1.3.22

Application Protocols

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Web Protocols

Any network application needs to have a set of protocols so that it can structure data for transmission.

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Hypertext transfer protocol

  • Hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) defines how data should be exchanged between web browsers (clients) and web servers.
  • HTTP relies on the idea of requests and responses.
  • HTTP is mainly used to access websites from servers.
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HTTP secure

  • Hypertext transfer protocol secure (HTTPS) is a secure version of HTTP.
  • HTTPS uses secure socket layer (SSL) to encrypt the data that is sent between the client and the server.
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File transfer protocol

  • File transfer protocol (FTP) defines how binary and text data can be requested from a server and transmitted back to the client.
  • FTP is used to download or transfer files over a network.

E-mail Protocols

E-mail clients are also network applications which need a set of protocols.

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Post Office Protocol

  • The Post Office Protocol (POP) is a common e-mail protocol which defines how emails can be retrieved from a mail server.
  • Inboxes are not kept in sync:
    • Once a user has downloaded their mail from the server, the server deletes their copy.
    • Only a local copy remains.
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Internet Message Access Protocol

  • Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) is another protocol for retrieving e-mails from a mail server.
  • IMAP allows e-mails to be kept in sync:
    • Actions on your local machine are synced with the server.
    • Inboxes remain consistent across multiple devices.
  • IMAP is becoming more popular than POP because of the ability to sync multiple devices.
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Simple Mail Transfer Protocol

  • Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) defines how e-mail messages are sent from an e-mail client to a mail server.
  • Almost all e-mails are sent using SMTP.

Jump to other topics

1Computer Systems

1.1Systems Architecture

1.2Memory & Storage

1.3Computer Networks, Connections & Protocols

1.4Network Security

1.5Systems Software

1.6Ethical, Legal, Cultural & Environmental Concern

2Computational Thinking, Algorithms and Programming

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