Paper instructions:

CP, IP, UDP, POP, SMTP, HTTP, and FTP

What are protocols?

When two humans converse, they may have to use the same language but they generally understand each other without having to adhere to rigid rules of grammar or formal language frameworks. Computers, on the other hand, have to have everything explicitly defined and structured. If computers wish to communicate with one another, they have to know in advance exactly how information is to be exchanged and precisely what the format will be. Therefore, standard methods of transmitting and processing various kinds of information are used and these methods are called “protocols”. Protocols are established by international agreement and ensure that computers everywhere can talk to one another. There are a variety of protocols for different kinds of information and functions. This article will discuss some of the common protocols that the average PC user is likely to encounter.