is firstly divided into various layers and protocols that are set for each of these layers. Let's see what the protocols are, layer wise:
Application Layer Protocol
The application layer acts as the interface between the user and the system. This layer has application specific protocols like hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), e-mail, chatting, or file transfer Protocol (FTP) for downloading, etc., which communicates with the subsequent TCP layer.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Layer
Every application requiring network access communicates with the TCP layer first. This protocol has a set of rules that govern the functioning of the transmission layer, which is between the application layer and the IP layer. While receiving data, TCP directs data to a specific application using the port number.
Internet Protocol Layer
The main job of this layer and the protocols associated with it, are to give the machine an identification on the network. Every computer on the Internet or a local network gets asigned a unique address commonly known as Internet Protocol address or simply the IP address. It is a number of the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, where xxx must be any combination from 000 to 255.
Hardware Layer
This is the layer which physically connects a computer to the data transmission media which may be a phone line, a cellular or a satellite connection. This layer includes modern, ethernet cards and hardware lines which materialize the actual connection process. The protocol governing this layer converts computer readable digital binary data into transmittable analog data (this is not needed, in case an ethernet line is used).
Working of the Internet is based on a series of protocols. A protocol is a set of rules or a kind of agreement, wherein two parties agree to abide by a set of rules. In this case, these rules govern the transmission and reception of data, to and from a computer from a party and situated at some unknown location.
To know how protocols work, it's important to understand the protocol layers. The network is firstly divided into various layers and protocols that are set for each of these layers. Let's see what the protocols are, layer wise:
Application Layer Protocol
The application layer acts as the interface between the user and the system. This layer has application specific protocols like hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP), e-mail, chatting, or file transfer Protocol (FTP) for downloading, etc., which communicates with the subsequent TCP layer.
Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) Layer
Every application requiring network access communicates with the TCP layer first. This protocol has a set of rules that govern the functioning of the transmission layer, which is between the application layer and the IP layer. While receiving data, TCP directs data to a specific application using the port number.
Internet Protocol Layer
The main job of this layer and the protocols associated with it, are to give the machine an identification on the network. Every computer on the Internet or a local network gets asigned a unique address commonly known as Internet Protocol address or simply the IP address. It is a number of the form xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx, where xxx must be any combination from 000 to 255.
Hardware Layer
This is the layer which physically connects a computer to the data transmission media which may be a phone line, a cellular or a satellite connection. This layer includes modern, ethernet cards and hardware lines which materialize the actual connection process. The protocol governing this layer converts computer readable digital binary data into transmittable analog data (this is not needed, in case an ethernet line is used).
No comments:
Post a Comment