Network Protocols

A beginner’s guide in plain English.

Because who said networks can’t be cute?

This guide was inspired by a brilliant explanatory video on the Cisco Networking Academy training platform.

Devices on a network need to communicate, for example sending emails, visiting websites, or sending a document to the wireless printer? But how do these different devices communicate?

Devices aren’t able to ‘see’ their network in the same way that we view it. For a device, they exist on an isolated island of one without a view of the wider network.

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So to communicate with other devices on the network, they use protocols and each message is composed of more than one protocol. In the context of a network, protocols can be thought of as an agreed language between devices that governs how they communicate.

When devices communicate, they break information into smaller units called ‘packets’. These packets then travel courtesy of protocols which ensure they get to where they need to be and accomplish the right task.

Examples of protocols:

IP (internet protocol): Acts like a digital mailing service for senders and receivers

TCP (transmission control protocol): Helps information to arrive reliably and with packets in the right order

HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol): governs the exchange of HTML